New Zealand

New Zealand…Auckland, Napier, and Wellington
Our visits to each of the New Zealand port calls were short, but sweet. In Auckland we enjoyed the opportunity to be back in an English speaking country and be able to find our way about downtown. We had a wonderful berth just on the waterfront harbor side of the downtown corridor. Having been to Auckland before, we used our day and location for updating the blog with an internet café land line, shopping for sundries (soap, shampoo, phone cards) and Larry enjoyed a Burger King Whopper for lunch. Before we knew it, the day was spent and it was back on board for the sail away.
Overnight and into the early morning we cruised toward Napier arriving mid-day. The Queen Victoria was the biggest cruise ship to ever port in Napier and the local population came out in huge numbers to greet her. Napier is located at Hawke’s Bay and has a population of 57,000. Napier has become an important grape growing and wine producing region so we (predictably) spent the day touring the local wineries. The weather was pleasant, the people delightful, and the wines very drinkable.
Napier suffered a huge earthquake in 1931, destroying the city. When the local population rebuilt, they styled the buildings in an art deco theme that survives and is celebrated to this day. 250 lives were lost in the earthquake and the city memorialized the loss of life by planting one Norfolk Pine along the city coastline for each life lost. The pines stand tall and beautiful and outlined the beach as we sailed out of the harbor all too soon. Napier is a treasure to behold.
Wellington is the capitol of New Zealand and is located at the southern tip of the North Island. It has a compact city center and we spent the day in port exploring on foot. We took a cable car up the steep bank behind the business district and found ourselves at the entrance of a beautiful botanical garden park and historic cemetery. The walk through the park with 100+ year old botanical growth zigzagged down the hillside back into downtown. Once back downtown we walked to the waterfront where wharfs are lined with restaurants, pubs, parks, museums and boating activity. We saw a long queue winding around one area of the waterfront and Larry asked a person in line why everyone was lined up blocks long. The answer … it was a queue for a tug boat ride to see the Queen Victoria docked in a secure area in a container ship berth. She was too big to be in the usual cruise ship berth. We chuckled, and went to lunch pleased to know we weren’t missing something locally important that would require us to wait in that long line of people. It would have taken the balance of the day to get through that line!
We’ve been on our cruise 37 days or 35% of the tour around the world. We have yet to share some personal observations about the experience so far. Our accommodations are fine as we have adjusted to the cabin. The most important aspect for livability is to assure each day that we put things away and keep clutter to a minimum. The food is good and it takes strong self control to avoid eating too much and eating the right things. For example, the eggs Benedict in the morning are terrific and we have limited ourselves to once a week. Otherwise, we have raisin bran, oatmeal and the like. The entertainment is varied and never ending. The Cunard people have gone great lengths to keep a steady stream of interesting lectures, activities and experiences for the passengers to enjoy. Yesterday we heard a very interesting lecture by Rita Moreno who played the part of Anita in the movie West Side Story. She had some interesting history to share about the Latino experience in the early days of movies and theater. We continue our main go to activities of Bridge for Larry and watercolor painting for Ruthanne. We were guests at the Captain’s table for dinner and even renewed our wedding vows on Valentine’s Day. Overall the experience is a good one but, from time-to-time we get a little home sick and miss family, friends and the desert experience. We’ve taken many videos and pictures to share and will probably bore you with our stories.