The lurgy that had reared its ugly head yesterday has decided to stay.

I had been planning to go diving while in Tahiti but hadn't heard anything from the dive store I had emailed . This lack of contact turned out to be a blessing I guess; as there is no way I could have even considered diving with the amount of stuffiness in my head – at least not in the next week.

Less than impressed with the number of tissues being used on a regular basis, I spent most of the day in the room watching TV, grizzling to myself about the stupid people who gave me this illness and finding myself napping for no reason.

During the day there were only two excursions outside the cabin. The first was to the buffet for breakfast to share my germs with my fellow passenger – I mean the mentality seems to be sharing is caring. The second was to watch the 2014 Inter-departmental Tug of War competition up on the pool deck.

It would appear than on a yearly basis, the various departments of the ship come together to have a tug of war competition. While it provided entertainment for us, I think the crew enjoyed being able to let their hair down while working out which area has the best Tug of War technique . Unlike the ABBA song where the winner takes it all, the winner of the Tug of War wins a wooden trophy and I can only assume bragging rights.

With a broad selection of departments represented, including the buffet staff, the restaurant staff, the entertainment staff, the people who look after the ship’s ropes, the casino/gym staff and the different cleaning staff, the competition was ready to begin.

Prior to the competition beginning, all the contestants did a lap of the deck to show off their team and their costumes – there were pirates, Chippendale impersonators, super heroes, spotted cows and people dressed in tan coloured latex. Then it was time to get down to business. The competition took a 'two teams battle, the winner goes to the next round’ approach. Using the good old ‘random names drawn out of a hat’ method for competitor selection, the cry of ‘One, Two, Three, Tug’ went out across the ship. Interestingly, none of the really strong teams drew each other until the semi’s .

A couple of the battles were very one sided and as the rounds progressed, it was clear who the favourites were. Eventually it came down to two teams – The Rope Men (aka the guys who do the anchoring/roping for the ship) versus the Chippendale Impersonators (aka the guys from the Casino/Gym). Both teams had been very strong throughout the competition and for the most part had demolished their rivals with only a couple of pulls of the rope.

After what appeared to be a false start, a bit of back and forth and some serious straining, the Casino/Gym team were triumphant. A team photo, trophy presentation by the Captain and some serious cries of "WHO WHO WHA!’ followed.

After all that excitement, I headed back to the cabin and found myself napping quite easily.

Another night of room service followed, while Mum had dinner at the buffet.

Fun fact:
There are tug of war clubs in many countries, and both men and women participate. The sport was part of the Olympic Games from 1900 until 1920, but has not been included since.