Last Day

Last Day started well, though we still haven't managed to win the Trivia.
Then as Hannah and I were coming down the marble staircase on our way to La Patisserie for a coffee she slipped on the third to last step and turned her ankle. Straight away I could see she was in pain and waved to the desk to get medical help. She was promptly wheeled away in a wheelchair to see the doctor - a cute English guy who didn't inspire confidence when he pulled out a book entitled "Pocket Guide to Radiotherapy". 4 X-Rays at $125 each later he diagnosed a sprain or a break and slugged her $65 for paracetamol and ibuprofen.

 

So with the help of crutches and medication she was able to enjoy the last dinner with its grand finale of a parade of Bombe Alaskas carried in to the dining room by all the waiters.

 

Our waiter Newman cutting the Bombe Alaska

 

Alison and Christopher

 

David on deck after dinner gazing at the Victorian coastline

 

Everyone was on deck including
Christopher, Alison, Daisy and Hannah plus crutches

 

and Jon with his new friend Rita

 

 

 

Next morning we had an early entry into the Port of Melbourne where some balloons were taking off:

 

 

 

 

Auckland and after

Jon wanted to buy some knitting wool for his friend Miranda and I love Devonport so we joined up for a ferry ride to Devonport across the harbour where Wild and Woolly is my favourite shop. He bought enough for a jumper and I bought a ball of possum wool to make meerkats with - a fun project for when I want a change from socks.

 

We left early from Auckland as bad weather was expected up the eastern coast of New Zealand and the captain hoped to get ahead of it. (Hannah thinks he didn't as she felt squeamish and missed dinner 2 nights in a row, a preventative action).



Family dinners were great: we had the same two waiters every night and had jokes with them; the 8th seat at our table belonged to Ron (as in later on) and he always had to have his breadstick and a cheese platter for dessert.

Christopher and Jon take care of Ron's cheese platters - he got two!


Newman and Aketut were so disappointed if we didn't have 4 courses every night that we couldn't let them down.

 

 

The Cheese Club instituted by Christopher had its February meeting on board in a corner of Magnums Bar with NZ cheese:

 

 

 

and the Girls' Cocktail Club had one meeting only as other events like Trivia got in the way (still only coming second).

 

 The cocktails were certainly on the garish side...

 

 

We had three days of sailing back across the Tasman to Australia with plenty to do. I continued with knitting group in the morning, Trivia and bridge in the afternoon with Daisy kindly bringing me a coffee halfway through.

There was a professional bridge lecturer on board who gave lessons in the morning and ran a session of play in the afternoon which I went to with my partner Ben from Melbourne whom I paired up with on the first day. What a combination! We licked everyone hollow with 70 - 75% totals and I won the grand prize of - a plastic water bottle. Well, Daisy liked it.

 

 

This is where our stateroom was - the corridor of Aloha Deck, deck 11, with David disappearing into the distance.

 

Formal Night with the Captain's Circle Cocktail Party and Formal Dinner was a great occasion for dressing up and of course we had to have the obligatory formal portraits with Auckland background.

back: Hannah, David, Jon, Christopher, Daisy
front: Helen, Alison

Two gorgeous girls!
 

 

 

Tauranga's Hottest Day

It's a balmy 24' and the radio is proclaiming it the hottest day this summer. Our Hobbit fans lead by Hannah have gone on a bus trip to look at the movie location - David, Daisy and I walked into Tauranga to the hot swimming pools as recommended by Janet from the ship knitting group. And it was gorgeous! Warm and hot pools with hardly anyone there.

 

David and Helen walking to the hot pools

 

Yesterday we had an interesting tour of the Esk Valley out of Napier, famous for its vineyards and fruit farms, culminating in a hairy jolting trip through a sheep farm to view Napier from on high.

 

We enjoyed the Esk Valley wines, particularly the 2012 reisling which won an award for best white wine in New Zealand.

 

 

Back in the 1930s Art-Deco town we admired the buildings: here is David at the Tobacco Company

 

I'm behind in blogging as it's just so hard to find free wi-fi. The ship charges like a wounded bull, MacDonalds is free and so is Starbucks but you have to make a purchase - not that Daisy and I mind as we love frappuccinos and have two in Wellington. There's a sale on at Kircaldie and Stains - very tempting - and I buy a lovely pink silk blouse which lasted 5 minutes at dinner before a feral olive ran down my front leaving an oily trail...

 

Wellington is usually the Windy City but we had an exceptionally fine calm day, perfect weather for a cable car trip and a walk around the Botanical Gardens. Daisy and I had lunch in the rose garden.

 

 

Christopher had bought me a present - a pirate's eye-patch and earring - because the girls' name for me (among others...) is Pirate Gran. I just happened to have it in my evening bag when we noticed that the photography crew was operating a pirate theme. So I quickly donned my patch and got into the spirit of things:

 

Ahoy me hearties! 

  

Swimming with Dolphins

It's the Hector dolphin and there are only 7000 left, swimming around Akaroa. Daisy chose swimming with them as her activity and was totally blown away by how gorgeous they are, just 30 cms away.

 

Here she is being instructed on what to do (looking a little apprehensive)

and here she is returning triumphantly from the boat trip out to the dolphins.

Meanwhile David, Alison, Jon and I hired Gerry's Mountain Goat car to drive us around the crater rim so we could look down at Akaroa - one of the most beautiful places in the world. There were four cruise ships in the harbour that day but there was room for all of us.

 

Akaroa - beautiful Akaroa

 

 

Jon went kayaking with wildlife and thoroughly enjoyed his adventure, while Hannah and Chris wandered the village. It was a lovely 28' day and a perfect experience. Even having to go ashore by tender was fun. 

Dunedin for a day

David and I have been here several times and didn't need to do any tourist things so we just took the shuttle into the city for the sake of the nice drive through foggy seaflats.

There was a lovely welcome at the Octagon from a piper and his son, most appropriate in this very Scottish city.

Pipers in the Octagon

By the time we returned the fog had gone leaving a brilliant summer day and as the ship slowly sailed past the albatross breeding station we saw heaps of adult birds soaring beside the ship with their fluffy white chicks still on the ground.

Hannah, Alison and Christopher on deck

 

Three Days at Sea

Nowhere to be, no phones or emails to answer, no commitments - bliss! And nobody even remotely seasick: we had three wonderful days where the biggest decision was whether to have a meal in the dining room or the buffet. For dinner we've been having the formal dining room, especially for Jon's birthday where he was serenaded by the waiters and presented with a cake:
 

Jon's serenade

The team of NarriGambier (us plus Lee and Laurel from Narriwarren) have participated in all the trivia quizzes and continually come second - any day now we will crack it. Meanwhile Daisy continues to win - virtual bowling and bingo with a prize of $82 in Australian money. Last night Daisy and I went to a movie Pitch Perfect under the stars. "That was cool" she said at the end. I heartily agreed as I was frozen. The entertainment is relentless but you can opt out in a quiet corner with a book or knitting if you like.

David is particularly fond of a corner of Magnum's Bar which he calls the book nook where he sits and reads from his iPad while I am at knitting or bridge.
Here he is with Jon:

 

And here is the knitting group - we were an item of curiosity on the Atrium Deck with a constant stream of people passing by commenting on the toys made by Janet and my ever-present socks:

 

 The knitters on Australia Day

After three days of smooth sailing we arrived early in the morning at Milford Sound which was breathtaking with our huge ship dwarfed by towering mountains on either side.

A very cold morning on Milford Sound 

We Embark

It all went like clockwork: the Regans/Boomsma/Walters to Geelong to leave their car and Boomsmas x3 to Freshwater to leave David's new Mazda safely in Stephen's carpark at Freshwater.

 

Then on board and in the first hour Daisy won a prize in the treasure hunt.

 

It's very exciting to be on this big ship again (David and I did the same trip but in reverse in 2011)  and to see how much our family enjoys the luxury and the novelty of what is on offer.

Daisy  has to try out everything starting with the spa, watched by Hannah.