Kia Ora Auckland, New Zealand

Sun. Nov. 1

Auckland, NZ

We awoke in Auckland to sunny skies and mild temps.The sail over night was on calm seas with an almost full moon. We got to see the southern cross in the sky. The ship is docked in Waitemata Harbor which is a gorgeous green.There is a dormant volcano just across the bay called Rangitoto. Auckland is built on a chain of 60 extinct and 2 dormant volcanoes. We took a city bus tour that took us to Mt. Eden, one of the dormant ones. Of course the bus driver didn't mention it until we were on top overlooking a crater.
It was a great picture stop.
The city is spread out over hills, once again, similar to San Francisco. It is on the ring of fire, but the residents haven't experienced anything earthshaking in years.:)
Earlier in the morning we took a tour of the Maritime Museum and then a cruise on a 50 foot sailboat from the Americas Cup. It is called the Pride of Auckland and you can see me steering! I was at the wheel for about 5 minutes and turned it over to another before we went under a bridge. The bridge didn't look high enough, but we made it.
The ship is docked right in the heart of the shopping district and even though the shops are open part of the day on Sunday, they stayed open a little longer since the ship was in.

Happy Halloween

Sat. Oct. 31

Happy Halloween everyone. The atrium is decorated for the occasion and there will be some Halloween entertainment tonight.

Today is a sea day and we have been busy...we slept in, had a late brekkie, relaxed in a lounge by the pool, went to Maxtone-Graham's third lecture on the ocean liners past, took a brisk walk on the promenade deck, bought some t-shirts on sale, had lunch, took some pics of the Halloween decor and then needed a nap. We were exhausted. Now I am awake and thought I would catch up on my blogging. Have to squeeze it in before tapas and wine and dinner and Halloween fun. :)

Windy Wellington

Fri. Oct. 30

Today we visited Windy Wellington, a knickname given to the city because of the often windy conditions ( such as in Chicago). We arrived to a shower, but the clouds gave way to bright sunshine and coool temps:)
We missed seeing you Nicki, but Wellington gave us her sunny smile for our visit. Your city is lovely and the harbor quite a sight from Mt. Victoria.
We toured through the city and suburbs amazed at all the homes perched on the hillsides. Some of the homes actually have private trams to get to the front door. It truly is a city of hills, much like San Francisco.

We visited Lady Norwood Rose Garden and despite the fact that it was a couple weeks shy of the full bloom, we saw many roses in bloom. We also went into the garden house and saw many varieties of other plants and flowers.



We went to dinner in the dining room and were sat with four ladies. They were very nice but it was awkward for Joe not to have other men to chat with.
We went to see Liquid Blue perform in the Explorer's Lounge. They did 70s music tonight. We really like Summer, one of the vocalists. She sounds like a cross between Nora Jones and Sarah McGlachlin.

Unexpected Sea Day

Thurs. Oct. 29

We had an unexpected sea day because we were late departing Dunedin and the captain had to cancel Christchurch. We are on our way to Wellington, NZ
What does one do all day at sea? Here was our day.....Brekkie, laundry, Maxtone-Graham cruise historian lecture part 2, lunchie, nails, scoops (Joe), haircut (Joe), International cafe for specialty coffee ( We had to wait in line because it is so popular now), walk about promenade deck, dinner at the Crown Grill, super show with Liquid Blue, a great band and great voices.
Cool weather, comfortable seas, fresh salt air,:) It doesn't get any better than this we say over and over and over.....

Wed. Oct.28

Today we arrived in Dunedin. It was cool, overcast and 55. The weather held it together while we toured the Great Houses of Dunedin. We visited Larnach Castle, which was actually a Manor style house. The gardens were lovely and the view overlooking Dunedin and the Otaga Peninsula was breathtaking. We had a nice lunch in a hotel in Dunedin, did some shopping and visited another beautiful restored mansion called Ovelston. Then the wind and rain came. The 40 mile an hour winds forced us to stay in Dunedin for the night. The channel is narrow and keeping the ship in it was too risky. We will not be visiting Christchurch because of our delayed departure. We are disappointed but glad to know the captain puts the safety of the ship and the cruisers first.
Dunedin was a very friendly place to visit and very Scottish. The hills were covered by white and yellow flowers that are weeds to the residents, but lovely none the less. We saw plenty of sheep on the hills. As a matter of fact, when we were coming in the channel this morning, Joe started taking video and we were close to shore and could hear the sheep. The Rhododendrons are amazing here. I saw vibrant colors everywhere. They are at their peak in blooms right now.

Fiordland National Park

Tues. Oct. 27

The Tasman Sea was nasty last night. It got quite rough after we went to bed. The seas were at 8-12 ft. and the wind was howling at 45-50 knots. However, New Zealand greeted us this morning with sunny skies and calmer water. We are cruising through Fiordland National Park and Milford Sound was our first fiord. Simply beautiful. There was fresh snow on the peaks. We were there early in the morning and since the sun hadn't cleared the peaks, some of the pictures aren't as good as they could be. We next went to Thompson Sound. it was nice but lacked the snow that Milford had.

Two Days At Sea

Sun. Oct. 25-Mon. Oct.26

Our first day at sea was a relaxing one after I finished laundry and ironing!:) We had sunny skies with a temp of 68. The Tasman Sea was very nice to us. Today however, it lived up to its reputation. Seas were running 4-7 feet with 45 knot winds. It really wasn't bad nor did it stop us from doing anything. The sun was out most ot the day and the temp was 50. We are headed for cooler climate now and we have changed to long sleeves and jeans. We had a small shower in the morning.

We went to a port lecture this morning that covered the first three stops in NZ. Then we went to see an author named Maxtone-Graham. He has published several books on the Titanic and gives lectures on the subject. He is a marvelous speaker and we really enjoyed him.
We also took in a movie called "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past" with Matthew McConaughey. It was pretty good.

Tonight is the first formal night, but we have decided to skip this one. There are 3 more this cruise. We plan on doing 2.