WELLINGTON TO TAMPA

MARCH 5/6:       By 10:30 p.m. the dinner tables were all cleaned, the evening’s entertainer was doing his final bows, the chairs on the verandas had all been lashed to the railing, the wind had dropped to a mere 40 knots and the waves were down to only 16 ft. so we set sail across Cook Strait.  Our bed felt a bit like the ones in a cheap hotel where you insert 3 quarters for a massage, but as we sailed the rocking became more gentle and suddenly it was time to look at the beautiful hills as we sailed into Charlotte Sound.

We docked in the tiny town of Picton, which had not been on our original itinerary, and a place which gets only a very few cruise ships.  The sun shone brightly and we headed to the middle of the town where we immediately booked seats on a van to drive to the hilltops for views of the coves and inlets.  We also booked a water trip to isolated coves where the wealthy pay over a million just for a small lot that is accessible only by water.

Picton turned out to be an incredibly pleasant surprise and we are pleased with our Captain’s efforts to compensate for our being stuck in Wellington.  He also announced that all the bars on the ship starting a 5:00 p.m. would not be charging for drinks.  I wonder how many single malts and vintage cabernets 1200 people can consume before heading to dinner.

NAPIER (March 7):  Napier is a large town/small city that was 90% destroyed by an earthquake in 1931.  For some reason they rebuilt the city in an Art Deco style and now in the downtown core volunteers dress up in straw hats, etc. and rent vintage cars to the tourists.  Not quite as stupid as Helen, Georgia but close.

Fortunately we had a wine-tasting tour scheduled which included driving through beautiful countryside as well as vineyards.  This looked like the New Zealand we had imagined but perhaps better.  Included in our tour were visits to four wineries, which is at least one too many.  Each offered at least six wines to taste and by the 3^rd we were turning down wine.  Of course, New Zealand is a cool country for wine so most of the wines are Sauvignon Blancs and Pinot Noirs; not our favorities.  One lady on our tour wanted to go to a fifth winery but she was outvoted.

MARCH 8:   A sea day, we relaxed, attended a couple of interesting lectures as we sailed through the Bay of Plenty.  At 6:00 p.m. we sailed within a couple of miles of White Island.  White Island is an active volcano and as we passed on the starboard we went up to the open 12the deck to watch the smoke/steam belching out of the volcano.  We certainly could smell the sulfur.  We were surprised at how few people were on the deck to watch.  I guess an active volcano is a poor match for happy hour.

MARCH 9 (Chief for a day):  We docked in Tauranga and 10 of us took an all day trip to Rotorua, a little over an hour away.  We stopped at scenic vistas and once in Rotorua we spent most of the day at Te Puia, a Maori cultural centre.  As our guide/driver was also Maori we learned a fair amount of stuff.  At the centre we spent time viewing very active geysers as well as boiling mud flats.   We also attended a Maori concert held in a group house.  There were about 200 people attending the short concert and it began with a very elaborate ceremony in which the Chief of the visitors (audience) first met a warrior and picked up a fern leaf without losing eye contact.  Somehow I got picked as Chief and after the leaf ceremony I slowly walked down a long path and entered the building.  Betty carefully stayed 5 paces behind (I enjoyed that part) and after the Chief and “Mrs. Chief” were seated everyone else was allowed to sit.  At this point I slowly walked to the stage and bumped noses with four different warriors.  At this point the concert which included the Haka war dance began.

In New Zealand we observed that the Maori are very comfortably integrated with the Europeans.  I wonder how we got it so wrong in Canada.

OZ VERSUS KIWI:  Before we started this trip several people told us we would like New Zealand more than Australia.  Our short stay in Auckland (hop on bus, walk on the waterfront) confirmed our experience that New Zealand cities (Auckland, Wellington) were much less interesting than Australian cities (Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne).  Certainly the countryside in New Zealand cannot be excelled and there the Kiwi has it over the Oz.  But the architecture and the vibrancy of the Australian cities are far more exciting.  Also, Australia had much warmer weather (New Zealand, like Nova Scotia is too cold for swimming) and prices are much cheaper in Australia.  For example, a more comfortable hop on bus in Sydney that travels longer and farther costs only 60% of one in Auckland.  Finally, for those of us who like our wines big and bold, New Zealand is far too cold for anything but whites and some thin Pinot Noirs.

WHAT DAY IS IT?  On Tuesday morning (March 11) we left the ship promptly at 6:00 a.m. for a 45 minute bus ride to the Auckland Airport.  There we waited two hours before taking our 4.5 hour flight to Sydney.  At Sydney we waited 5 hours for our flight to Dallas.  The flight to Dallas took just under 15 hours and then we had a 6 hour wait for a 2.5 hour flight to Tampa.  At Tampa Airport we grabbed a cab to our hotel where we arrived at 10:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 11.  Something doesn’t add up.