Bob: The following video was taken from the bow of the ship. A lot of blue for sure, it becomes mesmerizing after a while.

Sue Stockdale gave a presentation on New Zealand explorers.

The first was Edmund Hillary, the first person, in partnership with Tenzing Norgay, to summit Mt. Everest. Cool quotes: “You don’t climb a mountain in one long step; it’s just step by step, and you will do it. Visualize yourself standing on the summit, and it will draw you like a magnet.” and “You don’t have to be a fantastic hero to do certain things, to compete. You can be just an ordinary chap, sufficiently motivated to reach challenging goals.” When asked how he knew he was at the top, he responded: “There is no more up.” (I am actually not sure he ever said this, but someone should have)

Helen Thayer and her husband were the first couple to travel unsupported to the Magnetic North Pole. At the age of 50, she became the first woman to travel solo to the magnetic North Pole, pulling her own sled without resupply. She travelled on foot, with no outside help. Her parents know Hillary, and she climbed with him as a child. Small world.

Sue has often noted that explorers come in all shapes and sizes. You do not need to go to a planetary pole, trek across a desert, or climb a mountain to explore. Sheila Natusch was a different kind of explorer. She became a very well-respected New Zealand nature writer, see the third image. She even had a documentary made chronicling her life, the fourth image.

We attended a presentation on the Age of Discovery or Exploration given by Bryan Babcock, one of our favorite speakers. Throughout the cruise, we are often told of the first European explorer to visit a location. James Cook is frequently mentioned. Bryan asked why there were so many sea captains sailing in that specific period of time. Technological advances were crucial, with better ship quality and navigational tools available. There were also multiple motives: curiosity, wealth & power, trade routes, mythical locations, precious commodities, and greed. I certainly did not realize how many individuals were involved, see the third slide. The last slide was a very famous early map. Note that is does not show Australia. Bryan found an original for sale for around $14,000 and was trying to convince his fiancée it was a good buy (good luck, Bryan).

We attended the last presentation given by astronaut Mike Foreman. He shared a lot of information about the International Space Station. See the second image. This was a great reminder of the station’s success, marking 25 years of continuous habitation. Amazing.

He also shared numerous slides on Artemis, the next series of moon missions. Click here. I did not realize that part of that program was to establish a permanent station in orbit around the moon. Incredible.

Mike firmly believes that NASA will attempt a human Mars landing.

We attended a presentation by Richard Lovelock, an energetic speaker, on Orcas.

He worked through the question: Is an Orca a whale or a dolphin? Turns out both. From the internet: “First things first: all dolphins are whales, but not all whales are dolphins. That’s because the Cetacean order of sea animals encompasses dolphins, porpoises, and what we think of as whales. And Cetacean is derived from the Greek word for whale, ketos.“

One really interesting fact: Orcas live together as a matriarchal pod their entire lives. Males will breed with other pods briefly and return to their families.

We ended the day at the second performance by Nathan Sinclair. He was every bit as good tonight as he was at his first performance. An incredible talent.