Our Captain received an email, at midnight, from the Kingdom of Tonga that they are denying entry of all cruise ships.. most likely due to the Coronavirus effecting some cruise ships that went into Hong Kong, etc. A bit of an over reaction, but understanding for these small islands who are not equipped to deal with any pathogen emergencies. We have walked past many medical facilities on these small islands and they are not somewhere you want to go if you were sick. In fact, we asked one of our guides what happens when someone needs a major operation, she said they are flown back to France. I imagine in the Cook Islands they evacuate to New Zealand.

We are hoping to get into Fiji and stay a couple of days. If not… on to New Zealand.

We are beginning to feel like real sailors at sea.