Thursday 27th February
Back at sea again and we are heading West across the Tasman Sea for two days heading for Sydney our final destination for this leg of the voyage. So a late breakfast and a wander down to the theatre to watch another presentation by Dr Visser this time on why whales throw themselves on the beach and become stranded. The answer? No one knows. But she went through the possibilities. Whatever the reason it seems that the majority strand after following the key whale on to the shore. However she did have some good advice on what to do of you come across a stranded whale. Which basically boils down to, make sure it is upright, cover it in sheets (to keep the sun off it and help keep it wet), pour water over it to keep it wet, point it towards the sea and wait for the tide to come in. But then the chances of coming across a beached whale are few and far between (though I did think I saw one on Blackpool beach once, though on closer inspection it had a swimsuit on).
A later talk by was much more interesting. Publicity for it said ‘Adults Only’ and it was called Serial Killers. It was by a personality profiler Diane Simpson. She was an elderly lady so tiny she could hardly see over the podium with her frail old ladies voice she could have easily played Miss Marple. But her style could make your blood run cold. She had a rather slow but precise diction, at times barely a whisper (but the microphone was good). She had interviewed many serial killers including Peter Sutcliffe (who by the way is believed to have killed about 77 people). But she could be funny as well. She told us she had been in nearly all the high security hospitals and prisons (including Bellmarsh) and as she approached the front of the stage she said it’s so nice to see so many familiar faces. But some of the stories she had to tell were truly gruesome and she took us through the mental processes of some of these killers. She was up to date too, as she had the background of the girl from Peterborough who was arrested recently for killing those guys found in ditches. Coupled with the video clips, for me it was one of the best so far.
Not much else to report, we went to the gym and then had a couple of drinks in the Commodore with a couple on our table who are leaving the ship in Sydney. Dinner was the last formal night of this leg so we had lobster, getting good at predicting the menu now.
Clocks go back again tonight, putting us eleven hours ahead of you and that’s about it.
