Saturday was a beautiful sunny day to spend walking around Wellington. We took the shuttle bus to the downtown area and got a map of the city. We decided it was a short distance to many of the tourist sites and we would walk it all.
Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand and therefore has some of the best museums etc. It has a population of only 450,000 people which is small considering some of our cities. The city was easy to navigate. First we walked along the wharf to the Te Pap Museum. It is one of the largest national museums in the world and has a significant Maori display. It was also holding the Monet Exhibition. We toured the entire 6 floors and found the museum to be excellent. From there we walked to Cuba Street where the Carnival was taking place. It really reminded us of The Fringe with the buskers and food carts and thousands of people milling around. There were 40,000 people and at one point, Doug and I thought we would never be able to get through. We then walked to the city centre and found the famous cable car. The car reached the top of the hill overlooking Wellington where we had an excellent view of the city. We then proceeded down the hill to the Wellington Botanic Gardens. This garden covers 62 acres with long winding paths through protected native forest and plant collections. We walked and walked through the forest down to the Lady Norwood Rose Garden where there were hundreds of roses in bloom and paths leading through the roses. We hurried to the The Begonia House, before it closed ,to take photos of the huge displays of different begonias. It was beautiful. Doug and I looked at each other and said, Hey we have been here before and sure enough we were here with the ship in 2003. Inside the Begonia House was a lily pond, and outside was a fountain with mallard ducks swimming around and around. After this we wound down to the city centre and headed for Old St Paul's church that Doug heard about in the lecture about Welllington. The interior was built to resemble Noah's ark. When we found the church, I had another aha moment and said we were here too. We went inside and looked around. Yes, we were here too. We had seen so much and had done 5 hours of walking so as we limped back to the ship, we thought to ourselves, we did this entire city on foot and saw so much in one day. It was a great day to be walking in the sunshine with cool winds. Wellington is known as the windy city.
Today, Sunday, we are heading for Dunedin and the fjords. It is foggy outside and I can hear the ship's fog horn blowing every so often warning other ships we are in the vicinity. Today is a full day of lectures and Doug is gone for Sunday brunch in the Crystal Cove. This is my time to get some emails sent.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Napier, New Zealand
'CELEBRATING ART DECO'
We arrived in the morning to rain in Napier. The locals were happy and thanked the ship for bringing them rain. All world cruisers were invited to the 3 pm surprise party in Napier. All we were told was we were going to be picked up by buses and driven somewhere for a surprise.
The other cruisers, who are only taking short segments of the cruise, went ashore for their tours. The World Cruisers were picked up by many many buses since there were approximately 242 of us, and driven through the town of Napier. Unfortunately, with the rain coming down on the bus windows, I was not able to take many photos of the town. The day we arrived, was the starting date of Napier's "Art Deco Weekend Event" which means the locals get dressed in clothes of the 1930s.The old antique cars were pulled out of the garages and paraded around the town. While being driven around the town, you would see people dressed up having coffee outside and it felt as if you were in a time warp.
Napier suffered a severe earth quake of the 7.8 reictor scale in the 1930s and the quake devastated the town causing hundreds of deaths. The town folk decided to rebuild the city to make it sturdier in case of another earthquake and chose to do it in the Art Deco style.
Today, Napier and South Beach, Miami, are considered to be the two best preserved Art Deco towns and in 2007, Napier was nominated for UNESCO World Heritage Site status. the first cultural site in New Zealand to be nominated. The locals still build their new homes in this style.
We were driven around the residential areas and saw many many homes built in the Art Deco style. I remember seeing a few of the styles in Edmonton but not too many. The front of the houses are curved and have flat roofs. The downtown buildings were just beautiful. Because of the foresight of the people in the 1930s, Napier is a tourist attraction today. We were so fortunate to be here at the right time.
When we arrived at our secret destination, we were greeted by Charlie Chaplin, locals dressed in period costumes, and old vintage cars. We came into a reception area where we were served appetizers and drinks and watched dance hall girls. After we were escorted to tables surrounding a dance floor and a stage. We were seated and watched the Andrew Sisters perform, Frank Sinatra, Millers Big Band and many more stars or impersonators. It was great music from the 1930s. We had some appetizers and drinks and ice cream cones. We spent 3 hours going back in time to the dirty thirties and the seniors, including us, enjoyed the afternoon very much.
It was a neat thing for Crystal to do for us and apparently there are more surprise events to come.
We arrived in the morning to rain in Napier. The locals were happy and thanked the ship for bringing them rain. All world cruisers were invited to the 3 pm surprise party in Napier. All we were told was we were going to be picked up by buses and driven somewhere for a surprise.
The other cruisers, who are only taking short segments of the cruise, went ashore for their tours. The World Cruisers were picked up by many many buses since there were approximately 242 of us, and driven through the town of Napier. Unfortunately, with the rain coming down on the bus windows, I was not able to take many photos of the town. The day we arrived, was the starting date of Napier's "Art Deco Weekend Event" which means the locals get dressed in clothes of the 1930s.The old antique cars were pulled out of the garages and paraded around the town. While being driven around the town, you would see people dressed up having coffee outside and it felt as if you were in a time warp.
Napier suffered a severe earth quake of the 7.8 reictor scale in the 1930s and the quake devastated the town causing hundreds of deaths. The town folk decided to rebuild the city to make it sturdier in case of another earthquake and chose to do it in the Art Deco style.
Today, Napier and South Beach, Miami, are considered to be the two best preserved Art Deco towns and in 2007, Napier was nominated for UNESCO World Heritage Site status. the first cultural site in New Zealand to be nominated. The locals still build their new homes in this style.
We were driven around the residential areas and saw many many homes built in the Art Deco style. I remember seeing a few of the styles in Edmonton but not too many. The front of the houses are curved and have flat roofs. The downtown buildings were just beautiful. Because of the foresight of the people in the 1930s, Napier is a tourist attraction today. We were so fortunate to be here at the right time.
When we arrived at our secret destination, we were greeted by Charlie Chaplin, locals dressed in period costumes, and old vintage cars. We came into a reception area where we were served appetizers and drinks and watched dance hall girls. After we were escorted to tables surrounding a dance floor and a stage. We were seated and watched the Andrew Sisters perform, Frank Sinatra, Millers Big Band and many more stars or impersonators. It was great music from the 1930s. We had some appetizers and drinks and ice cream cones. We spent 3 hours going back in time to the dirty thirties and the seniors, including us, enjoyed the afternoon very much.
It was a neat thing for Crystal to do for us and apparently there are more surprise events to come.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Tauranga, New Zealand
We arrived in the port of Tauranga early in the morning under sunny skies watching on our balcony, another huge cruise ship being guided into port by a tugboat. We looked out and saw the beautiful Mount Maunganui,"Mauao", which we had walked around last time we were here 4 years ago. We were excited to see our friends, Ray and Joan Kucharski from Edmonton. They were meeting us this morning to show us around. Ray and Joan have been coming here to spend some of their winter months away from Alberta's cold.
Ray and Joan took us to the resort town of Mount Maunganui. It is a beautiful town with lovely flowers in the streets, quaint shops and restaurants, and lovely huge homes overlooking the harbor. Many Edmontonians come here for the winter and spend their free time golfing, exploring the countryside and visiting eachother. We were driven to the beautiful Ocean Beach, the nicest beach in NZ. It has to be one of the loveliest beaches I have ever walked on. It was quiet and long and had beautiful shells washed up on the beach, which I collected and pocketed and got through the ship's scrutiny. We walked and walked. There were some spectacular, large homes built overlooking this beach. We then drove to their home to see the house they rent for the winter. It was a lovely, fairly new home with a yard and plants of all sorts. Most of the Edmontonians rent the homes of the local people, who in turn take a vacation elsewhere with the monies received from the rent of their homes. It is a good deal for both parties.
We came back to the ship and had a visit over lunch in our dining room. We showed them around the ship and then left once more for a drive into the countryside. Joan gave a very informative tour of the surrounding area. We saw kiwi plantations surrounded by huge trees pruned to protect the kiwi fruit. The kiwi fruit was introduced here in Tauranga 100 years ago, as Chinese gooseberries. We also visited McLaren Falls which contains one of the best botanical collection of trees in the North Island. This park area also abounds with a large diverse range of birdlife. It was nice to hear and see nature in action. After the falls, we travelled amongst the sheep and cattle farms and drove up into the hills to the lookout point of Waikato which afforded us great views of the countryside below. Everything is so lush and green here. Then we passed some sheep farms and I naturally had to get out of the car and take some shots of the cute animals. We then proceeded to another lookout point called Minden Point where we took photos of our ship in the distance in the Bay of Plenty. Tauranga port is the busiest and most important port in New Zealand. They export kiwi fruit, timber and dairy products here and the city is the gateway to Rotorua, where the geothermal pools are.
Ray and Joan gave us a wonderful overview of the town and surrounding countryside and I was so happy to have all my plant questions answered by Joan who knew more than the local guides. It was a lovely lovely day and a wonderful visit. I sure wouldn't mind spending our winters here.
After we came back to the ship, we got ready for the "Moonshine Mountain Mixer" up in the Palm Court where there was supposed to be a knee-slapping hillbilly hoedown. The place was decorated in the style of the hillbilly country. The dancers and musicians wore bluejeans, big black hats, red underwear, and were barefoot. The music was wonderful with the fiddle just a playing away and the dancers grabbing the guests for a hoedown. We had so much fun, dancing, drinking and clapping and laughing. There was a skit at the end where a hillbilly had to find the gentleman who got his daughter pregnant and marry them off. The lines were hilarious. A production crew in LA, we were told, produced the skit and the dance moves etc. The rabbi and his wife were even all dressed up in hillbilly outfits. Crystal knows how to do things right.
This was a very enjoyable and action packed day for us.
Ray and Joan took us to the resort town of Mount Maunganui. It is a beautiful town with lovely flowers in the streets, quaint shops and restaurants, and lovely huge homes overlooking the harbor. Many Edmontonians come here for the winter and spend their free time golfing, exploring the countryside and visiting eachother. We were driven to the beautiful Ocean Beach, the nicest beach in NZ. It has to be one of the loveliest beaches I have ever walked on. It was quiet and long and had beautiful shells washed up on the beach, which I collected and pocketed and got through the ship's scrutiny. We walked and walked. There were some spectacular, large homes built overlooking this beach. We then drove to their home to see the house they rent for the winter. It was a lovely, fairly new home with a yard and plants of all sorts. Most of the Edmontonians rent the homes of the local people, who in turn take a vacation elsewhere with the monies received from the rent of their homes. It is a good deal for both parties.
We came back to the ship and had a visit over lunch in our dining room. We showed them around the ship and then left once more for a drive into the countryside. Joan gave a very informative tour of the surrounding area. We saw kiwi plantations surrounded by huge trees pruned to protect the kiwi fruit. The kiwi fruit was introduced here in Tauranga 100 years ago, as Chinese gooseberries. We also visited McLaren Falls which contains one of the best botanical collection of trees in the North Island. This park area also abounds with a large diverse range of birdlife. It was nice to hear and see nature in action. After the falls, we travelled amongst the sheep and cattle farms and drove up into the hills to the lookout point of Waikato which afforded us great views of the countryside below. Everything is so lush and green here. Then we passed some sheep farms and I naturally had to get out of the car and take some shots of the cute animals. We then proceeded to another lookout point called Minden Point where we took photos of our ship in the distance in the Bay of Plenty. Tauranga port is the busiest and most important port in New Zealand. They export kiwi fruit, timber and dairy products here and the city is the gateway to Rotorua, where the geothermal pools are.
Ray and Joan gave us a wonderful overview of the town and surrounding countryside and I was so happy to have all my plant questions answered by Joan who knew more than the local guides. It was a lovely lovely day and a wonderful visit. I sure wouldn't mind spending our winters here.
After we came back to the ship, we got ready for the "Moonshine Mountain Mixer" up in the Palm Court where there was supposed to be a knee-slapping hillbilly hoedown. The place was decorated in the style of the hillbilly country. The dancers and musicians wore bluejeans, big black hats, red underwear, and were barefoot. The music was wonderful with the fiddle just a playing away and the dancers grabbing the guests for a hoedown. We had so much fun, dancing, drinking and clapping and laughing. There was a skit at the end where a hillbilly had to find the gentleman who got his daughter pregnant and marry them off. The lines were hilarious. A production crew in LA, we were told, produced the skit and the dance moves etc. The rabbi and his wife were even all dressed up in hillbilly outfits. Crystal knows how to do things right.
This was a very enjoyable and action packed day for us.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Auckland, New Zealand
We arrived in Auckland with some overcast skies but by the afternoon it was nice and sunny and the temperature was in the mid 60s. Doug and I took a walk by ourselves around the city. It is clean and easy to get around. We gravitated to the Albert Park, (I wonder why... oh there were some trees there). It is built up high on an old volcano and overlooks part of the city. It was so nice to walk around a friendly, English speaking city. The locals are so helpful. Mary Anne asked for some help on how to get by bus to a mall and the lady asked them to hop in her car and drove them to the mall. Again, Mary Anne was chatting up another lady and she offered to drive her and Harry to the museum and if she had more time wanted them to come over for dinner. We are very very impressed with the lovely city and the wonderful people.
The next day, we went on a bus tour of the city. First of all we drove to the waterfront where Kelly Tarlton's Antarctic Encounter and Underwater World is. This underwater world is built in old sewer tunnels and is so well done that it is know world wide. There is a life size recreation of Captain Robert Scott's 1911 Antarctic expedition. I don't know how they braved the cold in such poor living conditions. Next we took a "Snow Cat" and went into a simulated snow storm where we emerged into a live penguin colony. A baby penguin was born just 24 hours previously, but we could not see it. You could see them swimming and walking around. They were so cute. Next we traveled through a clear, acrylic tunnel on a moving walk way as schools of fish and sting ray and shark swam around us.
After this, we traveled downtown to the Sky Tower which stands at 1,072 feet and is the tallest building in the southern hemisphere. We took elevators to the observation deck which showed a panoramic view of the city of Auckland and Hauraki Gulf. Auckland has the longest shoreline of any city in the world. The city itself is 60 miles in diameter and has one and half million people. As we were walking around the deck we saw people do the Sky Jump off the tower down to the bottom in 28 sec. Our waiter did it and asked me to do it with her. I said no naturally. It looked scary but fun. So Doug got this idea he should do it. I said I wouldn't. We went down to get Doug fitted out in a harness etc. but the cashier would not accept American cash and we did not take our credit cards with us unfortunately. I was all prepared to take photos of Doug's jump. Doug was so disappointed. Would you believe, NZ does not take any American cash, not even $1. We learned a lesson, have Visa on you at all times.
We walked back to the ship and at the dinner table, we were all agreeing what a wonderful city and country this is and wouldn't mind moving here. Houses are so reasonably priced and cost of living is low. We were told if any tourist needs to go to the hospital, all expenses are taken care of by the government and we do not have to pay anything. NZ has low crime, is very clean, slow paced, friendly. Why wouldn't you want to come and live here.
Tomorrow off to Tauranga which is fairly close by so we are taking a detour with the cruise ship so that we don't arrive early but have a sea day to rest. I just looked out the balcony window and we are hardly moving along.
100 extra people onboard the ship and you can notice the difference. Tables are getting busier and noisier and more traffic in the hallways. What will happen when we get a full ship in Hong Kong. We have been spoiled.
The next day, we went on a bus tour of the city. First of all we drove to the waterfront where Kelly Tarlton's Antarctic Encounter and Underwater World is. This underwater world is built in old sewer tunnels and is so well done that it is know world wide. There is a life size recreation of Captain Robert Scott's 1911 Antarctic expedition. I don't know how they braved the cold in such poor living conditions. Next we took a "Snow Cat" and went into a simulated snow storm where we emerged into a live penguin colony. A baby penguin was born just 24 hours previously, but we could not see it. You could see them swimming and walking around. They were so cute. Next we traveled through a clear, acrylic tunnel on a moving walk way as schools of fish and sting ray and shark swam around us.
After this, we traveled downtown to the Sky Tower which stands at 1,072 feet and is the tallest building in the southern hemisphere. We took elevators to the observation deck which showed a panoramic view of the city of Auckland and Hauraki Gulf. Auckland has the longest shoreline of any city in the world. The city itself is 60 miles in diameter and has one and half million people. As we were walking around the deck we saw people do the Sky Jump off the tower down to the bottom in 28 sec. Our waiter did it and asked me to do it with her. I said no naturally. It looked scary but fun. So Doug got this idea he should do it. I said I wouldn't. We went down to get Doug fitted out in a harness etc. but the cashier would not accept American cash and we did not take our credit cards with us unfortunately. I was all prepared to take photos of Doug's jump. Doug was so disappointed. Would you believe, NZ does not take any American cash, not even $1. We learned a lesson, have Visa on you at all times.
We walked back to the ship and at the dinner table, we were all agreeing what a wonderful city and country this is and wouldn't mind moving here. Houses are so reasonably priced and cost of living is low. We were told if any tourist needs to go to the hospital, all expenses are taken care of by the government and we do not have to pay anything. NZ has low crime, is very clean, slow paced, friendly. Why wouldn't you want to come and live here.
Tomorrow off to Tauranga which is fairly close by so we are taking a detour with the cruise ship so that we don't arrive early but have a sea day to rest. I just looked out the balcony window and we are hardly moving along.
100 extra people onboard the ship and you can notice the difference. Tables are getting busier and noisier and more traffic in the hallways. What will happen when we get a full ship in Hong Kong. We have been spoiled.
Bay of Islands Waitangi
We entered the Bay of Islands and anchored off shore. It was overcast and we were wondering what the weather would be like on the other side of the bay. There were islands everywhere lust and green. Waitangi is a resort for tourists to relax and is a miniature Banff. Today's all day tour would take us to the other side of the island where we would see the countryside and the well know Waipoua Forest. We were looking forward to going into the interior of NZ. Our tour had only 8 people so we were fortunate and the driver and guide was a retired principal who enjoyed telling us all about this area where he resides. He is in the minority here and has learned the Maori language.
We traveled across the northland in sunshine seeing sunflowers, sheep, herds of Holstein cows, horses and small farms. We arrived at the other end of the North Island at Hokianga Harbor and saw a huge hill of sand. This sand is blown from the sea onto the hills and forms large sand dunes that the locals dune buggy on. These sand dunes are at the entrance of this harbor where many sailing vessels capsized.
We had a beautiful lunch at the hotel overlooking this beautiful harbor and were met with the Maori guide. He greeted our guide with a nose rub and a hand shake. This is still the informal greeting of the locals. Saw our guide meet another Maori and they also rubbed noses and starred each in the eye.
We drove up into the Waipoua Forest. There was all kinds of vegetation with tree ferns silver leafed fern (NZ symbol) tea trees a very poisonous tree and kiwis hiding everywhere. We didn't see any for they only come out in the evening. This forest is home to some of the oldest trees in the world. During our stroll with birds chirping and insects buzzing we came to the Four Sisters kauri trees. They are so huge and old that there is all kinds of vegetation growing up in the boughs of the trees. Our Maori guide sang to the trees in his language and was so enthusiastic and happy that we came to see these trees. Doug loves trees so he was happy plus it was so nice to get out into nature. The guide prayed to these trees and then we were off to see the largest kauri tree in New Zealand. We came upon it and looked way way up in awe. It rises to a height of 167 feet and is estimated to be 2000 years old. It was an impressive sight to behold. Doug sat down on the bench and looked up in awe of this old old tree still standing. Again the Maori guide sang some songs and said some prayers to the tree.
We had a lovely ride back home to the ship and a very enjoyable day.
We traveled across the northland in sunshine seeing sunflowers, sheep, herds of Holstein cows, horses and small farms. We arrived at the other end of the North Island at Hokianga Harbor and saw a huge hill of sand. This sand is blown from the sea onto the hills and forms large sand dunes that the locals dune buggy on. These sand dunes are at the entrance of this harbor where many sailing vessels capsized.
We had a beautiful lunch at the hotel overlooking this beautiful harbor and were met with the Maori guide. He greeted our guide with a nose rub and a hand shake. This is still the informal greeting of the locals. Saw our guide meet another Maori and they also rubbed noses and starred each in the eye.
We drove up into the Waipoua Forest. There was all kinds of vegetation with tree ferns silver leafed fern (NZ symbol) tea trees a very poisonous tree and kiwis hiding everywhere. We didn't see any for they only come out in the evening. This forest is home to some of the oldest trees in the world. During our stroll with birds chirping and insects buzzing we came to the Four Sisters kauri trees. They are so huge and old that there is all kinds of vegetation growing up in the boughs of the trees. Our Maori guide sang to the trees in his language and was so enthusiastic and happy that we came to see these trees. Doug loves trees so he was happy plus it was so nice to get out into nature. The guide prayed to these trees and then we were off to see the largest kauri tree in New Zealand. We came upon it and looked way way up in awe. It rises to a height of 167 feet and is estimated to be 2000 years old. It was an impressive sight to behold. Doug sat down on the bench and looked up in awe of this old old tree still standing. Again the Maori guide sang some songs and said some prayers to the tree.
We had a lovely ride back home to the ship and a very enjoyable day.
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