Not much to report. Overnight was a mix of sleeping and trying to sleep in the full ocean swell. Then after a short period of relative calm it became rough again as we entered Bass Strait. Lee was marginally better and able to shower and go with me to buffet lunch. We tackled another puzzle sheet - there has been one of these each day available in the library - today's was all words ending in "-ical". It can be hard explaining cruise life - a daily puzzle sounds pretty naff and unworthy of note bit in fact it represents the way that a cruise ship outperforms most resort hotels on land.
We've made our final duty-free purchases. Soon we'll have to tackle the logistics of repacking to leave the ship. We have to have our suitcases out by 10pm, which pretty much means a quiet last night in the cabin as we'll need to only leave out tomorrow's clothes. We'll have to keep all declarable items with hand-luggage. We've been advised that the port has poor facilities for handling taxis - something we partly observed when boarding. That's certainly one area where Singapore is well ahead. If Melbourne wants to be a serious cruise destination then the port needs major improvements. I'm suspecting that we might both be later getting to work tomorrow than we expected.
In between spates of languid lying in the cabin I went up to the top deck to watch the turgid water. Bass strait lives up to its wild reputation, the waves are deep and high and make me glad we're on such a large vessel. Mostly there's been no shipping in sight but I did see one fully laden ANL container ship race past. On our left Flinders Island came up from the obscurity into clarity. Having crossed so much open ocean it seemed odd to take so long plying the strait.
Around the ship, quite a large number of people have already put their luggage out for collection. The sure sign that a cruise is nearing its end.
That said this process of putting luggage out the night before is new to us and is not welcome. On other cruises we've been able to mostly pack the night before but get up, shower and change before finalising the packing.
With the suitcases out and collected we watched a movie in our cabin.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Trip Notes Day 12 (Sunday) Tasman Sea
Trip Notes
Day 12 (Sunday) Tasman Sea
Again, the first night at open sea made for a patchy sleep. Alas Ms Lovely didn't sleep much as the relentless ship motion kicked in and she was destined to spend the day in bed.
After sleeping in a bit I rose and showered then promenaded to force my body to stay active.
I wasn't able to find a quiet place to sit as there were people everywhere - there is after all nowhere much to go on an at-sea day - and my preferred place was overtaken by artworks placed for preview before the final sale session. The Princess line clearly has an oranised approach to art. On display in the centre of the ship is a gallery of very high quality prints. Among the channels on the in-house TV is an Art channel and we caught an explanation there of the printing method(s) used and the post-printing individualising done, often by the original artists. It's an openly factory approach but which therefore supplies a middle ground between unique original paintings and mass replication. Call me an anti-snob but I prefer mass-replication - to me the picture is an image more than it is an artefact. Still, I'm a pluralist and more options can only be good.
During our daily wanderings of the ship it became a feature to see which had sold and what changes were made to the gallery. Even the casino was worth visiting to view the wall used as more space for hanging prints. For the final review even more pictures had been brought out. I think I'll miss seeing the collection when we depart.
In mid-afternoon I went up to pool deck and witnessed various passengers determined to pretend it was really summer by sunbathing and splashing around. I was cold from the breeze in jeans and short sleeves so I presume they were in denial. It was clear and sunny but cool and breezy.
After doing eight laps of the promenade deck to warm up I was back to seeing if Lee was well enough to go to the formal dinner. As she wasn't, I dressed to pass as formal and went to the theatre for the final song&dance show. Another medley, this time nominally about dance styles. It featured a sung version of a Viennese waltz - yep it takes Las Vegas class to put words on Strauss and add slapstick. Just when I thought it was progressing through historically, without any segue it jumped into Donna Summer disco - a la Bad Girls and Hot Stuff - then back to 50s style followed by a long Latin beat bracket. Clearly the dancers are most at home with Latin and were able to show their Strictly Dancing skills.
After checking in on Lee at the cabin I then headed to the other end of the ship for a Chopin piano recital. The pianist, Monia Rosca, was quite impressive playing a full set from memory. Etudes, Preludes, a Nocturne, a suite and a Polonaise - Chopin in full flourish really. And it was a treat to hear someone play Chopin as much more than just the notes on the score. For so long, every performance of Chopin we've been to has been like hearing a machine just play all the notes.
Alas, the piano she had to use was sorely out of tune. It says something about her performance that eventually stop hearing the imperfect instrument nad just heard the sweep and swells of expression.
Day 12 (Sunday) Tasman Sea
Again, the first night at open sea made for a patchy sleep. Alas Ms Lovely didn't sleep much as the relentless ship motion kicked in and she was destined to spend the day in bed.
After sleeping in a bit I rose and showered then promenaded to force my body to stay active.
I wasn't able to find a quiet place to sit as there were people everywhere - there is after all nowhere much to go on an at-sea day - and my preferred place was overtaken by artworks placed for preview before the final sale session. The Princess line clearly has an oranised approach to art. On display in the centre of the ship is a gallery of very high quality prints. Among the channels on the in-house TV is an Art channel and we caught an explanation there of the printing method(s) used and the post-printing individualising done, often by the original artists. It's an openly factory approach but which therefore supplies a middle ground between unique original paintings and mass replication. Call me an anti-snob but I prefer mass-replication - to me the picture is an image more than it is an artefact. Still, I'm a pluralist and more options can only be good.
During our daily wanderings of the ship it became a feature to see which had sold and what changes were made to the gallery. Even the casino was worth visiting to view the wall used as more space for hanging prints. For the final review even more pictures had been brought out. I think I'll miss seeing the collection when we depart.
In mid-afternoon I went up to pool deck and witnessed various passengers determined to pretend it was really summer by sunbathing and splashing around. I was cold from the breeze in jeans and short sleeves so I presume they were in denial. It was clear and sunny but cool and breezy.
After doing eight laps of the promenade deck to warm up I was back to seeing if Lee was well enough to go to the formal dinner. As she wasn't, I dressed to pass as formal and went to the theatre for the final song&dance show. Another medley, this time nominally about dance styles. It featured a sung version of a Viennese waltz - yep it takes Las Vegas class to put words on Strauss and add slapstick. Just when I thought it was progressing through historically, without any segue it jumped into Donna Summer disco - a la Bad Girls and Hot Stuff - then back to 50s style followed by a long Latin beat bracket. Clearly the dancers are most at home with Latin and were able to show their Strictly Dancing skills.
After checking in on Lee at the cabin I then headed to the other end of the ship for a Chopin piano recital. The pianist, Monia Rosca, was quite impressive playing a full set from memory. Etudes, Preludes, a Nocturne, a suite and a Polonaise - Chopin in full flourish really. And it was a treat to hear someone play Chopin as much more than just the notes on the score. For so long, every performance of Chopin we've been to has been like hearing a machine just play all the notes.
Alas, the piano she had to use was sorely out of tune. It says something about her performance that eventually stop hearing the imperfect instrument nad just heard the sweep and swells of expression.
Trip Notes Day 11 (Saturday) Fjordland
Trip Notes
Day 11 (Saturday) Fjordland
Woke early for the potential of going on deck to take in the view. Thankfully the ship has a webcam put through to the internal TV system so we lie in bed and watch from there until we could see it was worth getting for.
It appeared to clear a bit so up we went. The cloud and mist was still obscuring the peaks but we could clearly see the sides of the fjords and see how undisturbed the forests are.
Into the buffet for breakfast and a chat with a couple of retired ladies from Melbourne. One had emigrated from Greece just after the war and was on her first cruise. The other used to work on ships all over the world.
After another rest on the cabin we went back to the top deck as the ship prepared to enter Milford Sound. We'd both been on boats from the other end so were both keen to see it from the ocean inwards. While the weather was still patchy there were enough gaps in the clouds for there to be good light for viewing and photography. Neither of us are manic about cameras but we both took a lot of photos as we saw various viewpoints and features. It is easy to see why Milford is the showpiece of the National Park. Incredible too to be on such a large ship plying its way in the narrow but deep fjord. Even at the end of the sound it is hard to believe how close the ship could be to the shore. As we went along we could look up into the transverse valleys - some of which are themselves hundreds of metres about sea level. For being here in Summer we were lucky that there had been so much rain as there was water flowing down the steep slopes at many points and the more famous waterfalls were abundant. There were quite a few boats in the sound, at times taking it in turns to be close to the main waterfall. For that our ship aligned to point the bow directly at it and got astonishing close. The staff photographer was busy shooting couples effectively standing in front of the falls. Compared to everywhere else we've been, the ship moved very slowly (and I presume very carefully) and the whole trip up the sound, turnaround and return to sea took a couple of hours. The time seemed to fly by. Between spotting aspects of scenery (e.g. patches of snow on the peaks), ducking out of spray or drizzle, trying different viewpoints and grabbing a hot drink or fresh baked cookies, the went by too quickly.
We happened to be promenading on the right (well Port actually) side of the ship when we saw the Pilot boat coming out to meet us. Lee watched them do the transfer - a mix of passing over a suitcase, attaching lines and leaping a la James Bond - all achieved just by having the small boat run alongside the huge ship as it continued up the sound.
For a day just spent on ship we were surprisingly tired and slept the first half of the evening. Thinking it not wise to sleep too much before nightfall we went up to the buffet for dinner. As we were now heading straight into open sea Lee could sense the re-beginning of sea sickness.
Back in the cabin we watched a documentary about an American art theft. We'd caught part of it by accident earlier in the week but then had to be elsewhere and were keen to find out what happened.
Day 11 (Saturday) Fjordland
Woke early for the potential of going on deck to take in the view. Thankfully the ship has a webcam put through to the internal TV system so we lie in bed and watch from there until we could see it was worth getting for.
It appeared to clear a bit so up we went. The cloud and mist was still obscuring the peaks but we could clearly see the sides of the fjords and see how undisturbed the forests are.
Into the buffet for breakfast and a chat with a couple of retired ladies from Melbourne. One had emigrated from Greece just after the war and was on her first cruise. The other used to work on ships all over the world.
After another rest on the cabin we went back to the top deck as the ship prepared to enter Milford Sound. We'd both been on boats from the other end so were both keen to see it from the ocean inwards. While the weather was still patchy there were enough gaps in the clouds for there to be good light for viewing and photography. Neither of us are manic about cameras but we both took a lot of photos as we saw various viewpoints and features. It is easy to see why Milford is the showpiece of the National Park. Incredible too to be on such a large ship plying its way in the narrow but deep fjord. Even at the end of the sound it is hard to believe how close the ship could be to the shore. As we went along we could look up into the transverse valleys - some of which are themselves hundreds of metres about sea level. For being here in Summer we were lucky that there had been so much rain as there was water flowing down the steep slopes at many points and the more famous waterfalls were abundant. There were quite a few boats in the sound, at times taking it in turns to be close to the main waterfall. For that our ship aligned to point the bow directly at it and got astonishing close. The staff photographer was busy shooting couples effectively standing in front of the falls. Compared to everywhere else we've been, the ship moved very slowly (and I presume very carefully) and the whole trip up the sound, turnaround and return to sea took a couple of hours. The time seemed to fly by. Between spotting aspects of scenery (e.g. patches of snow on the peaks), ducking out of spray or drizzle, trying different viewpoints and grabbing a hot drink or fresh baked cookies, the went by too quickly.
We happened to be promenading on the right (well Port actually) side of the ship when we saw the Pilot boat coming out to meet us. Lee watched them do the transfer - a mix of passing over a suitcase, attaching lines and leaping a la James Bond - all achieved just by having the small boat run alongside the huge ship as it continued up the sound.
For a day just spent on ship we were surprisingly tired and slept the first half of the evening. Thinking it not wise to sleep too much before nightfall we went up to the buffet for dinner. As we were now heading straight into open sea Lee could sense the re-beginning of sea sickness.
Back in the cabin we watched a documentary about an American art theft. We'd caught part of it by accident earlier in the week but then had to be elsewhere and were keen to find out what happened.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Trip Notes Day 9 (Thursday) Christchurch
Slept in a bit and had a late breakfast. We opted to use a shuttle bus direct to Christchurch. This took us from our port of call at Lyttleton - a hill and harbour town reminiscent of Albany - straight through the hillside 1km tunnel and into the plain on the other side. Arriving in the city we pottered around the central square and adjoining shops. There was a street performance in progress, some kind of escapalogy act. Certainly a lot of souvenir shops in that area - more I think than I've ever seen anywhere.
We wandered along the tiny Avon river - familiar to both us but still quaint and pleasant. An operation of taking tourists for a punt on the river was doing steady business. Past some more shops - Lee spotted a good Sale and bought a cardigan.
In getting around the city we certainly saw signs of damage from the recent earthquake. Some small building spaces were by now completely cleared. Quite a few old brick churches had missing apexes and/or had supporting braces and scaffolding. On one building, which was clearly an old facade with a new high-rise inside, one wall had clearly become separated from the main structure and appeared ready to fall! I presume someone had worked out that it was safe thay way! I noted that the older old brick buildings, which had more irregular bricking patterns appeared to have survived well.
Then we had coffee and biscuits in a food hall built over the bus station. We caught a local bus heading to Lyttleton that would drop us off for the "Gondola" cable car ride. The "Gondola" took us from the base of the mountain to the top of the ridge where we had a view of both sides. Alas there was still a lot of cloud about and we only had a limited view of the nearby peaks and almost none of the distant peaks and bays. While at the top station we sat in on a mini ghost-train style ride that went through a combination of video screens and scenic installations. Depending on your perspective these were either natty or naff - I felt they were well realised even if the general concept was aimed at a child audience. Nevertheless, back in the cafe/souvenir shop, looking a large map of the area I could better understand the volcanic nature of the peninsula that gives Lyttleton its harbour and separation from Christchurch.
Back down the hill in the Gondola and a bus through the tunnel into Lyttleton and then a shuttle out to the ship. As with almost every port since Auckland the docks are busy with containers and pine logs and we weren't allowed to walk through them. We overheard some people being told that many of the logs get put onto factory ships on which they are processed en-route at sea. We were back in time for afternoon tea at which we compared cruising notes with a couple who had done Russian and Italian cruises in Asia, Europe and NZ.
We stretched our legs for a while (promenading) and relaxed in the library. Then we sat in on the tour talk for the next day's port of call. There had been one of these for each landing and they could be seen either live in the theatre or later on the TVs. For these, the resident "Port Lecturer" John Lawrence gives a slideshow and advice commentary both for people doing organised tours and those making their own shore stops. Tomorrow we'll be on our second ship's tour for this trip. On a cruise we usually do about half our shore visits using that way but as we've both been to NZ before we didn't see so much need.
After dinner we took in the song+dance performance in the theatre - a medley of songs made famous by Billy Joel, Neil Sedaka, Liberace, Barry Manilow and Elton John. It was a bit surreal seeing Las Vegas / New York showtune styles applied to the gritty lyrics of "Saturday Night's Alright" (really about a bogan's violent night out). But hey, there's "blood and a single gunshot" in Copacabana so who am I to quibble?
A cocktail/mocktail in the adjacent bar afterwards then up to the buffet for dessert. Another promenade and then back to the cabin to unwind and write up these notes about how demanding life is on board a cruise ship!
We wandered along the tiny Avon river - familiar to both us but still quaint and pleasant. An operation of taking tourists for a punt on the river was doing steady business. Past some more shops - Lee spotted a good Sale and bought a cardigan.
In getting around the city we certainly saw signs of damage from the recent earthquake. Some small building spaces were by now completely cleared. Quite a few old brick churches had missing apexes and/or had supporting braces and scaffolding. On one building, which was clearly an old facade with a new high-rise inside, one wall had clearly become separated from the main structure and appeared ready to fall! I presume someone had worked out that it was safe thay way! I noted that the older old brick buildings, which had more irregular bricking patterns appeared to have survived well.
Then we had coffee and biscuits in a food hall built over the bus station. We caught a local bus heading to Lyttleton that would drop us off for the "Gondola" cable car ride. The "Gondola" took us from the base of the mountain to the top of the ridge where we had a view of both sides. Alas there was still a lot of cloud about and we only had a limited view of the nearby peaks and almost none of the distant peaks and bays. While at the top station we sat in on a mini ghost-train style ride that went through a combination of video screens and scenic installations. Depending on your perspective these were either natty or naff - I felt they were well realised even if the general concept was aimed at a child audience. Nevertheless, back in the cafe/souvenir shop, looking a large map of the area I could better understand the volcanic nature of the peninsula that gives Lyttleton its harbour and separation from Christchurch.
Back down the hill in the Gondola and a bus through the tunnel into Lyttleton and then a shuttle out to the ship. As with almost every port since Auckland the docks are busy with containers and pine logs and we weren't allowed to walk through them. We overheard some people being told that many of the logs get put onto factory ships on which they are processed en-route at sea. We were back in time for afternoon tea at which we compared cruising notes with a couple who had done Russian and Italian cruises in Asia, Europe and NZ.
We stretched our legs for a while (promenading) and relaxed in the library. Then we sat in on the tour talk for the next day's port of call. There had been one of these for each landing and they could be seen either live in the theatre or later on the TVs. For these, the resident "Port Lecturer" John Lawrence gives a slideshow and advice commentary both for people doing organised tours and those making their own shore stops. Tomorrow we'll be on our second ship's tour for this trip. On a cruise we usually do about half our shore visits using that way but as we've both been to NZ before we didn't see so much need.
After dinner we took in the song+dance performance in the theatre - a medley of songs made famous by Billy Joel, Neil Sedaka, Liberace, Barry Manilow and Elton John. It was a bit surreal seeing Las Vegas / New York showtune styles applied to the gritty lyrics of "Saturday Night's Alright" (really about a bogan's violent night out). But hey, there's "blood and a single gunshot" in Copacabana so who am I to quibble?
A cocktail/mocktail in the adjacent bar afterwards then up to the buffet for dessert. Another promenade and then back to the cabin to unwind and write up these notes about how demanding life is on board a cruise ship!
Trip Notes Day 10 (Friday) Dunedin
We got up at a normal time to be breakfasted and off ship and onto a tour bus for the day.
We'd docked at Port Chalmers midway along the long bay that has Dunedin at the apex. So first the bus had to drive along the water edge with houses dotted up the hillside all the way. Somewhat like the Derwent south of Hobart we could see the other side with similar housing gradually becoming closer as we went along. Immediately it was apparent that scenic views were going to be limited due to the very low cloud this day.
At the apex the bay suddenly becomes a round basin and there is Dunedin. In many respects Dunedin is like I expected it to be - with many stoic old stone buildings. We stopped briefly at the Railway Station with its extravagant tiles and mosaics.
From there we wound through the steep slopes of the central city roads to a historic home - Olveston House.
This truly amazing house is an intact example of the last generation of fine houses built for the wealthy to live with a full contingent of servants. Almost beyond description - it's what you might expect to see on a grand English estate. I bought a booklet to later remind myself of the details.
From there we went to the Otago Museum (Otaga being the name of this region). While principally about the local region this is a world class museum. We felt it was slightly superior to the Te Papa in Wellington. The collection of Moa skeletons alone were worth the visit.
After that the bus took us past the "world's steepest street" which certainly looks it. We spotted some tourists walking their way there. It was otherwise an ordinary Dunedin housing street - we saw a car go to the top and park in a driveway. I suspect many nearby streets are probably the 2nd and 3rd steepest.
Next was the botanic gardens. It was already apparent that plant life is generally lush in Dunedin and the Botanic Gardens clearly has plants from all over the world. There was a greenhouse with a wing of cacti and I suspect that worked by keeping water out rather than in. The gardens are very extensive and we only had time to explore one small part - where we reached signs indicated it was a further 300m to get to the rhodadendrum garden and aviary.
We declined to be dropped off back in the city as we'd had enough of shopping and weren't prepared to trust the weather. Despite this, our travel round and about gave us a good picture of how much the city is affected by and indeed centred around the University of Otago. Our driver had just graduated and happily pointed out the numerous student colleges, flats, watering holes and other haunts as well as the extents of the university itself.
Back to the ship for lunch and a rest (we watched the movie Julie&Julia).
Then in the late afternoon I went up to the top deck to watch our exit out the narrow bay. As the cloud/mist/spray was very thick this wasn't greatly scenic but in its own way was almost ethereal as capes and bays would float in and out of visibility as the ship turned and travel along. After widening, the gap quickly narrowed as we finally passed through a narrow gap between sand bars and a rocky cape. As the waves in the bay increased and became ocean waves I watched as the pilot boat came alongside - I presume to transfer the local pilot. The pilot boat then crashed through the waves past us to reach an empty cargo ship waiting to come in (probably to dock where our ship had been). I could tell the cargo ship was empty because it was so high out of the water that its propeller was visible slicing in and out of the water.
We'd docked at Port Chalmers midway along the long bay that has Dunedin at the apex. So first the bus had to drive along the water edge with houses dotted up the hillside all the way. Somewhat like the Derwent south of Hobart we could see the other side with similar housing gradually becoming closer as we went along. Immediately it was apparent that scenic views were going to be limited due to the very low cloud this day.
At the apex the bay suddenly becomes a round basin and there is Dunedin. In many respects Dunedin is like I expected it to be - with many stoic old stone buildings. We stopped briefly at the Railway Station with its extravagant tiles and mosaics.
From there we wound through the steep slopes of the central city roads to a historic home - Olveston House.
This truly amazing house is an intact example of the last generation of fine houses built for the wealthy to live with a full contingent of servants. Almost beyond description - it's what you might expect to see on a grand English estate. I bought a booklet to later remind myself of the details.
From there we went to the Otago Museum (Otaga being the name of this region). While principally about the local region this is a world class museum. We felt it was slightly superior to the Te Papa in Wellington. The collection of Moa skeletons alone were worth the visit.
After that the bus took us past the "world's steepest street" which certainly looks it. We spotted some tourists walking their way there. It was otherwise an ordinary Dunedin housing street - we saw a car go to the top and park in a driveway. I suspect many nearby streets are probably the 2nd and 3rd steepest.
Next was the botanic gardens. It was already apparent that plant life is generally lush in Dunedin and the Botanic Gardens clearly has plants from all over the world. There was a greenhouse with a wing of cacti and I suspect that worked by keeping water out rather than in. The gardens are very extensive and we only had time to explore one small part - where we reached signs indicated it was a further 300m to get to the rhodadendrum garden and aviary.
We declined to be dropped off back in the city as we'd had enough of shopping and weren't prepared to trust the weather. Despite this, our travel round and about gave us a good picture of how much the city is affected by and indeed centred around the University of Otago. Our driver had just graduated and happily pointed out the numerous student colleges, flats, watering holes and other haunts as well as the extents of the university itself.
Back to the ship for lunch and a rest (we watched the movie Julie&Julia).
Then in the late afternoon I went up to the top deck to watch our exit out the narrow bay. As the cloud/mist/spray was very thick this wasn't greatly scenic but in its own way was almost ethereal as capes and bays would float in and out of visibility as the ship turned and travel along. After widening, the gap quickly narrowed as we finally passed through a narrow gap between sand bars and a rocky cape. As the waves in the bay increased and became ocean waves I watched as the pilot boat came alongside - I presume to transfer the local pilot. The pilot boat then crashed through the waves past us to reach an empty cargo ship waiting to come in (probably to dock where our ship had been). I could tell the cargo ship was empty because it was so high out of the water that its propeller was visible slicing in and out of the water.
Trip Notes Day 8 (Wednesday) Wellington
Ack, another early start as the ship was in early and will leave early. We chose to walk from the ship into town as that took us past things we wanted to see. First was the National Archives building to see the original Treaty of Waitangi. The display room also had a lot of other historic documents that gave an insight into the mechanisms of colonial governments - eg the petition for women's suffrage, abolition on the upper house of parliament.
Then we went to the Parliament complex for a guided tour, showing both the modern working elements and the restored historic parts. Very impressively done - good to see a restoration done with a past style and not merely as nostalgia.
Then we wandered further into the city centre and took a ride up and down the rebuilt cable car.
After picking up some lunch and eating it in the civic square we looked through a gallery in the old Wellington library building. The space had a contemporary international exhibition, which included some striking plastic scultpures by Chinese and Indian artists.
Then we ambled over to the large new museum space of Te Papa. There we saw their prize giant squid, displays explaining earthquakes, ancient geology+fauna of NZ and enlargements of the treaty of Waitangi (showing the translation issues). All in a very impressive use of space.
We wandered back along the water's edge and looked again for duty free liquor (a favour for Lee's sister). With none in sight we asked at a travel agent who said they're only at the airport.
Then we hopped on a shuttle bus back to the ship to rest. No need to walk back - we'd done over 13,000 steps for the day.
Then we went to the Parliament complex for a guided tour, showing both the modern working elements and the restored historic parts. Very impressively done - good to see a restoration done with a past style and not merely as nostalgia.
Then we wandered further into the city centre and took a ride up and down the rebuilt cable car.
After picking up some lunch and eating it in the civic square we looked through a gallery in the old Wellington library building. The space had a contemporary international exhibition, which included some striking plastic scultpures by Chinese and Indian artists.
Then we ambled over to the large new museum space of Te Papa. There we saw their prize giant squid, displays explaining earthquakes, ancient geology+fauna of NZ and enlargements of the treaty of Waitangi (showing the translation issues). All in a very impressive use of space.
We wandered back along the water's edge and looked again for duty free liquor (a favour for Lee's sister). With none in sight we asked at a travel agent who said they're only at the airport.
Then we hopped on a shuttle bus back to the ship to rest. No need to walk back - we'd done over 13,000 steps for the day.
Trip Notes Day 6 (Monday) Mt Maunganui
We walked from the ship and around part of the base of the mountain then up a steep road to the top. Quite a view. Took a few photos although only on my phone and I unwittingly ran out of space so a few didn't keep. It was odd being poised simultaneously high above the inland port, oceanside beaches and town.
We carefully made our way back down then wandered through the closest shops and had some gelati - having managed to completely overlook the shop that did the local NZ ice cream (oh der).
Mt Maunganui is quite reminiscent of Mandurah, being clearly a seaside holiday place that has developed and now has some very upmarket accommodation. However at the mountain end is a caravan park, where they were re-drawing the caravan bay markings - clearly preparing for a summer holiday rush in a week or two. The general layout - of land, bridges, docks, islands, mountain, towns, ports and water channels is confusing both at land level and from the mountain top. I may have to use Google-Earth back at home to make sense of it.
Most of the tours for this port of call were to Rotarua but as we've both been there we opted for a quiet local wander. That means we also didn't go to the nearby large town of Tauranga.
We carefully made our way back down then wandered through the closest shops and had some gelati - having managed to completely overlook the shop that did the local NZ ice cream (oh der).
Mt Maunganui is quite reminiscent of Mandurah, being clearly a seaside holiday place that has developed and now has some very upmarket accommodation. However at the mountain end is a caravan park, where they were re-drawing the caravan bay markings - clearly preparing for a summer holiday rush in a week or two. The general layout - of land, bridges, docks, islands, mountain, towns, ports and water channels is confusing both at land level and from the mountain top. I may have to use Google-Earth back at home to make sense of it.
Most of the tours for this port of call were to Rotarua but as we've both been there we opted for a quiet local wander. That means we also didn't go to the nearby large town of Tauranga.
Trip Notes Day 7 (Tuesday) Napier
This was our shortest port of call and we only had half a day here. Or so we thought. As it happened the ship was concerned about logistics and so put on steam to arrive a bit earlier. We still had to wait on ship anyway for our scheduled tour. However it was worth it as our bus took us to a part of suburb that we couldn't have reached from the town centre. This let us see a whole bunch of art deco domestic houses.
For Art Deco is the big thing in Napier now and it is there in abundance. Whereas we're used to seeing Art Deco in isolated remnants (e.g. in Perth, the Como, Astor and Windsor cinemas) with monochrome facades and usually no period interiors - in Napier the exteriors are alive with colour and many interiors are either extant or restored. Seeing this style in a consistent setting is the difference which is hard to appreciate without actually being there. It was so startling to see an ordinary block of independent shops all in original art deco style. Another surprise is that they originally built them with underground power so the streets are wide and tidy. Even the sidewalk overhangs were all set even which makes for a neat look.
If you didn't know why Napier is an Art Deco time capsule the short story is that it was devastated by an earthquake in 1931 and then almost entirely rebuilt within a couple of years.
We did most of the (walking) tour in a light rain - good thing we had our umbrellas. Afterwards we wrote some postcards at a cafe - we both had hazelnut flavoured hot drinks and Lee used some free WiFi to check Facebook. Then it was time to hop a bus back to the ship.
On board we rested a bit then went to another song and dance show after dinner.
For Art Deco is the big thing in Napier now and it is there in abundance. Whereas we're used to seeing Art Deco in isolated remnants (e.g. in Perth, the Como, Astor and Windsor cinemas) with monochrome facades and usually no period interiors - in Napier the exteriors are alive with colour and many interiors are either extant or restored. Seeing this style in a consistent setting is the difference which is hard to appreciate without actually being there. It was so startling to see an ordinary block of independent shops all in original art deco style. Another surprise is that they originally built them with underground power so the streets are wide and tidy. Even the sidewalk overhangs were all set even which makes for a neat look.
If you didn't know why Napier is an Art Deco time capsule the short story is that it was devastated by an earthquake in 1931 and then almost entirely rebuilt within a couple of years.
We did most of the (walking) tour in a light rain - good thing we had our umbrellas. Afterwards we wrote some postcards at a cafe - we both had hazelnut flavoured hot drinks and Lee used some free WiFi to check Facebook. Then it was time to hop a bus back to the ship.
On board we rested a bit then went to another song and dance show after dinner.
Trip Notes Day 4 (Saturday)
After going to sleep again with a swaying and creaking cabin we woke around midday to a much calmer world. There was sunshine, the decks were clear and there were people lounging around the top deck pools. The extra health precautions were kept up just to be sure but announcements told us that all seemed well again.
We were finally able to go all around the promenade deck. We had lunch together and shared cruising tales with a couple from Queensland.
Lee went to an aerobic class while I used our netbook to pay a bill using WiFi from our cabin to the ship's satellite internet service.
We went to the another performance space for a song/comedy routine by Mark Christian. Finally well enough to have dinner in the full service restaurant. Will be getting up early tomorrow for our first landfall in Auckland.
We were finally able to go all around the promenade deck. We had lunch together and shared cruising tales with a couple from Queensland.
Lee went to an aerobic class while I used our netbook to pay a bill using WiFi from our cabin to the ship's satellite internet service.
We went to the another performance space for a song/comedy routine by Mark Christian. Finally well enough to have dinner in the full service restaurant. Will be getting up early tomorrow for our first landfall in Auckland.
Trip Notes Day 5 (Sunday) Auckland
Egad - had to get up early.. well, by a specific time anyway to be off the ship in time to meet friends of Lee's and catch a ferry to Waiheke Island. Ellen had arranged a private tour guide, Christine, who took us all over the island, which was like a dream version of Rottnest (in that Auckland is a bit like Perth). We dropped by an art gallery, had wine and olive tastings at two small wineries and lunch at a restaurant with an amazing view. Indeed the island seems as though it was deliberately made to have a maximum possible number and quality of amazing vistas and bathing bays. Good food and I had a shot of slivovitz to boot!
Returned via the ferry and had a brief wander around central Auckland then back to the ship for a show and dinner.
Returned via the ferry and had a brief wander around central Auckland then back to the ship for a show and dinner.
Trip Notes Day 3 (Friday)
It wasn't calmer! Or at least not by much. Still slept a lot though I rose and showered for lunch. I then spent the afternoon in a combination of wandering and sitting while listening to some podcasts on my phone. The seas were rough enough that the promenade deck was blocked off as being unsafe - too wet and windy. Lee was still not prepared to eat until dinner time. By this time there had been enough reports of seasickness to have the ship worried about possible outbreaks of gastro (hard to detect when the symptoms are so similar). This meant that hand cleansing became mandatory on entry to the buffet and instead of serving ourselves there were crew ready to serve everyone. So it became a buffer where you took your plate and pointed to things you wanted. Also, extra crew were cleaning each table as soon as it was vacated.
We went to the theatre for the dance show - a montage of 50's and 60's songs and styles. While we expect the choreography was scaled back to match the conditions it was still impressive how they managed a flawless performance while the ship was still clearly rocking.
We went to the theatre for the dance show - a montage of 50's and 60's songs and styles. While we expect the choreography was scaled back to match the conditions it was still impressive how they managed a flawless performance while the ship was still clearly rocking.
Trip Notes Day 1 (Wednesday)
The day was spent getting settled and exploring the ship. I was so tired that I drifted off while Lee unpacked. Then while she went for a tour around the decks I relaxed for a quick kip. In the evening we went to an preview show in the theatre which had samples of the upcoming entertainment acts - including the dance troupe, feature singers and older Australian rocker Roland Storm.
Trip Notes Day 2 (Thursday)
We were both quite affected by the ocean swell and tried to spend as much of it lying down as possible. I didn't feel specifically ill but I didn't feel sure about eating anything. We both felt too tired to read so we watched movies on the cabin TV. By mid-evening I felt well enough to meander (I presume there's a proper term for the kind of drunken walk one does on a swaying ship) up to the buffet for an attempt at eating dinner. I went to bed well-fed and hopeful that the morrow would be calmer.
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