CAPTAIN SLOG STAR DATE 72.13

I decided to do dinner ... at 8.15, so I had 15 minutes to dress and get there. I made it with 5 minutes to spare! As you can tell from this, I am either a) impeccable at all times, b) already stunningly gorgeous or, the correct answer is, c) I don't give a toss!

There was a bit of a sticky five minutes when it looked like I might be Billy No Mates but my Washington friends came through and joined me. They are a lovely family and I feel very relaxed with them. Despite my unseemly rush to dinner, I hadn't forgotten my newly found tat. Unfortunately, despite the whole family searching, they hadn't found anything horrible enough for the right price, so had nothing to offer. Mine was much praised and they have promised to try again in Curaco.

It was a nice meal with Thai crabcake, Broccoli soup and Chicken Saltimboca, followed by Jubilee cherries. No wine for me tonight as I had spent my wine budget on tat!

I went off for an early night as it is Curacao tomorrow. I ordered my breakfast over the interactive tv and got much healthier options, ordered for 7.30 to 8am as it's a bit later start.

I have promised myself a video of the Dad Dancing which is on display most evenings by the Passport Bar, I'll have to go down early one night and hide behind a pillar. I nearly wet myself a couple of nights ago, it is hysterical.

I am going to throw that alarm clock overboard one of these mornings! It woke me up again. I drew the curtains, not too well as I'm not a great artist,and took my first look at Curacao. Hmm, not as instantly pretty as Aruba - too many big chimneys on the horizon, one with a big orange flame, must be an oil refinery. However it is still part of the Dutch Antilles and has the same overall colonial feel of Aruba.

 I managed to get dressed before breakfast arrived. Now that was more like it, fruit, yoghurt, cereal and a cup of tea. All consumed on the balcony.

Today is The Beauties of Curacao tour ( pronounced cure-a-so). So up I go into the bus full of infirm old fogies, with a few exceptions, and off we go. Did I mention it was overcast and humid this morning? Well, it started to rain - hard. Smug little me had packed my umbrella, I thought it could always double up as a parasol.

First stop was on the western tip of the island, more crashing seas and lava/coral rocks. This time the rocks were inhabited by some pretty hefty iguanas. Some of them sporting beards. In my humble opinion, the National Park in Aruba on the horse ride was more spectacular. Got a few pix of the iguanas though. Apparently they are spit roasted here as a delicacy, so needless to say they are a little shy. On Aruba we were told that it was illegal to eat them now as they are protected.



The local houses are all very colourful. Our guide informed us that one of the old governors found the white houses too bright and passed a law that each house was to be painted in colours. The law still stands today and if you want it white, it is only allowable on a 10 year fee paid licence.



It turns out, the said governor owned the only paint factory on the island!

Next stop was a really nice little beach, reached by some wonky steps. It was a mix of pebbles and fine icing sugar sand. Only they weren't pebbles, it was dead coral, smoothed by the waves. It actually looked more like smoothed bones.







I was disappointed with the amount of rubbish lying around, maybe deposited by tourists, but as for the dead rusting cars in people's gardens, they're not down to the tourists. I think overall Aruba is better.

Our final stop was at an old plantation house, now used as an art gallery for a local artist called Nena Sanchez. They were very bright Caribbean scenes and not to my taste, also very expensive.



Some of us were dropped off at a shopping area in Willemstaad, in walking distance of the ship. I had to find some tat, which I did, not perfect but passably gross. I also bought Ayla a pretty sun dress for her holiday in Antigua and a colour changing t shirt for moi.

I returned to the ship about 2pm and grabbed a healthy salad in the spa cafe. I have also laid claim to a pod, so I'm not shifting for a while! We have another day at sea tomorrow, so here's hoping it's not too rough.