Our last day at sea - home tomorrow.  The crew show is tonight and that's always quite good.  The production show British Invasion was wonderful last night and afterwards there was a balloon drop and lots of fun in the Atrium.  Because I can't eat prawns and the lobster last night came with prawns, our wonderful waiter Boonrien organised for me to have two lobster tails instead.  Absolutely delicious.  Have never played bingo before but it's a jackpot of $3000 today so Louise, Carol and I are going partners in a large bingo ticket...what are our chances of actually getting into the room - probably less than actually winning.  Would love to be staying on the ship and sailing off somewhere else but...won't happen.  Will post some more photos when I get home because this internet connection is SLOW.

Carol prepares to bowl

At sea

Beautiful days at sea.  Just a light swell running and sunny. Yesterday we saw whales and an increasing number of flying fish. Louise and I even saw a shark.  Very sad that the cruise is nearly over but we still have lobster dinner to look forward to tonight.  Had our cocktail party with the captain last night - for the 9/10 of the passengers who have cruised with Princess before. Came in late in order to avoid the bun-fight for free cocktails.  I have cruised about 180/190 days (not sure).  The winners of the 'most cruised' had cruised 1800 days.  Didn't win the champagne!!!!  Carol tried her luck to win the bowls tournament again today.  Went out in the second round unfortunately.   Last time she got to the final.  None of us has won a lanyard yet (or a bottle opener) so will have to keep trying.  Louise and I did trivia this morning. We can have teams of six but we usually do it on our own.  A woman who was part of a team of seven asked could she join us. She said she'd noticed we were always on our own and from comments she made, we ascertained she thought we were a couple.  Louise isn't happy - there is a 'GLBT Get together' every day in the Rendezvous bar. We've just found out that it's gay lesbian bi and trans-sexual - we could have been going to that all along!!!!  I'm sure there would have been time in our tight schedules for another activity. 

Carol (centre) pretending to be a hobbit,

Part of Milford Sound

Dunedin and Fijordland

Yesterday we were in Port Chalmers which is the port for Dunedin. Had to bus into town.  I now confess to going on the ship's shuttle - the first time in living memory - because it left from the dock and only cost $1NZ more than walking into town and catching the local bus. Better still, it brought us back to the gangway after spending a whole day walking around Dunedin. Well, some of us walked around Dunedin.  Louise and I went to visit the Cathedral right in the middle of town and they had an organ recital for ship's passengers.  We stayed for that and it was very enjoyable.  John and Carol opted to go to, wait for it, the railway station. Beautiful historic building I know but only one came back from the railway station. John somehow got himself on a train trip up along the coast so that really was the last we saw of him for the day. Louise, Carol and I spent the day in Dunedin.

Now I do have a couple of 'quotes of the day'. 

• Our ship's newsletter is called the Princess Patter.  There was a Christmas Parade happening ashore and we heard someone complaining bitterly "why wasn't it listed in the pLatter". From then on we refer to it as The Platter.
• This morning at trivia (at which we did woefully) - at 10.30am - a lady at the table next to us ordered "A large peanut-colada".  It took a long time to arrive so we figured they may be out of peanuts. Those who ordered daquiris got theirs' quite quickly.
• in the Platter there was a special advertised, one day only for 'T-shits".

Last night, after our hectic day ashore, we three ladies ate in the Horizon Lounge - the bistro. Had a beautiful view of our sailaway and sailed past a colony of albatross nesting on a headland.  We then sat right at the very front of the bistro and stayed to watch sunset.  I might add that we dined with the captain (well,  he was only five tables or so away) - does that count?  John went to the restaurant and our fellow table people were late so the waiters were worried it would be just John.  That meant that they would have to go work in the Bistro then go back to the restaurant for clean up necessitating their working an extra hour or so. Fortunately the other four showed and everyone was happy.

 

Today we are in Fijordland.  I thought we would sail into Milford Sound and that would be it.  But, lucky us,  there are four - Dusky, Doubtful, Milford and (I think) Thompson.  We have PERFECT weather - beautifully sunny with just a slight breeze.  Quite OK to wear T-shirts (T-shits) thought there are many with beanies, gloves, scarves, parkas etc. 

 

ps - Can cross Milford Sound off our bucket list.  It's absolutely stunning.  Everyone should see it once.  The others were quite adequate as well.  Now it's all downhill so to speak, home.  Carol thought we had to go back the way we came - through Cook Strait, around Auckland and the Bay of Islands etc.  John had to show her a map - she's quite disappointed. Says her cruise will be cut short the way we are actually going.

•  another quote - from a lady wearing a beanie, parka, gloves etc.  "It's freezing, we must be very close to the Antarctic".

All Blacks - that's what it's all about!!!!!

Akaroa - a thorn amoung the roses

Carol in front of captive pohutakoua tree

Wellington & Akaroa

Wellington yesterday.  It was Sunday so nothing opened early and in the afternoon there was going to be a Christmas parade.  We walked from the ship into town (approx 20 minutes) then took the rack railway up the hill to a lookout. Very touristy.  Then we took the rack railway down again.  On the way into town, there were a lot of pohutakaua trees - smallish ones- all in steel cages.  Louise was wondering if the city council was worried that the trees might make a run for it so had to lock them up.  We've seen quite a number roaming free so they must have served their sentences or have a blameless record.  Odd aren't we!!!!  We then took the train to Upper Hut in the Hutt river valley, just because we could really.  Had lunch then came back to the ship.  Windy Wellington lived up to its name but the weather was quite hot.  Our word of the day was ubiquitous.  Amazing how many times we worked that into sentences.

 

Akaroa today:

Akaroa is beautiful.  I considered going into Christchurch to see the damage and how they are rebuilding but it was an all day trip so I decided to stay here. John and I had a disagreement as to whether we've been to Akaroa before.I say yes, he says no.  Anyway, glad we came today.  It's on a BEAUTIFUL harbour which is a caldera (an extinct volcano crater) and the water is a lovely turquoise colour.  The town is built around the harbour and is just a mass of gardens, mostly roses which perfume the air.  It is a tender port - we couldn't dock but had to go ashore in what are the ship's lifeboats.  Fortunately for us, because I'm ELITE, we didn't have to go get a ticket and wait to be called but could just swan ashore in front of the queue.  Mostly the four of us just wandered about town, along the harbour and up to the lighthouse.  Had lunch at a little restaurant and came back to the ship, as luck would have it, just in time for trivia. Today's word was going to be 'unpreposessing' which was in one of the Wellington guide books.  Thought it would be a little difficult to constantly put into a sentence, not to mention that it would take too long to say.  So today's word is denigrate.  But, if ever you get the opportunity to visit Akaroa, i certainly would recommend it. The sail-away was probably the prettiest I've ever experienced.  Have now just enough time to get dressed and get to dinner.  I have to mention that Louise and I scored 20/22 in trivia today and tied for first.  Unfortunately we lost the second tie-break.  I still say a coconut has more calories than an avocado and we should have won.  (Not just sour grapes - no fruit pun intended.) For those who say there would be nothing to do on a cruise or they would be bored - for me there is not enough time to do everything I want.  It certainly is much more relaxed on longer cruises.

Napier

We're actually just sailed from Wellington - I wrote this yesterday

 

Today we were in Napier. I didn't see much of our sail-in as Louise and I were at trivia.  Today we also came second - 16/20 and thought surely we would win today.  The team with the 'tit man' on it (see earlier blog post) had a perfect score.  I mean, can you believe that???  I marked their question paper and added a note that no one has previously had a perfect score and they needed to see the teacher after school.   John of course was on deck to see the pilot embark.  Only docked at midday and as Napier is a working port, we weren't allowed on the dock so were bussed into town.  Napier was wiped out by an earthquake in the 1930s and rebuilt in ArtDeco style and plays up to this with lots of vintage cars (available for hire) and locals dressed in period costume.  We all separated in town and were worried when Carol wasn't back on board at near the deadline. Thought she'd found a rich Kiwi and ran off but, no, she made it in time.  Because we didn't win our lanyards yesterday and Louise wants one for her cruise card (she keeps wiping it out because she keeps it in her pocket with her mobile phone and the purser's desk is sick of reactivating it) she bought one in town today but it says Lebanon with a Lebanese flag on it...different!!!  She says it's actually a new designer brand Le Banon but they've made a printing mistake. Can't fit in everything I want to do tonight - there is the classical group's concert, dinner and a 1980s music trivia quiz,and another show...something will be missed out and it won't be dinner.  John will activate his Internet time tomorrow so may be able to upload some (fascinating, I'm sure) photos.    Being in port every day is tiring...looking forward to some time at sea.  Did I mention that Napier had a 5.8 Earthquake about 7.00 this morning.

 

Had planned on this trip to include a quote of the day.  One of our fellow passengers on the world cruise did this where he included whinges and whines he'd overheard.  Haven't heard anyone complain about the cruise but have certainly overheard lots of chat about  - medical complaints, "my specialist said", "the doctor said it's the worst case he's ever seen".  Two men sitting behind us in the coffee shop the other day spent at least 30 minutes talking about their bulging disks and pinched nerves.  Two ladies at our table at lunch were discussing their indigestion problems at length.  I suppose it's the age group.  We once saw a passenger wearing a T Shirt that said "No, I don't want to hear how many cruises you've been on" so I thought I'd get one that said that and "And I don't want to hear about your medical complaints".

 

Wellington tomorrow...I promise I won't whinge anymore.

Auckland and beyond

Auckland

 

Very slow computer and internet.  Will have to upload some photos when I get home or later in the cruise.

 

Having a lot of trouble finding time to blog.  The two week cruise is certainly a lot more hectic than a world cruise.  In Auckland, John and I walked downtown then to a gentrified dock area called the Viaduct which is continually being upgraded.  There was, of course, an historic tram doing a circuit and we rode on the tram.  Very interesting and the area will be wonderful when it's all completed. Only trouble is they are building 14 storey unit blocks on land originally claimed from the sea and if there is a major earthquake the liquifaction would be incredible. The tram driver (motorman) said in that case, your 14th floor apartment would be at ground level.  Louise did a worm tour (glow worms that is) to Waitomo caves and Carol went to a gannet colony. Very hot and sticky weather in the morning, a huge storm at lunch time. There was a mini tornado which killed 3 people (this happened last time we were here as well...could be us!!!!) and then cold, rainy and windy in the afternoon.

 

Tauranga/Maunganui

A BEAUTIFUL sail in in the morning past Mt Maunganui through a very narrow channel. Can see how ships don't get in in rough weather.  We just had a wander around Manganui and caught the local bus into Tauranga.  The Ocean Princes was moored behind us but is less than half the size of the Sun Princess. Carol is still having trouble with her credit card and we tried to get it fixed at the bank.  So far, she hasn't heard that there is a problem and is now able to buy her own drinks.  I think she made the whole thing up!!!!  John did lots of walking around Mt Maunganui and the beach - got soaking wet but said it was really beautiful.  Has some nice photos.  When we got back to the ship, Carol Louise and I went op-shopping in town. Carol bought a lovely handbag - an Air NZ issue - which says "First Class" on the side.  She says I may be Elite and John, platinum, but she's first class.

 

En Route to Napier

Have become best friends with someone in the Purser's Office, called Fidel. I've been trying to send a fax for my son Scott for two days but having great trouble.  Yesterday, I had salmon for breakfast, lunch and dinner (smoked, baked then grilled).  I can live with that.,  Went to trivia and were one off winning - of course there was a dubious umpire's decision - the answer was EOS - the goddess of the dawn but she accepted EROS who everyone and their dog knows is the god of love.  We would have won the lanyards which were the prize.  How will we live without them.  We've also instituted a 'word of the day' competition.  Yesterday, we had two.  Circumspect and impromptu.  With the people at our table, we see how many times we can use them. There's double points if you use them both in one sentence.  You'd be surprised how many times we could use them just in ordinary conversation.  Lotsof laughing.  We'll probably be asked to leave one of these days. Oh yes, I managed to spill red wine everywhere at dinner.  Our waiter says he is going to get me a plastic tablecloth for my little area tonight. I'm going to see if I can find a bib or plastic placemat in Napier today and use them tonight .There is a swell running today and we're weaving around when we walk.  It's about time.  It actually feels like we're on a ship.  Louise and Carol were introduced to the fun of 'going to the laundry' today.  All machines, driers were in use and there was a queue.  That is our project for today - get Louise's laundry done. See, there's no end to ship's activities. We had a 'tropical night' party on deck last night.  ;Polar night' would have been more appropriate -  absolutely freezing and I don't think many lasted long.

3 finalists in the Ms Sun Princess comp & other formal photos

At sea - still

Today is our third sea day and there is a slight swell running. Just enough to let us know we're on a ship.  Formal night produced some absolutely stunning outfits. It's very elegant when everyone dresses up.  Now to the important stuff....trivia. Louise and I are so proud of ourselves - until now our top score has been 11/20 - nothing to be proud of I know. But, today, we scored 13/20 where the quiz person said that the questions were much harder...are we smart or are we smart.  One of the questions was "what word can be used after - coal, blue and great?"  Now, I didn't have a clue, but Louise who comes from the UK knew.  The answer is "tit" - the bird variety.  The guy at the next table who we now refer to as 'the tit man' said he's off to England soon and will be able to tell everyone he's there looking for great tits.  Carol has experienced a credit card problem for some reason. The result is they won't let her spend any money until it's cleared up.  So, guess what, we have to buy her drinks etc.  and no, we're not going to do it for nothing.  She's going to have to earn it by fetching and carrying for us.  We all went to card making yesterday. Carol and Louise said it would be an activity that John and I could really become involved in as a couple - sort of a shared interest.  I don't think this is going to work....and he's absolutely refused to go to quilling today.  And, early notification for the social event of the season when we get home.  We've taken lots of photos of the fruit and vegetable carving demonstration and there will be a 'slide show' when we get home.  I know there will be keen competition for places so get your name down early.  The only other thing I need to say is that I'm looking after my health...I've had smoked salmon for breakfast three days in a row, simply, of course,  for the Omega 3s and because I'm a little worried about antioxidants....have forced myself to drink just a small quantity of red wine every day.

Sailaway champagne

Wine tasting

At sea

Our second day at sea. Was lovely to embark on the ship - a sister ship to the Dawn Princess on which we sailed to the UK so everything is familiar. Clare delivered us to the ship - an accident closed the Gateway so we were a little late getting there. Plus, Clare had car trouble so, Clare, I hope you got home and are not stuck somewhere on the Bruce Highway. We had to have champagne to celebrate sailing so have dutifully included a photo. You could certainly see where Beachmere was when we sailed past. Great plumes of smoke spreading up into the air and inland. Hope our houses are still there and that the bushfires are now out. Not as relaxed as the 8 week cruise - only three days at sea and we seem to be fitting a lot into them. Haven't been asked to leave any venues yet so our behaviour musn't be too silly. Louise and Carol are enjoying themselves and rushing off to various activities all day. Food great. We did a wine tasting last night - three of us had red and Louise white. I have my free winetasting tomorrow as an ELITE member. Was embarassing when we boarded, they just took us to the head of the queue and pushed us in - don't think the people behind were very happy but it got us into lunch a lot quicker. Formal night tonight, the first of three. It's now 5.30 and have to be all formalled up by 7.00 (and look stunning) should have started earlier. Haven't even come close to winning trivia - but as they say, if at first you don't succeed. Spend most of the time laughing and not listening to the questions so what can you expect. Matter of fact, we spend a great deal of our time laughing and having fun so can't complain.

Sailing day

Today we sail. We can board at 12.30 so hopefully we can be having lunch in the Horizon Court by 1.00. Wishful thinking maybe. Last night there was a bushfire behind the houses across the road. We even made the news. Lots of fire engines (plus sightseers) driving up and down for a lot of the night and a thick pall of smoke this morning. In addition, the spear pump we use to water our copious gardens died last night so they will all have to depend on rain. Not a positive prospect at the moment. ANYWAY, the air will be beautiful at sea - no smoke, and if all the plants die, can always plant more. Our lovely friend Clare is collecting us at 11.00am and - were off.