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.