(Today’s Chronicle can be found here.)
Up late again this morning, ready just in time for last-minute seating at the Restaurant.
I am rewarded with some delicious banana pancakes:
Our son and I spend a bit of time working on his science fair project, where he discovers that – among the main AI chatbots (ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini and Microsoft’s Copilot) – only ChatGPT is able to exceed the student average on a sample of 5 questions from the Grade 7 / 8 Beaver Computing Challenge from 2023. A creative use of the limited resources to hand – and I’m sure the Wind is glad we didn’t spark up a Bunsen burner!
Our daughter heads off to Yvonne’s next art class, where she does a spectacular painting of a penguin:
This whole process has been hugely beneficial, particularly the one-on-one assistance from Yvonne. Our daughter knew that the penguin’s feet weren’t quite right, so Yvonne suggested that she draw a box and set an angle thereby setting a framework for creating the proper sense of perspective.
We then went off for the photo scavenger hunt, but it was the same list as the Antarctic leg – so we opted to play some Dungeons & Dragons instead. The kids’ party were ambushed by Izek Strazni, the main henchman of the burgomaster of Vallaki. This tough flight was still ongoing when we wrapped for lunch.
Delicious lunch at La Terrazza today – I had the roast chicken with “local potatoes”. Another bounty from Tristan da Cunha, perhaps? The gravy in particular was excellent. (And sadly not photographed, as I tucked right in.)
Off for “walkies”, which were soon rained out – though at least the sea state has dramatically reduced to around 2.5 metres. It’s expected to drop down closer to 2 metres over the day. Quite a welcome change after the pitch and roll we’ve endured the past few days.
Power nap and some brief homework, and then we took in Malcolm’s presentation as to why Africa has the most megafauna:
Malcolm noted that megafauna in Africa evolved along with human hunters, and that they did not evolve to fill the same narrow niches as many of the megafauna that expanded further abroad. (It also takes a great deal of resources for megafauna to survive and reproduce relative to smaller animals, so they were already at a disadvantage.)
The decline in megafauna abroad was likely due to a combination of human hunting, climate change, and vulnerability to emerging creatures. Fascinating stuff!
Then off to Jess’s short story writing workshop. She provided us with an excellent series of prompts:
I had a bit of fun with the start to my story, which was also partly inspired by some comments I’d received on our ongoing posts on CruiseCritic:
Nathan clenched his zodiac life vest to keep his hands from shaking. The day had dawned cool and crisp, with winds gusting from the north. It wasn’t much, but it was almost enough to scuttle their launch. But then a sudden reprieve – the winds died, and the boats were lowered.
Ten days he had travelled to get here – ten days across the South Atlantic in 15 foot swells. He hadn’t even stopped at the Falkland Islands, or South Georgia. Neither of them held any meaning to him – they had been ticked off the list years ago.
“Is that a spectacled petrel?” he asked, pointing into the mist.
“I don’t see it.” She squinted into the dense wall of white around Inaccessible Island. “I think you may have spotted a McGuffin,” she said, employing her favourite term for a mistaken animal.
“I’m sure I saw something,” Nathan insisted. “Will you go closer?”
“Well, just a bit,” she relented. The faint shape of the cliffs came into view.
It was time.
Nathan rose to his feet, knowing the guide would never suspect what would happen next. Not with his phone in his hand, and thousands of dollars of camera equipment around his neck.
He stood, stepped up onto the edge of the zodiac, and leaped into the unknown.
“Man overboard!” came the shout from behind, followed quickly by: “What the hell does that idiot think he’s doing?”
Nathan knew exactly what he was doing. He was a member of the Traveler’s Century Club, a venerable organization open only to those who have visited 100 of all 330 listed destinations.
But 100 wasn’t good enough for Nathan. He had visited 329, and today he was going to visit destination 330.
Or so he thought.
The life vest exploded around him with a bang. He didn’t notice.
His five-figure Nikon shorted out. He didn’t care.
His foot reached toward the stone – but the rocked moved, and Nathan disappeared.
It felt good to be writing again – hoping to finish the story if I get a moment. I know where it’s going, just need to get the words down on the page.
Off to officers versus guests team trivia, in which we tied for first place, earning double prize points. Our son knew Stefani Germanotta’s performing name (Lady Gaga), while I correctly answered the Silversea reward for 350 days of cruising (a free 7 day cruise) and the song with the lyrics “We come from the land of the ice and snow / From the midnight sun where the hot springs flow” (“Immigrant Song” by Led Zeppelin).
Then off to the briefing, where Jamie confirmed that the sea state will continue to decline overnight:
He then announced that we would soon be crossing the prime meridian (longitude zero degrees), and asked that the kids and I come up to the bridge so that they could blow the ship’s horn as we crossed. He joked we would have to be careful not to distract the bridge crew, as they would be carefully navigating through the dotted line. It apparently causes quite a mess if it gets tangled up around the propeller.
Jamie took us up to the bridge and carefully counted down until we crossed – and the kids pushed the button and held it for a full five seconds. It made a loud reverberating noise that sadly could not be heard in the theatre so it was a bit anticlimactic for the guests but the kids certainly enjoyed it!
We returned in time to hear Malcolm speak about what albatrosses eat. They are scavengers, which is why they follow ships and are often victims of long line fishing.
He also made a counter-argument in favour of birding, which included quite a few pictures of fellow guide Greg from days gone by – arguing that this is who you could turn into if you don’t like birds. Again, quite funny!
Off for dinner at La Terrazza. My wife and I both had the gnocchi:
Followed by the chocolate cake and ice cream:
We wrapped early tonight, and managed to catch the tail end of the sunset:
Then it was time for bed.