AFTER our usual monthly service in church, we welcomed our speaker for the July evening, Mrs Kathy Lewis, a soprano singer.

Little did we know what an enjoyable evening we were in for, with such a lovely vivacious lady.

She had many stories to tell of her time working as a singer on cruise liners, initially with P & O, and for the last few years with Royal Viking Ships - a very luxurious line catering mostly for the American market.

This cruise line works the Americas - north and south, the Pacific, Australia and New Zealand.

The ships had a very professional group of musicians, mostly American, who had worked previously with the likes of Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald. Everything that Kathy needed was willingly arranged.

Most passengers were American, who thought Kathy was Australian and not from, as they told her, "a little town called Manchester, UK". The audiences were great fun.

During the years that she worked with Viking, the ship cruised around the Pacific islands such as Tahiti and Bora Bora, where part of South Pacific was filmed. Kathy said that Bora Bora was her idea of paradise, with white sandy beaches and palm trees, although a later visit to the island found that it had been devastated by a hurricane.

On one trip across the Pacific they had to ride out a hurricane - very scary.

Another island visited was Easter Island, where there is a remarkable collection of stone figures discovered by a Dutch sailor on Easter Day in 1722.

Also visited was Pitcairn Island, of Mutiny on the Bounty fame.

A very remote place with about 45 residents who are a week away, by boat, from both Sydney and South America.

They have some radio contact and possess just two boats for fishing, provided by Australia. There is no air strip.

What a wonderful evening we had - lots of stories and lots of laughs. As the song says What a wonderful life.

The vote of thanks was ably given by Mrs May Bebb.