The Power of Love

This week we got to play a show for a lady named Tracy Shield, whose entire show is a tribute/impersonation of Celine Dion. When I first heard we were going to play a Celine Dion show, I was a little concerned...but it turned out to be one of the best shows we've done in a while. Tracy was very professional in every way, organized and prepared for everything. All of her charts were put to a click track so there was no guess work, and she did an absolutely fabulous job singing and performing. There were a few really great musical moments in the show, and by the end of it I was ready to sign up to be in Celine Dion's band when she opens her show in Vegas this year. I hear there's going to be a live 30 piece orchestra...and after playing this show I decided that I don't hate Celine Dion. That must be the Power of Love.... :-) love for good music anyway, and for a great performer.

This week I took my second crack at Fiji, and actually had a really great time. Thanks to all the work I've been doing for the Shorex team on board, I was invited to go along with them in the ports. The shoreside tour companies gave them a van and a guide each of our two Fiji ports and took them wherever they wanted to go for free, as a thank you for the work they did organizing the guests and selling the tours. I got to go along for the ride both days, saw some scenery, went to a beach, a great resort, had some great food....and it didn't cost anything, which is always the best thing. :-)

Today we said goodbye to Nick, one of my best friends on board. There were a few tears....but the show must go on. Now everyone is talking about me leaving and how soon that is coming. I still feel like its a ways away, but the count is 2 cruises, or 5 weeks to go. Yikes!! Its coming quick!! Today we start our circumnavigation of Australia, heading up the coast towards Brisbane, which will be our first port of call. We've also just heard that our itinerary will be a little bit altered - instead of going to Paupua, New Guinea, we're heading to Bali. Sounds just as exotic to me! :-)

The new cast is settling in, and have opened two of their shows, with one more to go. Lucky for them, they don't need to add their last show in until the end of the cruise, which is about 17 days from now, so they are now able to relax a bit. My new roommate Mandy is lovely and a great roommate, and a wonderful singer. I couldn't have gotten a better roommate, and I know I have a new Christian friend in her as well. Its going to be a fantastic finish to this contract! I'm about to conquer Australia, all the way around!! Here I come!!

Sweet As!!!

I'm going to take this post to share some Kiwi (New Zealand) lingo that I'm learned and come to love over the past few months. I picked this up from my good friend Nick, who uses it all the time, and all the New Zealanders I came across during our time there. Kiwi's have a construction where instead of saying "very (blank)", they will say "(blank) as!" So for example, "really funny" becomes "funny as" and really drunk becomes "drunk as", eg: "Man, last night I was drunk as!!" It can be placed after any adjective. Another example: our Kiwi rafting guide said at one point, "this next waterfall is scary as." But specifically the phrase "sweet as!" is used all the time to express agreement or excitement. It only really sounds right if you have a Kiwi accent, though....when I say it I sound funny, its supposed to sound more like "sweet azzz". But hanging out with Nick and my friend Hayden has inserted it into my vocabulary, so I may be stuck with it for a while. I remember the first few weeks hanging out with Nick, I thought he was saying "sweet a$$" which led to some confusion....but now I know what he's actually saying. Good times. Sweet as!

Big Changes

Today begins my 3rd-to-last cruise!!! Although I still have about 6 1/2 weeks left, since the cruises are long. This week is my last South Pacific cruise, out to some islands and Fiji one more time, which I haven't done since the beginning of the Australia season.

So what are these big changes I speak of?? Well mainly we are just getting a lot of new people today. The entire cast left today, after finishing their six months on board. It is hard to believe that I was here for their entire contract, even 5 weeks before it started, and I still have a while left. I will really miss Sophie especially, she and I spent many lovely sea-day afternoons sitting outside in the fresh air on the back deck, having afternoon tea, Nutella, and playing cards. Goodbye, Sophie!! I also loose my lovely roommate Monica, after living with her for (gulp!) half a year. Poor Monica threw out her back yesterday and could barely get out of bed, so she had to miss her farewell show, which was pretty sad. It also meant that I ended up having to take care of all her errands for signing off, so I ended up running around like a crazy person all day. I helped pack luggage, cleaned, filled out forms, did security checks, returned borrowed items, and a thousand other things. I ended up feeling like I was the one signing off. But I got everything done and fell into bed around 2am exhausted but glad I was able to get everything taken care of and get her off the ship safe and sound. Today when I go back to the ship I will meet my new roommate, Amanda, who should be moving into my cabin as we speak. She will be Monica's replacement singer. Its strange to think she's already on the ship getting moved into my room, and I haven't even met her yet....

I also had to say goodbye to my good friend and fellow bandmate Beau, our tenor player, and my motivational workout buddy. He will be missed - he always made me laugh and improved my mood during the shows and big band sets. Our replacement sax got delayed trying to fly out of Indiana in the US, so we will be without him for a few days as we figure out a way to get him to the ship. I think his name is Andrew....I'll let you know when he finally gets here.

Today I am running errands in Sydney, chief among them getting an eye exam and ordering a new pair of glasses to replace mine (which I dropped in the ocean while parasailing, silly me). I will be able to pick up the new ones next Sydney, in 12 days. Getting errands done is always tricky while on a ship, but I'm glad I was able to get this sorted out. In a few minutes Tracy is going to take me shopping in some markets around Sydney. I'm determined not to buy anything, as I already have too much stuff, but I'll have fun anyway. :-) Off I go!!