NOVEMBER, 2015-Miami to St. Maarten

SOUTH MIAMI BEACH: We started our adventure by spending our first afternoon and night in the Art Deco area of Miami Beach. If you have not visited here let me summarize by saying the beach is spectacular, the prices are high, and the area is slightly seedy. 0ne day is ample.

OCEANIA REGATTA: We set sail on the evening of Nov. 4th and are at sea until Nov. 7th. However, there is lots to do to try and avoid eating all the time. On Thursday I attended two lectures; one on the "Real Pirates of the Caribbean" which was excellent and one on the "Mystic and Mystery of Baseball" which could only be appreciated by more dedicated baseball fans than I. We also had a meet and greet with the people with whom we will be taking a couple of tours on the Amazon. Next we attended the Captain's cocktail party which preceded more pre-dinner drinks while listening to a string quartet. Dinner was excellent as expected, particularly the starting course of sturgeon caviar. At dinner we sat with a Magician and his beautiful wife/assistant. They were charming dinner companions.

ROUGH SEAS: We were awakend on Friday by the slightly more than gentle rocking of the bed. I decided to go to the walking track to try and burn off a few calories. The track and all other outside decks were closed due to the weather and the Captain announced that Saturday's scheduled stop at St. Bart's was cancelled on the advice of the port authority. Apparently we are sailing to St. Maarten (where there is no need of tendering) instead. Since we have been to neither island it really is of little consequence.

We spent the rest of the day, doing laundry, reading, and attending a great lecture on the "Amazon"; the first of series which will happen before we get to Brazil. After dinner we went to the Magic show. Both Betty and I got picked to go on stage. At one point Bronwyn (the assistant) was wrapped and tied up in coils of rope before being put into a large sack. I then joined her in the sack. A few seconds later the sack was removed and Bronwyn was wearing my suit jacket underneath her layers of rope coil. Despite my moment in the sack with Bronwyn, guests today are giving Betty the kudos.

DEMOGRAPHICS: On most of our previous cruises Canadian guests were only slightly outnumbered by Americans. This time there are almost no Canadians. Guess that's the result of a 75 cent dollar. On the other hand, the 631 guests, while better dressed, are no younger than the guests at your home-town nursing home. The staff (450 of them) to guest ratio is much better. Perhaps the biggest difference is that on ship the guests are not fed pills but medicate continuously on expensvie booze.

ST. MAARTEN: Despite the predicted rain we had a 15 minute hot and sunny walk into Philipsburg, on the Dutch side (as opposed to the French side) of St. Maarten. The town is essentially a kilometre long strip of high-end shops, of which 75% sell diamonds. I can't imagine there could be that many customers. We were told the prices were very good. Perhaps a good place to visit if one were about to become engaged. However, I expect there's not a lot of that on our cruiseship. Nonetheless a pleasant enough place with good beachfront. On the other hand, we are back on ship and about to spend the rest of our afternoon by the pool.

Black Sea Blog # 4

ISTANBUL

We had a total of 3 days in Istanbul before and after our Black Sea Cruise.  We were also in Istanbul for 1.5 days a couple of years ago.  This certainly doesn’t make me even close to an expert on this wonderful tourist city but I will share some thoughts.  We were so impressed that Istanbul is now on my list of the top three cities for tourists to visit (along with Buenos Aires and Barcelona).

Istanbul was first named Lygos, but in 667 B.C. when the Greeks took over from the Tracians it became Byzantine.  In 330 A.D. the Romans replaced the Greeks and re-named it Constantinople.  Of course the Ottomans renamed the city Istanbul in 1453 and despite the best efforts of the Ames Brothers 1950’s hit song the name has never reverted to Constantinople.  If you don’t know the song to which I refer you are probably too young to bother reading my blog.

At 18 million Istanbul is the world’s 6^th largest city and it ranks 5^th in number of tourist visits (almost double New York).  The city is divided by water into three distinct areas.  The original city (referred to as the old European city) is on the north side of the Strait of Bosphorus.  This area is the main business and shopping area and contains many of the tourist sites.  It is separated by an inlet called the Golden Horn from a newer (by a few 100 years) European area.  However, the majority of the population lives across the Strait on the Asia side.  Most of the people living in the Asia part of the city commute to the old city to work.  The look and feel of the Asian side is somewhat different with wider streets, more greenery and newer buildings.  The three parts of the city are connected by bridges and a tunnel and an unbelievable number of ferries cross back and forth.  Looking out my stateroom window I counted 19 ferries at one time passing the ship.

In addition to visiting some of the main tourist sites such as the Blue Mosque (one of 2000 in the city), the Dalmabahce Palace, the Grand Bazaar (world’s largest enclosed shopping area), the spice market, etc. we spent hours walking through the narrow streets of the old city.  In fact, walking seems to be the best way to get around.  Shopping is everywhere and prices are much lower than in Canada, even without the semi-obligatory bartering system.  Restaurants are almost as pervasive but (with the exception of McDonald’s) are primarily Turkish.  This is not a problem as everything Turkish that we tasted was yummy.

A WORD ON CRUISING.  Those of you who read my blogs know that Betty and I have fallen in love with cruising.  We have been on different ships on three different cruise lines and have liked them all.  We generally choose by which ports of call are included.  And, there is nothing better after a long day of touring than to get back on board and face an exquisite meal accompanied by several glasses of good wine. 

We generally choose a certain type of line which is primarily for adults.   Lots of really old people (our age) on the ships but most seem to be having a great time.  One of the entertainers in the evening show noted that she started her singing career at the age of six by visiting nursing homes.  “Now”, she added, “I know longer perform for old people.”  I’m not certain everyone in the audience was amused.

Every time we have cruised we were sorry to see the excursion end. 

A HINT FOR EXCHANGING CURRENCIES.  Travelling means that everything is paid for in some currency other than Canadian.  Credit cards are useful but not always accepted.  Buying foreign currencies sometimes adds excessive fees, particularly if you are dealing with a Canadian bank.  Recently while travelling in New England I tried an experiment.  I pulled up to an ATM and withdrew $400. U.S. from my CIBC account.  I then borrowed $400. U.S. at the same ATM using a Mastercard drawn on Chase Bank.  The fees for the withdrawal came to $13. while the fees and interest on the loan came to only $5.77.  Chase Bank is the only bank we have found that doesn’t charge a percentage of the exchange.

When in Istanbul we discovered that the best exchange was trading Canadian cash for Turkish Lira at one of the hundreds of money exchanges in all the shopping streets.  Never would have thought that I should have taken more Canadian cash with me.

Black Sea Blog # 3

FROM SOCHI TO SINOP

SOCHI DAY TWO:  Saturday’s rain ended and the sun was bright for our second day in Sochi.  Our tour included not only the compulsory cathedral but a promenade through the seaside park, a hard climb to a mountain-top tower, and a cable ride to the top of the botanical gardens followed by a steep hour’s walk back down.  However, the most interesting visit was to Stalin’s Dacha, which is on the outskirts of Sochi, but carefully camouflaged so that it couldn’t be seen from any of the surrounding areas.  We heard lots of anecdotes about Stalin and his life but the one I liked best related to the main highway which passed the street into his Dacha.  After Stalin built his villa here (close to the local medicinal springs) it became illegal to drive one’s car on the “Stalin” highway if the car was dirty.

We had lunch in a local restaurant and as we wanted something light we ordered bread with cheese and some Georgian dry red (Stalin’s favorite).  The bread was a flattened loaf that looked like an elongated pizza but with melted cheese and a soft egg sitting in the middle.

THE POLITICS OF CRUISING:  On most of our past cruises the majority of passengers have been Americans.  This cruise would have been no different except after the Ukraine crisis began the ports of call were changed (stops in Crimea were dropped and Bulgarian and Turkish ports were added).  Hundreds of Americans cancelled the cruise (perhaps to boycott Sochi) and the cruise line sold the empty staterooms by offering deep discounts to the British.  Dinner conversation is quite different in that politics is never raised, whereas with Americans it can’t seem to be avoided.  The British also seem to drink less and on this trip we never see hard liquor at the dinner table.

TRABZON, TURKEY:   We sailed overnight across the eastern end of the Black Sea from Sochi to Trabzon.  I must confess that I never heard of Trabzon, although it is an ancient city which for centuries was part of the silk route from Asia.  In fact in the 13^th century it was the capital of an empire of which I am also woefully ignorant.

Trabzon appears to be a city of Halifax size although others think larger.  After breakfast we walked up the steep hill from the port to the city centre where the shops began.  Three hours of walking may have covered 1/3 of the shopping streets.  I usually hate shopping but the scope was so great and the variety so interesting that the time flew by.  I must have walked by 15 shops that specialized in wedding dresses.  I almost wished that I had a teenage granddaughter so I could have bought her one of the 100’s and 100’s of “prom” dresses on display.  I settled instead by buying Betty a dress for the next formal night.

In Turkey one is supposed to bargain for everything.  However, it is hard to bargain for a beautiful leather belt when the first asking price is $4.  I needed a tube of shaving cream ($7.50 in Shoppers in Antigonish) and I was charged $1.5.  John Hanlon tells me that at the next formal night he will wear his new dress shoes that he had hand-made this morning for $30.  I could easily have spent longer wandering by the shops but we had to get back to the ship for cooking class.

The streets in Trabzon were very busy, although with the exception of people from our ship it appeared to be only locals.  I doubt very much that I shall ever be back here and I suspect most of you will not experience this place either.  However, if you have a lot of shopping to do it would be worth the price of a plane ticket.

SINOP, TURKEY:  We had sunny and warm weather for our visit to Sinop, a small semi-walled city of about 50,000.  The town is very pleasant with a lovely waterfront.  Perhaps not too many tourists visit here as there was no McDonald’s and no money changers.  However, the shopkeepers were happy to quote prices in either Lira or Euros.

Unfortunately our cruise is almost over as tomorrow we return to Istanbul where we will spend a couple of days before squeezing into the back of an Air Canada plane.

Black Sea Blog # 2

FROM VARNA TO SOCHI

BULGARIA DAY TWO:  We tendered off Varna (3^rd largest city) and drove north to the town of Balchik.  Unfortunately we stopped just short of the Tracian Cliffs Golf Course which I would have loved to see as Golf Canada Magazine rated it as one of the 10 best golf courses in the world.

We did a lot of usual tourist stops.  One of the more interesting ones was a visit to Queen Mary of Romania’s summer palace.  The part of Bulgaria around Balchik was ceded to the Romanians after WWI and the Queen (grand-daughter of Victoria, daughter of Tzar Alexander) spent most of her time there.  After her death in 1938 her heart was buried at the Palace but when war broke out the Bulgarians joined the Axis powers allowing them to get their land back from the Romanians.  The heart was returned to Romania.

After we finished up with the museums and churches 12 of our travelling companions wimped out and returned to the ship.  However, the Hanlon’s and Johnson’s decided to spend a little time walking around the beach/shopping part of Varna.  I should say the Hanlon’s walked around while the Johnson’s took refuge in a sidewalk café.  We ordered delicious lunches of salads, with sides of prosciutto, deep-fried mushrooms, tapenade, sardines, etc., as well as ½ bottle of a Malbec blend.  When the wine came the waiter gestured for Betty to try it.  I almost laughed as I wondered (given we had no Bulgarian currency, no language skills and had ordered the wine randomly) how bad it would have had to be for Betty to have sent it back.  In fact, the wine was excellent and I wished we had ordered a full bottle.  In any event the total bill which, went on a credit card, came to the equivalent of $19.

SEA DAY:  The sail from Varna to Sochi takes two nights and one day which gives a break from touring.  The relaxing day included lying by the pool, a Captain’s Club cocktail party and eventually attempting to squeeze into my tux for a formal night dinner.  In the morning we attended an interesting lecture by an Anthropologist (clearly not from StFX) who talked about Russian culture and values.  We learned that in Russia if offered a vodka, or any other alcoholic drink, there are acceptable responses and non-acceptable responses.  The best response is:  “thank you very much”.  Also acceptable is “no thanks, my liver is failing and I am waiting for a transplant.”  Not acceptable is a simple “no thanks”.  That response is interpreted as meaning that you are untrustworthy and that there should be no further social interaction.

SOCHI DAY ONE:  Sochi is the southernmost city in Russia and the most favored resort area because of the miles of beaches and the warm/hot weather in the summer.  Also, of course, there are the nearby ski mountains for winter vacations.  Sochi was first developed as a resort area by Stalin in the 30’s.  The city was also favored by Yeltsin and now it is where Putin makes his home.  In the summer the normal temperatures are near 40 degrees and in the winter the temperature still reaches 15 most days.

It was 17 degrees when we disembarked but by the time we got to the Olympic ski slopes and took the 40 minute cable car ride to the top (and another 40 minute ride back down) it had dropped to freezing and the snowfall kept us from enjoying the views.

Sochi is quite a lovely city on the sea, and with the mountains in the background it reminded me a bit of Vancouver.  However, it is cleaner than our west coast city and the new and architecturally interesting buildings give it a fresher feeling.  Of course, much of the city (roads, hotels, etc.) was built in the 7 years leading up to the Olympics.  In fact, it is staggering to believe that so much construction could have been completed in such a relatively short period.  The Olympic village is immense with stadium after stadium.

At lunch we were taken to a 5-star hotel where the food was very good and interestingly enough the accompanying wine was from Chile.

From Istanbul to Burgas

FROM ISTANBUL TO BURGAS

October 14:  For anyone who has flown overnight in Economy you don’t need an elaborate description of cramped seats, long line-ups for the toilet, but very healthy food (meaning it’s too tasteless to ingest the  unnecessary calories.)  Nonetheless after 10 hours in steerage on a flight from Toronto to Istanbul we arrived tired, but optimistic.

Our hotel had sent a driver to the airport and after he had finished fighting heavy traffic we arrived at our lovely little hotel in the heart of the old part of the city.   We dropped off our luggage and had a very nice lunch at some sidewalk place before heading to the Topkapi Palace.  We were not in the mood to stand in the ½ kilometre line for tickets so we made our way to the spice market.  Many wrong turns made a 15 minute walk last 30 minutes but we were rewarded with exotic smells and beautiful displays.  Then back to the hotel for check-in and a shower and a shave (2 of the 3 essential “s” words that make life much more pleasant).  Then we walked to the grand bizarre where Betty unbelievably found the same jewelry store where she had purchased earrings two years ago.  She then cleaned me out of my Turkish Lire by matching the earrings with a pendant.

Our feet screamed “sit” so we returned to the hotel and proceeded to the roof top bar for complementary sandwiches and beer.  By this point the Hanlon’s had joined us and we switched to surprisingly drinkable Turkish wine.  Betty insisted I stay awake and we walked around the corner to one of seemingly thousands of restaurants where we chose one that distinguished between Turkish and Ottoman cuisine (don’t ask me the difference).  We were joined by Tori Anderson (a charming young Antigonish woman who was sent to Istanbul on business by her London investment firm.)

The meal was very, very good (my sea bass in particular) but we wished we had ordered the Testi Kebap.  This is dish of lamb, chicken and beef sealed in an earthen crock.   The crock is heated at your table over open flames and when ready the top of the crock is smashed off revealing the meal.  Again the Turkish wine (a Cab/Petit Verdot blend) was nicer than I would have guessed. 

We stumbled back to our hotel and slept so soundly that we didn’t hear any of the calls to prayer that normally jumpstart the tourists five times per day.

BULGARIA (Day 1).  We docked in Burgas (4^th largest city in Bulgaria) a little late because of fog.   However, our guide was waiting and treated us to a very pleasant day. 

Bulgaria is a small agricultural country of 7 million people.  However, in recent years 500,000 Russians have immigrated and bought up many beachfront properties.  Now, the Bulgarians are very worried that there may be a repeat of the Ukrainian crisis, particularly if Putin decides to protect the Russian minority.   A large part of the Bulgarian economy is based on tourism (traditionally Russian), but since Russia has taken over Crimea her citizens are discouraged from going to Bulgaria.

We skipped Burgas in favor of a 30-minute drive to the UNESCO city of Nessevar.  Needlesstosay we visited more churches than enough but the town was very pretty and the people in the stores were extremely pleasant.  Later we drove through the countryside to a Chateau where we tasted 3 Bulgarian wines along with local cheese, sausage and bread.  All three wines were extremely good, but I’ll save more detailed comments for my next wine blog.  We also did some early Christmas shopping in the village by the Chateau.   Our final stop was at a 2500 year old tomb of a Tracian king.  The tomb was architecturally interesting but perhaps not more so than the 6-foot snake that wriggled by the entrance on our way in.

 

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.

TASMANIA TO WELLINGTON

TASMANIA (Feb. 28):  Our last port of call in Australia was Hobart, the capital of the island state of Tasmania.  Hobart is described as being very similar to Halifax, N.S., with a waterfront of Georgian buildings.  Other than that the two cities are more-or-less the same size I failed to see any resemblance.  Hobart is much hillier than Halifax and has a beautiful mountain (Mt. Wellington) as a backdrop.

We took a tour in and around Hobart which included such things as a visit to a cheese factory, a walk through the botanical gardens, etc.  However, by far the highlight of the day was a visit to a wildlife sanctuary.  There Injured animals are nursed back to health and then released into the wild.  We saw wombats, Tasmanian devils, etc.  Throughout the park there are 100’s of kangaroos which are not injured but enter and exit the park at will (fences do not stop kangaroos).  These kangaroos approach people and if you have food (we did) they will eat out of your hand.  After eating they lift their heads so that you can scratch their necks where they cannot reach with their limbs.  We spent ages having kangaroo after kangaroo gently take food pellets from our outstretched hands.

NEXT STOP?  Our schedule was to depart Tasmania for New Zealand, sailing for two days across the Tasman Sea to Milford Sound to see the fiords, and then sailing to Dunedin, where we had a pre-paid tour arranged.  On the morning of March 1 the Captain announced that there were major storms south of the South Island and that he had to drastically change course.  He then set course straight for Wellington to sit out the storm.

On March 3 we docked in the early afternoon at Wellington.  A good friend had e-mailed me that he thought we might be in New Zealand or the 1960’s, which he believed were much and the same.  We shall see!

SMALL WORLD:  Just as we were sailing into Wellington we found a letter at our door which said:  “Talked to some folks last night who mentioned that they had met some lovely people from Nova Scotia.  Our jaws dropped when they told us your names.” The letter was from Heather and Harvey Smith, who were friends of Betty’s at Mt. A.   We had lost contact and hadn’t seen them since we attended their wedding in Truro, 51 years ago.  We arranged to meet for dinner and had a very pleasant time remembering old friends from the 1960’s.  The people who made the connection between the Smiths and the Johnsons were MaryAnn and Lloyd, our 83 year old friends who I mentioned in an earlier blog.  Now we are in the process of setting up a dinner for the six of us.

WELLINGTON (March 3):  As soon as we were cleared we disembarked in sunny but cool weather into the beautiful but small city of Wellington.  We grabbed a shuttle to the town center and were dropped at the base of the 111 year old cable car.  Having no other plans we took the cable car up the mountain.  At the last stop there was a sign saying free shuttle to Zealandia.  Why not?  Zealandia turned out to be a bird sanctuary set in what used to be the main water reservoir for the city.  Although we didn’t see that many birds, the walk in the mountains was quite spectacular.  After about an hour it started to rain and we reversed the steps back to the ship.  Since we were then wet on the outside we achieved equilibrium by immediately wetting the insides.

WELLINGTON (March 4):  We walked for hours, mostly to keep warm.  I googled weather and discovered that the average high in Wellington’s summer is 3 degrees colder than the average high in Antigonish’s summer.  Despite the beautiful setting Wellington has relatively little to offer.  There are lots of shops in the downtown core but the prices are about 40% higher than in Australia.  I checked the price of a simple cheeseburger at McDonald’s ($ 2.90).  I also walked by a fish market where they were selling (or at least offering) cooked crayfish in the shell for $ 90. per kilogram.  The New Zealand dollar is very slightly less in value than the Canadian dollar.

WELLINGTON (March 5):  When we returned to the ship (see March 4) we had a letter from the captain saying that the newly scheduled sailing for Akaroa was cancelled due to 60 knot winds.  Akaroa, from where one goes to Christchurch, is a tendered port and I would not want to be getting into a small tender boat in these winds.  Thus it appears that we are stuck in Wellington until 10 p.m. on March 6 (again weather permitting).  However, after over a month of stopping in ports to which we would love to return, a couple of extra days in a less interesting place can hardly be considered a great hardship.

Despite the fact that our ship is securely tied to the pier in a well-sheltered harbour we could hear the strong gusts in the night.  The partition between our and the next balcony blew open and someone told us that the cruise ship docked behind us had two tugs holding the ship against the pier for the entire night.  In the morning we received an e-mail from the guide who was to take us around Dunedin.  He said that the Captain made the correct decision and that the weather down south was terrible.  The money for the cancelled tour has already been returned to our credit card account.  Betty will have to say some nice things about the tour guide on Cruise Critic.

WELLINGTON PLUS AND MINUS:   Just after breakfast the sun briefly appeared and we ventured out into the wind.  We took the cable car to the top of the botanical gardens and took a very beautiful walk back down to the city.  The rain got steadily heavier but despite that the gardens were so spectacular that I would give a plus to the city.  On the other hand our waiter at supper told us that the crew hated to stop in Wellington because there was nothing to do at night after the staff got off work.

ON USING ONLY THE CORRECT UTENSIL:   At breakfast this morning, just as Betty was finishing the last couple of bites of her smoked salmon omelet, she dropped her knife.  A waiter appeared from nowhere, picked up the knife and said:  “I’ll bring you a new one.”  Betty responded:  “Don’t bother I’ll finish with this” as she picked up her butter knife.  “Oh no, Madam,” said the waiter.  “Someone might see you and then I will be in big trouble.”