Surprising to me, I loved Auckland!! It is a rather nice city with wide-open streets for pedestrians, it is exceptionally clean, bright and open, and has many alleyways with cute outdoor cafes for dining. I especially loved walking down to the waterfront district, where I was to board my cruise. Here I found the Viaduct area, a great little area with many restaurants overlooking docks with beautiful sailboats. It was a great way to spend a few hours and watch the New England Patriots pull off their win.
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| Auckland, New Zealand |
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| Viaduct in Auckland |
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| Auckland New Zealand |
I boarded the cruise ship in the afternoon, and found myself to have a rather spacious room with a nice unobstructed window where I can sit and watch the ocean go by. It is surprisingly comfortable and nice here. I don’t know what I was expecting, but given that this is my first time on a true cruise ship, to me it is a giant floating hotel. There are 4 pools, 7 hot tubs, 14 bars, a large theater for watching movies, many locations for shows such as bands, comedy acts, and other, and about 8 different restaurants. There are all kinds of different activities listed each day in the different venues. My favorite thus far has been hanging out at the quiet pool, going to the gym, taking spinning classes, and reading. And of course the spa…….
So far we have stopped in Tauranga, Akaroa (Christchurch was deleted from the itinerary due to its current state), and Dunedin. Therefore I’ve been on ship the whole time relaxing as I had already seen Akaroa & Dunedin, and preferred sitting by the pool in the sun in Tauranga overlooking the harbor.
I have a CME conference on board, and we have full days of lectures on sea days. So that’s not that fun, but it is what it is.
We have had a change to our course due to weather. We were suppose to head from Dunedin around the southern tip of the South Island and spend a day at Fiordland (approaching from the Tasman Sea as opposed to the Doubtful Sound as I previously had done), but a strong storm has forced the captain to abort that portion of the trip, and we are re-routing up between the North & South Islands via the Cook Strait, we will skip Fiordland, and head directly to Tasmania as our next port. We will hopefully avoid the bulk of the storm with this route, as we were told that if we had proceeded as previously planned, swells would reach well over 20 feet and it would be a miserable & unsafe trip. Right now it is about 60 degrees, blue skies, and very windy, but it is anticipated to substantially worsen over the next 24 hours.
I’m looking forward to Hobart, Tasmania, and have plans in the morning for coffee with a friend I made on the Doubtful Sound overnight cruise. She will have spent a week in Tasmania when we meet up and I’m looking forward to what she suggests as my plan for the day.
I think that’s about it. I hope all are well!! I’m missing my friends!! Off now to lesson #3 on how to play bridge…….. It’s complicated!
Been out of touch what with becoming a grandmother and then sick. Ugh! Your venture remains an inspiration. Miss you lots, but so glad you had the courage of your convictions to make such an adventure!
ReplyDeletecarol