16 August Sept Iles

Straight off the ship and into a Zodiac this morning here in Sept Iles.  Was cold and rainy when we arrived but fortunately the rain held off until just as we were re-boarding the ship again at 3.30. There were 4 Zodiacs at that time, each carrying 12 passengers.  It was billed as a wildlife, scenic tour but other than a huge flock of cormorants, some seagulls, a few ducks and towards the end a few dolphins, it was fairly tame.  The Zodiac ride is always fun but we needed a younger driver to give us more of a buzz!  Thought we might have seen a whale but was the old story 'should have been here yesterday'!!!!! 

Back at the port we got straight onto a bus for our afternoon 'Highlights' tour.  This involved an hour at the museum, a drive through town, further on to a very  pretty beach area and it finished with an hour at a reconstructed Innu village/trading post. Sept Iles was based on fishing and the fur trade and Louis Joliet established trading posts by 1679.    It was very interesting, and we learned the history of the Innu tribe who've been here for several thousand years.  Sept Iles has a population of around 28,000 people, it is a nice place but would be bleak in the winter.  

Because we missed lunch I didn't feel bad about having afternoon tea back on the ship.  Tea time was 'chocolate tea time' and the pic below will confirm that however there were scones and finger sandwiches as well.  I enjoyed watching some kids have the best time dipping strawberries in the chocolate fountain!  

Back now after a really nice evening.  At 6pm they had Krew Kapers (again) and pretty much the same show as earlier in the cruise but still good.  Then we were guests of the Food & Beverages Manager, Ricky Ballinger, along with another couple from Perth.  Ricky is Australian, has been with cruise ships for 17 years, 6 of those with Regent.  He is married to an Indonesian girl and has a baby girl.  The executive chef came down to meet us and I was able to complement him on his piano playing when he did a cooking demonstration a couple of weeks ago.  

The late show was very good, again we had seen a similar version of it before. The dancers and singers are excellent and nice with it.  We met Tilly, one of the singer/dancers on the first day and have little chats with her from time to time.  She is English and her profile has been written up several times, and each time I wonder about her name which is Matilda Waltzing!  So tonight I asked about it and apparently her real name is Rebecca but she was asked to change it for a more suitable stage name & came up with Matilda Waltzing.  

Stopped by the roulette wheel on the way back to our room, I didn't have any money on me but borrowed $20 from George and 10 mins later walked away with $77.