15. Kaohsiung, Taiwan

As we departed Hongkong the captain announced that the weather was going to deteriorate a little over the rest of the day and evening and there would be some movement of the ship although it would be nothing worse than we had been through before. But he was wrong. Very wrong indeed. By dinner time the boat was rocking. Whether or not it is good genes or that I have treacle in my semicircular canals I never seem to be affected by motion sickness so I made it down to dinner but Claire wasn't feeling too good and decided to stay quietly in bed.

As the night wore on, it got worse. A depression over the Taiwan Straits deepened unexpectedly and was battering the ship. As the vessel rode every crest and trough of the waves, the water crashed against the hull with a deafening thud and every rivet and steel plate seemed to strain. It was like being in an aeroplane going through turbulence; constantly being bounced up and down and from left to right and sleep was virtually impossible. It was definitely the roughest twelve hours or so we have ever spent in over 10 years of cruising and more like what you would expect rounding of Cape Horn.

The result. We are to be three hours late into Kaohsiung and we receive yet another $50 each in cash compensation plus a future cruise credit which pretty much equates to the value of a free cruise! So far on this trip the company must have paid out getting on for nearly three quarters of a million dollars in cash compensation payments alone even before even taking into account the future cruise credit values!

The sail in to the port was one of the more interesting ones. Diamond Princess had to travel along a long canal like waterway which was lined with all kinds of merchant and naval shipping, warehouses and accommodation blocks before making a tight turn in the harbour basin and pulling alongside the berth.

Anyway, once we were ashore we walked along the seafront park where many families were enjoying the warm sunshine and there were many colourful kites on display. We took the light railway around to the 85 story Kaohsiung Sky Tower so that we could get a good view of the city and although there was some haze the view wasn't perfect but there was still lots to see.

Once back at ground level we had a look around one of the modern shopping malls before getting the metro to Formosa Boulevard station in order to see the famed light dome. This large, brightly coloured and patterned ceiling is quite beautiful and in the area below a busking saxophonist had drawn a large and appreciative crowd. On street level once again we stopped for a cold, refreshing milky drink from one of the many street vendors before taking a leisurely wander through the Sinsing night market which was just beginning to get started in the late afternoon.

Conscious of time we still wanted to make one final stop at the pier 21 art and craft area, a small district where many of the old warehouses had been converted into modern studios and boutique shops. This was a thriving part of the city and as by now the sun had set, many locals were out and about, promenading with their families and making the most of the remainder of the weekend.

Although our day in Kaohsiung had been shortened we felt that we had made very good use of our time and we made it back to the ship with 20 minutes to spare before sailaway.