Tasman Sea

Thursday 13th
Umm, yes the seas did reach 6.5 metres and unfortunately were coming side/aft for maximum effect. So there was a bit of pitching, rolling & shuddering but not enough to either worry us or disturb the usual sea day activities - food, drink, talk, more of the above and of course Vivian's bridge in the afternoon.

The Captain slowed the ship down to 11knts and made a more northerly course to avoid/ minimise the effect but this is apparently making us a little late in our expected arrival in Melbourne on Saturday.  Many of the (Australian) passengers are unwell and the onboard medical centre is doing a roaring trade.  I have a cough & runny nose but thankfully have both aspirin & antibiotics in hand. 

Friday 14th
Groundhog Day.  Good news however is that my sniffles have gone and I am 99%, so pleased about that.  We have speeded up and doing just over 19 knts and thankfully the seas are down to 3/4 metres.  Most people have adjusted to the motion of the ship but unfortunately Cabin Fever has struck quite a few inexperienced cruisers, who can't wait to get off and are starting to find fault in anything.  Pity.

Saturday 15th
Nice calm entrance into Port Melbourne and a little bit of watery sun as well.  As expected, we were an hour late but that didn't worry us as we were meeting my brother Lynn & his wife Wendy at 11.00.  So a leisurely breakfast and later a cup of coffee before we got off the ship.  Of course there were some 1700 Aussies to disembark and they all had assembly times & places to meet, so was quite a bit of a logistical nightmare.

Anyway, just after 10.00 I suggested that we get off, as I was aware that we had to do immigration.  On other cruises often the immigration is done on board before port to speed up the process, but not here.  We got off the ship with no problem but ended up in a queue of several hundred departing passengers.  No transit lane - apparently not enough of us!  Anyway after 45 minutes of "friendly Immigration & Customs Officers" - Not.  we found ourselves outside and made our way down the dock to the tram stop.  Had about 5 minutes to spare before the tram arrived with Lynn & Wendy.  We found it easier to meet them at the port, rather than navigating to Melbourne.  We did the same thing last year, when we were on the Diamond and it worked out well.

Was great to catch up and we had a great time and a lovely lunch in as waterfront pub about a kilometre from the wharf.  All too soon it was coming up 3.00 and we needed to be on board by 3.30, so a bit of a mad dash.  Although we thought we were last on (& probably were the last into the departure area), we found that there were once again queues to get scanned, immigrated, rescanned and eventually get on board.

Our complaint is not so much the necessary processes, but the time involved.  For us (that is the 199 who got on in Auckland) Melbourne was a another port of call and one could reasonably expect to have the time for a look around.  The reality is that we arrived at 8.00 and were due to sail at 3.30, so allowing for officialdom, probably only 4-5 hours, which is hardly time to get into Melbourne proper, but being resilient Kiwis, no one complained ☺

A smooth sailing out of Melbourne, but quite cool, particularly as they'd had temperatures in the 30s earlier in the week.  Quite funny being the "oldies" on board and watching people consulting maps etc. trying to find out where they are going.  About 5.30, a knock on the door and it is Pauline & Bill, friends of our Vancouver friends Rohays & Don, who of course were so kind to us earlier in the year.  Anyway we had a good chat and a plan to meet up for both coffee and a photo later on.  Bill is President of their local Probus club and they ate travelling as a group of nearly 40 Probians - that is a group of Probus members in case you're wondering.

Sunday 16th
OK, real time - the Tasman is living up to it's reputation and the sea is up to a good 5 metre swell, it is windy , wet and cold.  To make matters worse, Vivian has got the cold now, so I am sharing drugs with her !!!!  However I see that the weather back home is no better, so hope it clears by Wednesday.  As I keep telling people, we were so lucky that every port day in NZ was perfect and I hope it will be the same for our new friends on board.

Not wishing our cruise away, but tomorrow will be our 2nd formal night and Tuesday is bag packing day. Nooooooo, all to quick.

Mainland visit

Monday 10th
A much nicer day than when we visited Akaroa last year.  We had to be up relatively early as we were to met in the Princess Theatre at 8.20 and from there on to ship's tenders and then to Akaroa.  We had elected to take the ship's transfer to Christchurch, where we had time on our own.

As many will be aware, it is just under 2 hours travel each way and the views were great going into Christchurch.  TV presents a pretty negative aspect in relation to the redevelopment of the city and while there are of course numerous empty sections and stripped buildings, there are also many building projects in full swing.  We were dropped off by the Museum (which BTW is great), where we had a quick coffee etc. as we were being met by our friends Karen & Merv who we met on the Med cruise last year.

I had originally said that we'd love to meet for a coffee, but no, they picked us up, gave us an extensive tour of the city and suburbs before we had lunch at Sumner.  Although there are still many empty houses yet to be moved or demolished in the Red Zone, the biggest impression was the reading.  There were so many roads in the CBD and other where roads are being repaired or otherwise simply closed.  This apparently happens on a random basis and even locals have difficulties traversing the city.

We visited the "Cardboard Cathedral", which is quite remarkable in it's design and construction.  Opposite is the site of the CTV building and adjacent is a section containing 185 empty chairs of all types, all painted white to represent each of the people who died in the earthquake.  Very poignant.   We parked just opposite and down a bit from the cathedral and there was an old building (which I think was a Club), however 15 minutes later when we returned, the last section was being demolished.  Just shows the speed in clearing sites.  However our coach driver on our way back to Akaroa pointed out a pile of rubble, where there was a Church.  This had been demolished by order of the authorities, BUT when the owner drove by and saw this he approached the authorities who said " Oops, wrong Church, Sorry".  However overall and given the complexity of the rebuild, they are doing an excellent job and everyone is most positive.

We got back to Akaroa and on to the ship on what should have been the last tender, but there were stragglers so we were a bit late sailing.  Only a short run down to Port Chalmers, so doesn't really matter.  A great opportunity to use our balcony as the sun was on our side and it was calm and relatively warm - mid/high teens.  Great views out of Akaroa.

Tuesday 11th
Port Chalmers, Dunedin looked great was we sailed in. We reached the Heads about 6.30 and were able to see most of the sail in before breakfast.  Once again an early start as we had decided to do the Taieri Gorge by train.  This is a special train for Princess and departed from the port.  The normal train goes twice a day from Dunedin and left much later than our train.  Our train was about 15/18 carriages of all ages and types. Ours was about 100 years old, but had all the old world charm, a great host and most agreeable fellow passengers.

All in all it was a great trip and the scenery is great/amazing.  From a viewing perspective we felt that it was better than the Rocky Mountaineer train we did earlier this year.  Certainly everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and it was a lovely morning.  The return journey was a little quicker as it was downhill and we didn't have the "compulsory" Markets stop.  What we did notice however was the darkening skies and by the time we reached Dunedin Railway Station it was raining.  The rain later turned torrential for a while, however held off while we disembarked.

Once on board it really bucketed down for a while and I read today that there had been severe thunderstorms in Dunedin - but fortunately Port Chalmers missed!  The dreaded "Captain's announcement" came before dinner.  The seas in the south west of the South Island are forecast at 7metres and therefore we are staying in port overnight and sailing at 6.00 am on Wednesday, thus missing our planned Fiordland scenic cruise.  A bit disappointing, but rough seas ate probably more disappointing.

Wednesday 12th
It looked so perfect this morning when we woke just after we set sail, that it seemed a shame to be missing Fiordland.  However once we were out of the heads we felt the southerly and did our 1 mile before breakfast.  One side was sunny and cold, the other was cold and very cold and very very cold.  Anyway, only 3 times around for our mile.

A bit hard to get a seat in the Atrium as all those who normally frequent the upper decks are seeking a bit of warmth and comfort - don't blame them.  It is just on midday and the sea is a little bumpy as we reach the bottom of the Island.  Vivian has found Bridge this afternoon, so that will be nice.  We are now passing Tiwai Point and I can see the smelter.  Sun is out and sea about 2 metres.  Unfortunately it will rise to 6 metres over the next 24 hours.  Some passengers are fearful, but no worry to us!!  Now that the blog is up to date, I can get back to my book.

Nostalgia

Saturday 8th
OK, so there was a bit of motion last night but this did not disturb us and we woke just after 6.00 with sun shining as we sailed past Tologa Bay and down the coast.  Early morning cuppa and did our mile as round the deck (3 times around).  I was not dressed warmly enough as I only had shorts and shirt and it was blowing from the south at more than a gentle breeze.  Coffee was required before breakfast.

After breakfast we went back to the cabin to make sure everything was put away as we had to be out by 10.00 so they could replace the carpet.  Vivian was sceptical that they would replace it but when we got down, sure enough he was laying brand new carpet in the cabin next door.  So we have been "upgraded" from basic blue to gold circles !!!!!!

We went down to Promenade to read/do this blog (don't ask), however after 10 minutes a bloke asks me how to get the internet on his iPad.  Surprisingly there is no one in the Internet cafe, so we go through the process and help him get his emails etc.  He stays and chats for another hour, so just about time for lunch, as we are due in Napier at Noon.  We are however half an hour late and have a great view of the Bay and our entrance to the port.  There is fresh snow on the ranges and a brisk southerly, but a perfect HB day.

Lunch today is in the MDR and we sit down with a couple of women from.....Matamata.  Yes, they are part of the Matamata group.  What is more strange is that they are also our cabin neighbours.  Apparently their dinner table has been rearranged, so looks as though we we will be down to just 4 tonight.  Anyway, great company.

We have a free shuttle into Napier and spend time wandering around town, including the old Public Trust building, where I first met Vivian 46 years ago (more or less to the day or at least the month).  So I got a photo of her on the steps, which is special.  We then did a trek up Bluff Hill to our old home in Priestley Terrace.  I can confirm that they have made it much steeper than when we used to walk it ☺.  Back down and had a drink in the old Masonic Hotel, which is where we spent the first night of our honeymoon - was surprised that they didn't remember us.  More wandering around the "old town" and found the Possum Shop, where I bought a new possum/ merino jacket at a very good price.  Most of the stock they had were made in ,..........Warkworth.

Fantastic to sail out of Napier on such a perfect evening.  A bit bumpy as we make our way down the east coast.

Sunday 9th
You can't beat Wellington on a good day.  That was a saying (mainly/partially relating to rugby) that was current when I lived down here 18 years ago, and today was no exception.  OK there was a chill in the air, but it was clear and looking great.  We walked into town to meet my aunt Lois at Astoria, which still has great coffee and enjoyed a pleasant time catching up.  We then returned to the ship, had lunch and then headed back into town to meet our friends (x Vivian's school) for afternoon tea.  Great that they had booked at the Botanical Gardens, which is opposite my old apartment.  The whole experience is like a step back in time - 40/50 years yesterday in Napier & 20 years in Wellington today.

We (at last - still don't ask) are up to date &  sailing out of Wellington on our way to Akaroa.  Wellington looks great, the sun is shining and the sea smooth.  Life is great!

Calm seas ahead

Thursday dawned a mixture of sun & squally showers, but we were soon all loaded up ready for our trip down to Auckland.  Tiger was fast asleep in the sun and was not expecting another holiday so soon!  Fiona gave us a lovely cup of coffee and afghan before we drove downtown.  We are fortunate that we can drive onto the wharf and right up to the ship.  There were only 199 of us boarding in Auckland so the process was pretty smooth and we were aboard and having lunch in no time.

By now the sun was out in full and it was a delightful afternoon on our balcony, watching all the ferries coming and going.  Of course we had to attend our safety demonstration before sailing and we caught up with our neighbours (twice removed), who said that there were another 4 or so from the Warkworth area on the ship.

Dinner was an open sitting as we don't sail until 8.00, so have to wait to see who our tablemates  might be.  The sea was so calm and the moon reflecting was great - even at 4.00 in the morning, when we awoke to the sound of vacuum cleaner & blower!  When we got up later in the morning I found that the carpet by the door was wet as well.  Turned out that a water pipe outside our cabin had broken and caused the flooding.  Apparently the cabin is to be recarpeted tomorrow (Saturday). 

Friday 7th
Tauranga was very and fine and we were met by Fiona's Godmother, Janet who we had not seen for a number of years.  She took us on a short  trip around and then back to her home for a cuppa and catch up.  But, the big news from the area was the arrest of Phil Rudd of AC/DC fame.  He lives about 8 houses down the road from Janet's in a huge mansion overlooking the harbour.  The place was being staked out by media/cameras and Mob security!!! Most exciting for Tauranga. 

Janet dropped us back into Tauranga and we caught a bus back to the ship - free thanks to our Gold Cards and of course the former MP for Tauranga (I thought it most appropriate!).   Our sister ship, Sun Princess was also in port, so there were some 4,000 passengers about.  We met some of the Sun passengers and they are doing a reverse cruise to ours and they have had shocking weather, with rain & hail in Napier and rough weather down south.  They were so p!eased to see the sun at last.

Back on the ship, quietly treading our library books and a knock on the door and there is the big bunch of flowers and an apology for the inconvenience of our plumbing problem.  Not being ungrateful, but a bottle of wine would have been more useful.  Seriously though it was an unexpected and appreciative gesture by Princess.

Down for dinner later we find that we are at a table of 8, but only 6 (including us).  Heather & Jim from ..... Mt Maunganui! and Gordon & Audrey from Matamata.  Gordon & Audrey are living in a retirement community, as opposed to a village etc. and they are travelling as a group of 6 and it seems they were a bit miffed at not being allocated the same table as the others.  Anyway, all great company.  Heather & Jim had been home today and were a bit dismayed that there had been hail here too yesterday and Jim's tomatoes were severely damaged.  We have been so lucky to have missed the worst of the weather and hopefully this will continue.

Too late for the show, so had a green tea and gentle swell.  The Captain promises a change to more bumpy weather at 3.00 tomorrow we round East Cape.  We'll see!

Around New Zealand in 13 days

Well we are almost all set for our next cruise.  Just a little one around New Zealand this time, over to Melbourne and back again.   The beauty of this cruise is that we are able to do it as an Auckland to Auckland and no air travel involved.  Looking at it another way, we are joining a Melbourne to Melbourne cruise around New Zealand, which left Melbourne on Sunday.  There are a hundred or so of us Kiwis joining in Auckland and we will be the "new bods", however after we reach Melbourne, we will be the "old hats" for the onward return to Auckland.



We are sailing on the Dawn Princess and although we have been to many of the ports before, it is always great to see our own country from the sea.  Fingers are crossed that the weather will hold, particularly as it has been pretty wild over the last month.

Day 1 - Algies Bay, Auckland
Up early (even surprised Tiger) as we knew that the Dawn Princess would briefly pass through our line of sight en route to Auckland.  Sure enough, there she was at 6.45 am and managed to get a couple of photos.  Bearing in mind that she was half way to Great Barrier, she appears as a bit of a dot in the middle of "the gap" as we see it from our home.

OK, you need really good eyesight/imagination.
Great Barrier Island is in the far distance, with Little Barrier Island the larger distant island on the far left

So we are all set to go and depending on WIFI etc., next entry will be from the ship.  Plan to board about lunchtime.

Back to Vancouver

A much better day today. My first mistake was setting the alarm last night for 6.30.  I had forgotten to reset the time, as the clocks went back as we crossed over from Alberta to British Columbia.  Hence the alarm went off at 5.30.  Considering that we didn't get to sleep until after 11.00, a bit sleep deprived.  Anyway we got picked up and delivered to the train at 7.30.  Our train has grown to about 20 carriages, as they have combined 2 trains.  The really good news is that we are the last carriage, so have had some great photos of the train winding it's way along the river, on our way to Vancouver.  The process of getting us onto the coaches and then our respective carriages was impressive.  In no time we were underway.

The journey today is much better, as we are travelling down a river valley and there are far less trees to block our view.  Our cabin crew has increased to 3 as  they were 1 down yesterday. The food has once again been great and of course the weather is great - probably too warm.  Interesting to see all the logs along the way which will eventually be floated down the river.  Some of them looked pretty old, so I'm not too sure what the process is.  We seem to be keeping good time and even a little early at this stage.

Spoke too soon.  Although we were well ahead of time, we also had to manoeuvre through major marshalling yards, which took us almost half an hour.  Anyway we reached pour destination and were greeted by all the Rocky Mountaineer staff standing on the platform, waving.  A very American sorry of thing.  Our staff also thanked us enthusiastically and one of them called Holiday (yep, that's right) sang to us as we pulled in. Probably coincidental that there was an envelope for gratuities in the seat pocket, but honestly a suggested $80 was way, way over the top.  Probably the one thing which has got me most on this holiday is the tipping thing.  It's just that we don't understand it properly and are never too sure whether we are under or over tipping.  Generally I think I am getting better, but will nerd to unlearn when we get home.

Our hotel on this sector is the Holiday Inn and although it's a bit further away from the waterfront, it is handy, clean and has good, reasonable food.  Tuesday we woke to a light drizzle and a little cooler temperature as we headed to Vancouver Island and this turned out to be a big day out.  It was almost an hour to get out of Vancouver to the ferry terminal for our trip over.  We went aboard the ferry in the bus and then rushed upstairs for as coffee and as seat.  The ferry ride is 1.5 hours, but was very interesting as I didn't realise that there are so many islands on the way and we twisted and turned through them.  The smaller islands are inhabited by retirees apparently - no popping down to the shops/pub for them!

The really interesting thing we found out is that the port is close to the USA border, which runs along the 49th parallel, with the exception of Vancouver Island, which is solely Canadian territory.  This is apparently because they moved the capital of BC to Victoria at the time of setting borders.  On the other hand, there is a little point on the end of the Canadian peninsula, with a couple of hundred inhabitants and they are Americans.  The children go to school in Canada (of course) and they have to carry passports and go through border control every day.  Seemed complete madness to me.

Our purpose of visiting VI was to go to the Butchart Gardens.  These are contained in an old quarry and suffice to say that they were magnificent.  We had just over an hour and a half there and then drove further down to Victoria, another city overlooking the harbour.  The weather had cleared coming across from the mainland and was pretty well perfect for walking around.   Had plenty of time to look around and visited the Miniature Museum - most of which was very good.  Retraced our route and eventually got back to our hotel just after 9.30, in time catch the restaurant which closes at 10.00.

Wednesday 11th
A quiet day thankfully.  The first without an alarm for a week.  We went up the Vancouver Lookout (Tower), as this was also included with our Rocky Mountaineer package.  It was a good day for viewing the city, as tomorrow is likely to see some showers later in the day.  It was lovely to just amble around without having to continually check the time too be back on the bus!!!  Vivian has just had a swim in the heated pool here in the hotel and you never know, tomorrow I may join her.

Sadly tomorrow is the last full day of our holiday and it is amazing how much we have seen and all the people/friends we have met.  The joys of travel.  We are looking forward to a final dinner with Rohays & Don tomorrow night, but not the bag stuffing on Friday!

Black bear paw on the left. Grizzly on right

Spa pool in Jasper

Rocky Mountaineer

Logs on Fraser River

Butchart Gardens

More......

Steam clock in Gastown, Vancouver

Random observations

As we enter into the final phase of our adventures in North America, a few things come to mind.

Black bears can be brown, grey or even white.  Grizzly bears are brown, but have a hump behind the shoulder.  Bears are solitary animals except in the breeding season in June.  Mum bear looks after her cubs for 2 years and then they are on their own. Bears have no natural predators, most die by train!  Bears are naturally woosies & prefer to eat dandelion & berries, rather than people.

Canadians & Alaskans (can't comment on others) are polite drivers.  You can cross a road by just holding up your hand.  The 4 way stop encourages politeness ( would hate to see what would happen in NZ).  Most music in public places is stuck in the 60s & 70s - the only exception I heard was Lorde in a pub in Calgary!!

There are few songbirds to be heard.  Glaciers come in all shapes and sizes.  Light switches work upside down.  Toilet bowls are (over)full of water.  An Entree is a Main.  Salads come first.  Many TV channels means more of nothing.  The list price means nothing.  Sales tax comes on everything later.  Sales tax in Alberta is much less than British Columbia.  The main industry in BC is lumber.  The main industry in Alberta is oil.

There are 2 competing train companies in Canada.  Trains can have up to 300 carriages.  Containers are often double stacked.  Trains can be 1.5 kilometres long.  Trains traverse the whole of Canada to take goods to the port (east or west) nearest to the destination (Europe or Asia).  Alaska is a favourite destination for Koreans, as it is close.  The railway through to British Columbia was constructed to encourage BC to join Canada,  there was concern that US would take it.  US paid the equivalent of 2c an acre to buy Alaska from Russia.  Alaska has the biggest vegetables, as they get 22 hours of sunlight during the growing season.

The treeline in the Rockies is at 7,000 feet.  99% of the Rocky Mountaineer track is below 7,000 feet.  Bears are nearly impossible to see from a moving bus/train.  The Athabasca Glacier is 1,000 ft thick.  Salmon swim up to 1,000 miles to spawn/& die.  In Alaska they don't do salmon farming, just hatcheries to ensure supplies for fishers, both commercial & recreational.   The original Royal Canadian Mounted Police were established to control/discourage whiskey traders from selling their firewater to First Nations people.

This is my last post for this holiday, and we are sitting in the lobby, having checked out.  Our friend Rohays will take us to the airport at 4.00, so we have a few hours to fill in.   We are missing out on Saturday but will be home early Sunday morning.  Hope that this blog has been at least partially illuminating.  To those who commented, thanks. To those who read this blog, thanks also.  To those who didn't, you missed a lot!!