Bay of Islands (Russell), New Zealand
Kia Ora means hello, goodbye, thank you in Maori. It’s pretty much a greeting for everything.
Once the capital of New Zealand, this port town is one of our favorites. Since we’d been in Russell in November, 2016, we decided to pass on an excursion, and take off on our own to see what had changed. We started at our favorite bakery to say hello to the owner who so kindly made us date scones every morning on our last visit. This day it was sausage rolls, yum. Then we headed over to say hello to the Innkeepers where we previously spent 6 nights. Everything was as we remembered it. We stopped in at a small craft market and the vendors were in the same stalls and selling the same wares.
The City was happy to see us come into town. Many cruise ships bypass Russell, however, because Viking has its own tenders, there is no problem getting their guests to shore. Four cruise ships had to cancel their visits because of weather during the previous week. We arrived on Sunday which is when everything is normally closed. Everything was open for us so we hope it was as worthwhile for them as it was for us.
We strolled up a familiar hill, past the homemade electric chair, past the Dufuss Estate to Long Beach which was absolutely beautiful when we arrived. About 45 minutes later, everyone else in the city decided to join us. We walked back to town and took a ferry across the bay to Pahia, and found a great Thai restaurant. The doors opened up to the sidewalk and we were met with wonderful breezes and an ocean view. After seeing all there was to see, we took the ferry back to Russell for some of the best chocolate and mochas anywhere in New Zealand. We struck up a conversation with a gentleman and his 2 kids. They were eating ice cream (New Zealanders love ice cream). Both his kids, age 12 and 14, were born in Russell and spoke fluent Russian and the boy spoke Polish and was starting Chinese. Go figure! The best part of going ashore independently is talking to the locals.
Auckland, New Zealand
We arrived in Auckland on Auckland’s Anniversary Day and there were all kinds of craft fairs, food fairs, Waka and Haka (Maori traditions) fairs going on. One of us left the Waka Fair with a tattoo, guess which one. Everyone was on holiday so the city was very much alive with music, dancing and eating. Again, having been here before, we passed on taking an excursion and walked the city on our own. It was hot and it was humid but that didn’t stop us from hoofing it up Queen’s Street, and with that tattoo proudly displayed, SHE fit right in.
Viking contracted with a Maori group of dancers to perform the Haka and other dances for us pool side as the sun set. The Haka is a traditional war cry/dance with vigorous movements and stomping of the feet with rhythmically shouted accompaniment. It is a posture dance performed by the All Blacks prior to a Rugby game. It’s quite intimidating. After the show we were able to watch the laser light show on the Auckland Bridge. It was a fun day.
Auckland is known as the City of Sails because of its residents’ love of boating. They have more than 135,000 registered yachts. The city has hosted two America’s Cup challenges (2000 and 2003) and the 2021 race will again be held in Auckland. The All Blacks won in 2017 and are geared up for another win in 2021 on home turf. Our excursion for the day was to set sail on an America’s Cup Trainer vessel. We were called the grinders; the people that pulled the sails up and down and from side to side. When we caught wind that vessel flew. When it leaned over, my knees hurt from trying to stay upright, but oh what a feeling. You could reach over the side and put your whole arm in the water…talk about leaning… We toured the Maritime Museum and learned more about sailing than we ever thought possible.
Rotorua (Tauranga), New Zealand
Tauranga is known for the dramatic Mt Maunganui, an extinct volcano that helped shape this region. It’s also known as the gateway to the bubbling mud pools, and thermal fields of Rotorua about an hour away. We hopped a bus which took us to Rotorua where we found bikes (no gears, yes brakes) and helmets that would take us on our excursion. We start at the Maori meeting hall/church which had been in the tribe for 23 generations. Presidents of many countries have traveled to this church. Everyone has thermal steam and/or water in their front and/or back yards. The people actually use this water for bathing. One of our guides lived next to the hall and he showed us his bath (pipes coming out of ground into big cement tub) He believes that the water he bathes in was the same water his ancestors used years ago. There is steam everywhere. Some of us were given thermometers so we could check how hot the ground was that we were standing on. At one spot, it was 198 degrees and that was under brick – ouch!
We biked to what was supposed to be a big money maker for Rotorua, the iconic Bath House. It is the most photographed building in New Zealand. A once famous spa which offered therapeutic treatments to visitors from all over the world and it was surrounded by beautiful gardens. However, people never came and the upkeep was too much. After many years of decline, the bath house was turned into a museum. It operated at a loss for a number of years and in 2011, was deemed unsafe after the Christchurch earthquake. Today it stands with fences surrounding it, but the gardens are still spectacular and visitors are still taking pictures.
Next was a ride around Lake Rotorua to see the black swans. They are pretty magnificent birds. There is also a large population of geese that feel the need to harass the tourists. Our guides said just keep peddling and perhaps we’ll make it through without being attacked.
Unfortunately, our ship contacted our tour guide and requested he cut the tour short and get us back to the ship; low tides and a storm prediction could cause us trouble. So we ended the tour at a café for a lunch that could have been prepared by our ship’s chef, it was that good.
Napier, New Zealand
Because of rough seas, we could not dock in Napier and we had to keep sailing to our next destination. This was a big disappointment as we were looking forward to re-visiting another favorite city, Napier. This city known for its stunning “main street” design and art deco flair was destroyed during a 1931 earthquake and rebuilt better than ever. The beach front was being redesigned to include gardens, parks, walking paths, a music pavilion, skate areas and a children’s park. Looks like another trip is in our future.
Wellington, New Zealand
Wellington is the capital of New Zealand and it is spectacular. Parliament has an impressive array of buildings, one being the Executive Wing, known as the “beehive” for its shape. Since we’d been here before, we passed on the guided tour and walked to all our favorite places; sipping mochas and flat whites (black coffee w/cream) as we went. We headed for the city center and took the cable car to the top and walked back down through the Botanical Gardens. On our way, we saw the Bolton Cemetery which has a history all its own. The most interesting is that the city wanted to build a motorway right through the middle of the cemetery so it dug up approximately 3,500 graves and relocated them on either side of the motorway. They also relocated the Chapel and it now displays the names of everyone buried there. If your loved one was moved, the Chapel contains the location of where the person was first buried and now the location of where they are currently buried. The papers are a testament to how organized a project can be. Everything was done with respect and in the end, very few complaints were filed.
We went to a grocery store and bought sandwiches and pita chips (our ship has no chips) and headed to Cuba Street pedestrian mall where we found ourselves a bench and people watched while we ate our lunch.
We walked to the Wellington Harbor and decided we needed another coffee. Again, we found a little stand with benches. Soon, a gentleman comes up to us and says “you’re tourists, right” we laughed and asked, “what gave us away”? An hour later he decided he had to get back to work. His office was in the building next to us, and he worked for Oracle. After another half hour of chatting, he reached for his business card and said to please call him on our next visit. He couldn’t find a card so we said our goodbye’s and continued sitting on the bench. About 10 minutes later, he reappeared with a business card again telling us to call him on our next visit. And, that’s why we love New Zealand. We find the people to be awesome. Yes, we will absolutely call him. The best part of travel is chance meeting of chatty locals.
Christchurch, New Zealand
Docked in the port city of Lyttelton and then had to be shuttled to Christchurch. This is where the 2010 earthquake destroyed much of the town, followed by a bigger one on with a magnitude 6.3 on February 22, 2011 . A building housing the main TV station, a medical center, and ESL learning center collapsed with 185 people killed. Up to 100,000 buildings were damaged and about 10,000 buildings needed to be demolished. Water pipes, roads, bridges, power lines, cell phone towers and ordinary phone lines were broken or damaged. Lots of metal gates still surround many buildings. Seven years later and they are just now seeing progress. It took 4 ½ years for most insurance companies to agree on settlements. Due to a shortage of skilled workers, Irish crafts people were recruited to aid rebuilding. The town became known for its innovative use of metal shipping containers for re-establishing businesses. The severely damaged cathedral was replaced by a cardboard roof supported by shipping containers. It still stands today and is called the transnational cathedral. They have container malls made up of cafes, coffee stands, ATM’s, galleries and stores. Crafts fairs are setup all over the city. We stopped at one of the container restaurants to buy lunch and again while sitting on a bench, a man starts talking to us about how a month ago there were 2 times the amount of restaurants serving food out of the shipping containers in this particular area. He said things were really starting to move in the right direction so the containers are starting to come down. He then said the earthquake was probably one of the best things that could have happened to the city because now, it’s being rebuilt and it’s vibrant. That never would have happened had the earthquake not occurred.
Another thing that popped up are beautiful murals on all the destroyed buildings; from ballerinas to folklore. The color of the city is bright and you now see an old remodeled building set right up against a new modern one.
We visited the Botanical Gardens which, like everywhere in New Zealand are amazing. Acres and acres of well-manicured flowers, shrubs and grounds. Had we the time, could have spent an entire day walking just there. All of this in the middle of devastated square city blocks of destruction.
Dunedin, New Zealand
Dunedin was founded by Scottish settlers and named after the Gaelic term for “Little Edinburgh”. Big Scottish influence all over the city. Population is 12,000 and they have everything. We headed for the Octagon, the eight-sided plaza which is overlooked by the Town Hall. We found a craft faire where we purchased a water color of boat sheds on the Otago Peninsula. We met the artist and, by accident, had taken a picture of a spot almost identical to the one he painted as we sailed in to Port.
Walked down to the Train Station which looked huge on the outside; not so much on the inside. The inside includes a café, a museum and offices. The amount of trains that pass through that station is staggering. On our way to the Train Station we passed a café that claimed to have the BEST whole wheat date scones in the world. How could we pass up that challenge; they were right! We followed up the scones with Cadberry chocolate. The factory was right around the corner and it was packed, packed, packed. I was able to worm my way in to buy a few bars.
After lunch we took an excursion around the city. Had a guide/driver who was born and bred in Dunedin. He is currently a farmer raising, sheep, beef and barley. He drives buses on the side for fun. His unvarnished opinion was especially interesting. Took us up to Baldwin Street, steepest street in the world but would not take the bus up. We encouraged him, but he wasn’t buying it so we only got to look at it from below. After touring the rest of the city, he returned us to our ship where we found one 16-year old girl playing the bagpipes for us as we sailed out. It’s very moving when something like that happens.
Tasman Sea
We woke up in the early morning hours to a ship that was in the middle of a storm. We were rolling from side to side and heaving through 20ft waves with couple foot wind waves on top. Solid water was washing up over the windows on the 7th floor forward lounge. Forward stateroom on lower levels (3 and 4) were unable to see the horizon due to atomized water blowing past at 40 MPH. It only got worse as the day progressed. As we sat in the Explorer’s Lounge, the waves crashed up over the bow – WOW is all I can say. We were on the Tasman Sea for 3 days 2 were bad, then it calmed down. Didn’t affect either of us but the ship’s hallways, theater, bars and restaurants were noticeably empty. Lots of guests didn’t leave their cabins. A number of the crew look pretty gray in the face, with most not able to work. Wasn’t scary but there was a lot of liquid spilled, dishes/cups broken. I did learn something; if you wet a counter then put down cellophane, whatever you put on it won’t slide. Also learned to ALWAYS hold on to the handrails.