New Zealand

Saturday 13^th February Auckland

Arrived at the dock in the city of sails tied up next to a posh hotel shaped like a cruise ship. In the bay we could see some expensive yachts but the prize goes to the square rigger that was used in the making of the Onedin Line a BBC series in the 70’s.

We went on a tour up the Mount Eden volcano with an extinct caldera. Auckland is built on about thirty volcano cones, mount Eden is the largest. Great views of the area which is extensive bays all around. Some very expensive real estate, nice parks and schools. Being Saturday lots of cricket matches with boys and girl teams.

We spent the afternoon in a modern museum looking at the natural history of New Zealand and the first settlers, their contributions to the wars. A complete working Spitfire was on display plus a cut out Merlin engine The world’s largest war canoe was a major attraction on the ground floor in the Maori display.

We sailed away sat in the upper Commodores lounge watching the ship navigate the buoys in the moonlight while sipping drinks with our new friends. So ended another good day.

Lyttleton Sunday

The ship anchored in a huge bay surrounded by mountains. Ve and Brian were on their way to meet us so we were anxious to get off quickly and meet them. We took a drive in their car to Ataroa a small seaside village in a huge bay. This village had previously been settled by the French so the houses looked like Brittany. The Maoris sold the land to a French settler and when the Frenchman returned to France to pick up more settlers the Maoris sold it again to the British. So ended the French connection so legend has it! Apparently reselling land again and again was a common occurrence.

We had a great day with Ve and Brian who looked surprisingly well. It felt like old times again with Sheila not requiring a stick or frequent pit stops.

We were delivered back o the ship in time, something of a worry for we were fifty miles away in the New Zealand country side at our furthest point and navigation was a bit dodgy to say the least as the roads and road signs were tiny. I phone was no use here as we could not get a signal.

Monday 16^th in Welligton

We sailed into another great bay with mountains created by extinct volcanoes around us but this time we tied up in a modern city. We toured the town independently of the ships tours. First order of business was to purchase a new electric razor. This was not easy as the object was too mundane for the fancy city shops but we persisted. After visiting several shops a friendly cab driver took us to one of the stores suggested and waited until we emerged triumphantly with one. More about this later.

The cab driver, in his Prius took us to the new city museum called Te Papa, something like our DeYoung, a great museum. One rare event touring the Pacific was a display of artifacts from Pompeii. Having seen the site of Pompeii without all the recovered furniture and statues etc. This was just what we wanted to see. The museum was huge and we could not see all of it but it was excellent,

When we got back, we found the razor only had an Australian plug which would not work in the cabin. Our steward fixed this for us. And so to dinner in formal dress up followed by a variety show. The bill was excellent with the Cunard dancers and singers followed by a singing pianist in the idiom of Billy Joel and a virtuoso guitarist playing some complex rock and roll numbers. The theatre on board is fantastic and the orchestra is brilliant. Another good day.

We are now on our way to Sydney in roughish weather.