Eve of arrival into Cochin

Day 16 on the eve of our arrival to Cochin

The three sea days crossing the Bay of Bengal to pass the islands of Sri Lanka have been relaxing. A westerly course had been maintained through this major shipping lane. We have spotted many types of vessels, tankers, merchant ships carrying unusual types of cargo and fishing boats. One ship we passed had what looked like 3 oil rig platforms on its deck. On the night of the 8^th June we were up on the deck after dinner at a deck party around the main swimming pool to "dance the night away" when we spotted what seemed to be a very long ship lit up with lights giving the appearance of a jetty, which of course, wasn't.

This morning whilst we were enjoying our constitutional morning walk along the promenade deck, a huge pod of whales heading south, were spotted of the starboard side of the ship. I reckon I counted at least 20 to 30 water spouts and saw a tail well out of the water as its owner dived to deeper water. I also saw three whales breach the water in concession, which I presume to be a family travelling together. 

As the ship passed Sri Lanka we noticed a few fishing boats, I would say to be about 5 to 10 kilometres off the coast. A large white lighthouse on the tip of the island could be seen clearly from the decks. Then afterwards a group of white buildings could be seen just west of the lighthouse. I am not sure if we were looking at a major city or not but the buildings would have been  4 or more stories.

The DP has now changed course to head North West to the tip of India. Ooh my goodness how exciting is that. India. Tomorrow we dock in Cochin.

In the past 3 days our clocks have turned back 2 ½ hours. In Adelaide it is 5pm whilst it is 1pm on board. It has been great getting an extra hour every so often. DH has had extra bed time whilst I have raced off to the laundry, firstly to see if I can get a washing machine not in use, then if so, wash, dry and iron. Then DH wonders why I come back to the cabin grouchy. Hmmm. We become 'Elite' after this leg of the cruise and washing can be done by the ship's crew as a reward for continued patronage. Yippee. But then DH has said they wash only and not iron….is he teasing?  Time will tell. DH may well be checking out the ironing board if not.

This afternoon we joined the party atmosphere in the Vista Lounge as the ship hosted the 'Melbourne Cup' races. Yesterday the horses had been auctioned off and a group from Cruise Critic bought a horse entered into the race. We had lots of laughs and won a couple of 'races', on a three dollar bet we won $8 and $10 and lost $10 on another bet…..big gamblers we aren't. But we did win a luggage tag for having a funny hat each.