Wellington

When I lived in Wellington there was a saying (actually related to rugby) that you can't beat Wellington on a good day, and boy, do we have a great day.  Arrived to clear sky and no wind and this continued all day - we were so pleased for all the overseas visitors. Once again we were docked amongst thousands of logs, they seem to be following us around.  The P&O Aurora was also in port (apparently towed in :-) ), so there were heaps of visitors around.  We decided to take the walk into town from. The Westpac Stadium to the city, rather than paying $30 for the shuttle.  Met with my Aunt Lois and had a great catch up at Astoria, which I had forgotten was where I used to go when I lived there.

Later we walked along the waterfront to TePapa Museum. A lovely waterfront and so active at lunchtime. Certainly has a buzz about it and puts Auckland to shame.  TePapa was most interesting and we can see it would take many visits to see even a bit properly. The walk back was a bit more of a trek in the afternoon sun.  Late lunch in the Horizon Lounge and then took books to the deck and sat in the sun, watching the world. The Aurora set sail about an hour before us, so the captains had a horn challenge, which was noisy and fun.

The evening was just as calm when we set sail and after dinner we went back to the deck to watch the sunset.  Were a bit surprised that we were sailing southeast for so long, but an even better sunset over the South Island, which spread out over the whole of the horizon.  As a special treat we had a couple of little Maui dolphin swimming along with us.  They couldn't keep up the 18 knots, so slipped behind.  Saw another couple a bit further out.  It wasn't until well after 8.30 that we rounded Pen arrow Heads and then took a more northerly course.  Sea day tomorrow and the weather forecast looks great for the ready of the cruise.  Big downside tonight was the delivery of the disembarkation papers - nooooooooooo