Day at Sea (Yet Again)

Sea was rough, did some laundry, played more bingo (yes, the ship is that exciting) and lost, but Steven has won all of our bingo money back at the “Fun Blackjack” table. Formal night turned out to be another rough day/night at sea. At times, it literally felt like we were in an earthquake. Saw a funny comedian at night, but Stephanie almost fell asleep (shocker). Steven did not sleep well at night with the movement, Stephanie not so much of a problem.

2 Days at Sea

2 days at sea = 2 days too long at sea.

Took care of part 1 of Australian immigration, crossed another time zone, and spent the days catching up with reading and relaxing. Played some ping pong (not to be confused with table tennis, which is reserved for professionals), sat by the pool and played cards, and tried to win the $2,500 bingo (no luck – but nobody else did either). Next stop is Tasmania.

Stephanie was a bit concerned as her vision was becoming a bit blurry and she couldn’t read the dinner menu – Steven suggested she check the back of the seasickness medicine box to see about any side-effects. Turns out, the #1 side-effect is blurred vision…mental note to self to check for any side-effects before taking future medication. Patch immediately came off.

And since this entry is extremely exciting, we have zero pictures.

Fjordland National Park

Today was a day of cruising through various Sounds. The views were amazing, pictures will not do it justice. The volcanoes formed these mountains and islands thousands of years ago. Earthquakes are still active and reshape some of the mountains when hills break away and tumble toward the ocean. We got a great table at the enclosed pool area where we could read in between cruising the Sounds and still go outside for good video. A group from the US was next to us and we found out as the cruise went along they would sit at the same table almost every day the boat is at sea. We also saw various schools of dolphins that would swim right up along the boat - everyone would rush to the windows when they appeared. Milford Sound was the most impressive as it had waterfalls and glaciers. During the spring, it is supposed to be better as the ice is melting and there are hundreds of waterfalls along the mountain sides. We saw a comedy show that turned out to be more of a juggling show – only okay, did manage to make us giggle.

To put things in perspective, there are itty-bitty kayakers in this picture:

Dunedin

Sorry, we are really behind on blogging and it takes quite a bit to upload the pictures, so bear with us! We arrived in Sydney yesterday, but we'll get to that once we've finished recapping New Zealand - each country deserves proper credit, afterall. And, just to clarify, we are adding our own bits and pieces, so these entries are from both of us. The formatting is funky, but we're over spending time fixing it since we're in an internet cafe.

We arrived in Dunedin (pronounced Dun-E-din) the morning after sailing all night and we went downstairs for our usual breakfast. Each day we meet new people at our table, cruises are very friendly places we have found out, and today we meet a couple from Huntington Beach. We travel halfway around the world and we meet a couple (Sylvia and Sam) that live a few miles away on Brookhurst and Indianapolis. Turns out Sam used to work in the apparel industry and knew people from Quiksilver who worked with Stephanie.

Took a quick walk around Port Chalmers where the boat was docked – it’s a whopping one block town that took us all of 10 minutes to cover. We then took a bus to Dunedin for our city tour, the first part being a tour of the Cadbury Chocolate Factory (Steven LOVES the Cadbury eggs). Interesting to find out how they make their various candies, it was a bit Willy Wonka-ish - unfortunately, no cameras allowed inside the facilities, but we were able to snap a few of the outside and of the shop.

There were millions of little pieces of chocolate on this mound, it was pretty impressive and made us hungry.

They did have a little shop where you could buy "discounted" chocolates and we bought a few pieces - we use the term discounted loosly because it would have probably been cheaper to buy it in the US. Turns out we were pretty smart because chocolate in NZ/Australia is somewhat expensive. Or, let me rephrase, it's expensive when you are on a budget.

Back in the bus for more highlights of the city including the train station (driver said it is the second most photographed building in the southern hemisphere – not sure if we believe him), the college campus (largest in NZ), and beautiful view from the mountain top. The city reminded us somewhat of San Francisco as it was hilly and used to have cable cars. Finished off the evening with dinner and a great drink called the Beverly Hills Iced Tea (way better than the Long Island version).

The outside of the train station:

Steven was in heaven when he found out there is a Scotch bar inside the train station - there are over 300 varieties of Scotch on this wall...sadly, the bar wasn't open when we were there. Next time.

Christchurch

Day 4: Christchurch

We spent the day wandering around Christchurch on our own – the main attraction in this city is St Mark’s Square and its cathedral. Known as the city most influenced by the British, this doesn’t fly very well with the Kiwis.

We peeked inside and decided it wasn’t worth the $10 to go all the way in so we’re only going to show you a shot of the outside.

Never fear, Starbucks is readily available around the world. New Zealand is no exception.

A few pictures of the city’s botanical gardens:

For dinner we went to the cruise steakhouse, paid an extra charge for it, but it was nice to have something different then the normally offered food. The fish continues to be dry so the juicy steak was welcomed. Off to bed, not as bad a night as the previous evening (weather-wise), but it was still rockin' and rollin' on the ship.

Day 3 at Sea

You are all jealous, right? This picture is actually looks pretty tame, it was much worse:

We had this weather for most of the afternoon into the night – thank goodness for seasickness patches. our steward told us the lady in the room next to us was not so lucky.

Tauranga

Day 2 – Tauranga, NZ

We had an offshore excursion in Tauranga today – we lagged in booking our excursions so we didn’t get our first choice. Learn from our mistakes, if you want to do excursions on a cruise, book them well before the cruise ship leaves. Alas, we still had a pretty good day and learned a bit about the native culture of New Zealand, along with some info about sheep.

Steven with his new friend:











































The guy is shaving the poor sheep for her fur – they are paid by the sheep, not by the hour, and she did not look happy. It was a pretty cheesy comedy routine, but did make us giggle outloud a few times.









After the sheep shaving demonstration, we had a buffet lunch and watched a native Maori ritual song and dance routine. Then back in the bus which had only partially working A/C. Next stop was the Te Puia Thermal Reserves where we saw an impressive geyser. The geyser was similar to our Old Faithful at Yellowstone but lasted for almost 20 minutes and occurred every hour. The smell was…interesting.

park also had some bubbling mud pits:




















Our park visit ended with a wood carving demonstration – these guys spend 3 years at this “school” perfecting their craft. To be accepted into the school, one must be of Maori decent.

The end result is pretty impressive with quite a bit of detail - the 2nd picture is only halfway finished.

























































We came across a kiwi farm on the way back to the ship - New Zealand is known for its kiwi fruit and we saw some farms along the side of the road. The plants look similar to grape vines except that the vines grow along vertically suspended wires.

And…we’re off!

Our last drinks in the US for a few months – Steven relaxing in the business class lounge before take off:











Not a bad place to be before boarding our 12 hr flight:











We were completely spoiled in business class – Bose headphones, good wine/champagne, an actual edible dinner (excellent sea bass), and the best part? Seats that lay completely flat! We’re easily impressed.

crusing in new zealand

yesterday was a productive travel-planning day! I booked our cruise to new zealand, check out the pretty boat!














this is our itinerary:

day/port

1 - auckland, nz
2 - tauranga, nz
3 - at sea
4 - christchurch, nz
5 - dunedin, nz
6 - fjordland, nz
7 - at sea
8 - at sea
9 - hobart, tasmania
10 - at sea
11 - melbourne, aus
12 - at sea
13 - sydney, aus

a little map of the journey:














I looked at the shore excursions, I really want to do the auckland wine tour since NZ is well-known for their wines.


WHAT YOU VISIT
Kumeu River Winery - Established in 1944 by the Brajkovich family, the winery is located in the small country settlement of Kumeu, northwest of Auckland. Here you will be greeted by a member of the Brajkovich family and given a brief history of the vineyard, followed by an extensive tour of the winery and shown how the wine is produced. At the conclusion of the tour, you will then be allowed to sample a selection of the wonderful vintages produced at the vineyard. Coopers Creek Vineyard - Best known for its reserve chardonnay, Coopers Creek wines are embodied with vibrancy, flavour and purity and are renowned for their full-bodied taste. During your visit to this mid-sized winery, you will sample a number of varieties, which has built its reputation on chardonnay, and also makes a very respectable Riesling, pinot noir and dessert wine. Prenzel ? An opportunity to taste some of their many wonderful dry fruit brandies, marc (grappa), and a range of schnapps and liqueurs. You will also be invited to try their many infused olive oils and cooking flavours ideal for the home chef. Indulge in their famous butterscotch liqueur cream poured over a scoop of ice cream.

SHOPPING
Take the opportunity to purchase local wines, olive oil and wine-style collectables.

WHAT YOU SEE ALONG THE WAY
Embarking at the pier, you cross Auckland's city centre on your drive to some of the North Island's famed wine country.

we also tentatively mapped out our plan of attack for the rest of australia, which would take us through the middle of march. this is way too overwhelming, but we'll figure it out...hopefully soon.