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.
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