Auckland New Zealand or "The City of Sails"

Another glorious day down in the Southern Hemisphere. It is sunny and the temperature is about 20 degrees.  A great day for walking.  Auckland is commonly referred to as the "city of Sails" as the harbour is flanked by hundreds of yachts.  Once the ship docked we were off.  First stop Sky Tower.  The tower is 328 meters high.  The high-speed elevator, which travels at 18 kilometres per hour, takes 40 seconds to get you to the main observation level at a height of 186 metres (610 feet).  A second high speed lift takes you to the Sky Deck, which is at 220 metres (722 feet).  The admission cost is $28 and it is well worth the price.  The views at the top are spectacular.  You can see as far as 80 kilometers on a clear day, which we were fortunate to experience.   Below the Sky Deck at 194 metres is the observatory buffet restaurant.  This is also the level where you can do a controlled 'base jump' that gets you to the bulls-eye target on the ground in 11 seconds!  The cost of the Sky Jump is $225.  Alternatively, for a similar price you may do the Sky Walk, where you walk completely around the outside of a tower on a 1.2 meter-wide platform.  Of course, you are connected to a safety tether during the walk.  We opted to stay inside and walk over the glass floors, which give you  pause prior to taking the first step.  
From the Sky Tower we headed for the Auckland Domain a huge park in the centre of town.  We stopped to watch some cricket and I counted some twenty cricket pitches.   Included in the park are the Winter garden Greenhouses, duck ponds, traditional gardens from the 1800's and a Memorial Museum and cenotaph.  The flowers were in bloom similar to the end of August in Calgary as fall is just around the corner here.  Some of the highlights in the  Museum included; a full sized Maori meeting house, a full size war canoe that seated about a  hundred warriors, Edmund Hillary's ice axe used in his climb of Everest, a full sized Spitfire, Zero and Buzz Bomber aircraft and a room that simulated the effect of a volcano erupting in Auckland as the whole city is built on a dormant volcano.  We collected  a pamphlet on emergency evacuation procedures for volcanos.  It is interesting that they anticipate any future volcanic eruption to be beneath the sea, so the warning sign of a pending eruption would include a region of warming ocean that would kill many fish and other marine life and eventually actually start to boil and give off steam. 
From the Domain we trekked across the University of Auckland, a lovely campus, to Albert Park, which was designed to commemorate Queen Victoria and is a traditional English formal garden.  From there we checked in at an internet cafe on the main retail street of Auckland, called Queen Street.  After catching up with emails, we went to the Auckland Art Gallery, Toi O Tamaka.  One of our favorite pieces was the uniquely-shaped bench that twisted and turned in all manner of directions for the entire length of the sculpture terrace.  It was fun to try and sit on some of the weirdly angled sections of this sculpture!  After walking for over six hours, it was time to use up the rest of our New Zealand  money and what better way than tasting the local Pilsners on a delightful terrace overlooking the harbor.  Mmmm good!  Then back to the ship for dinner where the Cel had scallops in a shell and I had Wahoo.  For those unfamiliar with Wahoo it is a fish similar to a tuna steak.

Cruise tip: Although for $40 you can get a day pass for the hop-on hop-off bus, we recommend that you put on your walking shoes and get ready to explore.  Must sees are the Skytower, the Auckland Domain, the War Memorial Museum and the art gallery. The entry to the War Memorial museum is only $10 and the art gallery is free.  Of course, there are several other museums and attractions that would be worthwhile, such as the Maritime Museum, and Kelly Tarlton's Undersea World and Antarctic exhibit, but there is only so much time in the day.

Bay of Islands New Zealand

Thanks to cyclone Jasmine our port of call is the Bay of Islands New Zealand versus Tonga. The region is often called "the land of a thousand beaches" and it is a region I would love to come back to and explore some more.  After 26 years we made it back to NZ.  Originally we were going to go sea kayaking in an estuary to some falls, but when we went to the port lecture the other day, we learned that we would be kayaking through a mangrove forest, but after recalling our Mangrove experiences in Cuba and Florida and remembering the bugs we opted for a tour that took us to the Kawiti Glowworm caves and Puketi Kauri Forest.  Our tour lasted most of the day and showed us a great deal of the New Zealand countryside, lots of sheep and cattle.  We did a short hike in the Puketi Kauri forest which is one of the few remaining Kauri forests in New Zealand.  The trees are up to 1200 years old and have a 12 to 15-foot diameter.  Ten houses can be built from one tree.  After the Kauri forest, we stopped in a small town of Kaikohe which has some of the most unique public washrooms I have ever seen.  Then we headed to the Kawiti Glow-worm caves.  Fantastic.  Glow worms can only be found in New Zealand and Australia and reside in caves.  Glow-worms live up to 11 months and grow up to a maximum of 40mm.  They are as thin as sewing needles and have a blue/green tail light that increases in luminosity when they are hungry.    When the guides turn off the lanterns, the roof of the cave is lit up like the night sky with seemingly millions of lights everywhere.   The glow-worms do such a respectable impression of the night sky that they call one cavern the Milky Way cave.   After the caves we headed back to Paihia to gather local supplies of Waikato Draught beer and Tui east India pale ale.   Nice to have when you are thirsty but not any beers that I would repurchase.  Looking forward to Aussie beer.


Cruise tip:  if you land in Paihia the town offers a free shuttle from the ship.  See the countryside it is well worth it.  The town is more of a beach resort town.

The Taxonomy of Shipboard Creatures – Part 7

Alas, dear readers, it is time to wrap up this exercise with a noteworthy species indeed.

Misanthropes: These appallingly unfriendly creatures are, happily, remarkably elusive.  Indeed, we have only been able to positively identify two of them on board this ship.  They usually prefer to remain cloistered within their stateroom and balcony with the Privacy Please sign stuck in the door.  They rarely venture forth, emerging only occasionally to dine and sometimes to observe and make notes about the appearance and behaviour of others aboard the ship.  They do this with an air of academic disdain, leaving one with the impression that they are classifying their fellow passengers into groups for some bizarre taxonomy scheme.  When invited to join others for an occasional game of trivia or at a dining table, misanthropes invariably refuse, preferring their own company.  Misanthropes naturally project a certain arrogance that usually prevents others from approaching.  Consequently, when misanthropes dine in the formal dining room, a twenty-yard radius of empty tables typically surrounds them; the tables may have been full on day one but by day 3 all have left their vicinity.  Even the waiters approach their table only fleetingly.  Misanthropes are easy to identify when they venture cautiously from their staterooms because their pockets bulge with bottles of hand sanitizer that they perpetually use whenever they find themselves within ten feet of another passenger.  Occasionally the male of this species can be spotted spraying himself with free samples of the various colognes available for sale in the onboard shop, thereby confirming the long-held belief that misanthropes are not only antisocial, but cheap as well.

The Taxonomy of Shipboard Creatures – Part 6

Belugas: This species prefers aquatic environments such as the pool and the hot tub.  They are characterized by a HUGE displacement of water upon entry into their usual habitat.  If by some bizarre circumstance you fail to see the entry splashdown of these creatures, you can usually identify them by their huge rounded masses of variable-colored blubber protruding above the surface of the water.  Their colors include such unmistakable shades as pasty white, lobster red, volcanic-ash grey, mole brown, and varicose-vein blue.  Not infrequently, this stunning palette of color can be found on a single specimen!  Subspecies of the Belugas include: Men who should wear shirts; Men who should NOT wear Speedos; and Women who should wear burkas.  One always knows when elderly Belugas have made an appearance because that is when the pool boy arrives with water-testing chemistry.

Dravuni Island

Fiji is comprised of 322 islands, 106 of which are inhabited. Dravuni Island has a population of 150-200 people and is located near the Great Astrolobe Reef which is the fourth largest reef in the world.  The island is quite small.  One can walk across it in a matter of ten minutes.  It can easily be circumnavigated on foot in a few hours.  
We are visiting the island during the rainy season but the day we were there was sunny throughout. The ship arrived late due to rough seas and then we were further delayed because the pontoon dock to which we were to tender was damaged by heavy swells last night and needed to be repaired before the captain would allow passengers to go ashore.  As we waited for the repairs to proceed and clearance to go ashore, we learned that Cyclone Jasmine is directly between our current position and our next port of call, which is Tonga.  Consequently, our stop in Tonga has been cancelled and we will now have three sea days before arriving at our substitute port of call, the Bay of Islands in New Zealand.  We had been struggling to decide what to do on Tonga, since there is not much to see or do, apparently ( we won't mention, except parenthetically, that Tonga is one of the places in the world where cannibalism was widely practiced!), so the change is welcome.  However, it does mean that, with three more sea days in store, the Cel and I will have to do some additional research for our taxonomy, unless we receive sufficient comments to cease our critical appraisal of our fellow passengers (so here's your chance to shut us up!)  
We did finally get to Dravuni Island at about 11 AM.  It is gorgeous.    We started by hiking through the jungle to the highest point on the island, which is 137 feet above sea level.  It was a very hot 137 feet but a great hike, despite the mud, ankle grabbing vines across the path, an occasional coconut blown down from the top of the trees, and one almost total knockdown of the Cel when I nearly did a header into the mud.  Great views were available at the top.  When we got back to the beach, we found that, due to the choppy waves and offshore wind, no doubt a spinoff of the nearby cyclone, the surf contained lots of debris which made swimming less enticing.  A few people also got stung by some jellyfish.  Nevertheless, we did venture into the water and enjoyed the bathwater temperature of the South Pacific ocean.  
The islanders all have booths offering total body massages.  Given our obvious love of humanity, we declined.  We did, however, watch their presentation of traditional music and several of the warrior dances, which were very entertaining.  As we have found at other islands the natives are extremely friendly.   Hard to imagine that our presence quadrupled the population of the island. Calmer seas would have made snorkeling more fun but all in all it was a great place to visit.  The worst point today was seeing the mile long crack on a rather rotund individual as we exited the tender.  The stuff of nightmares.    Well it is island beer time and since tomorrow is a sea day it will be time for another taxonomy session; maybe we'll introduce crackers!

No tip for today so here is a sea term definition as provided by our navigator.

Sea terms :
Son of a gun:  this term was used in the 17th and 18th century, and was given to babies born on board  naval ships whilst they were at sea.  This was because between the canons on the gun deck was one of the few places on board where some privacy may be afforded to a woman giving birth.

The Taxonomy of Shipboard Creatures – Part 5

It being another sea day, it is time to resume our taxonomy.

Fashionistas: This group are notable for their attire.  A large subgroup among the Fashionistas is composed of those who like to prance about in the robes and slippers that bear the cruise line’s logo.  Though meant for lounging about in one’s stateroom, this apparel is so alluring and enticing to Fashionistas that they take every opportunity to wear it in the most public places on the ship, especially the morning buffet queue.  Perhaps they do this as a public service to those gaining too much weight on the cruise, because seeing these robed, haggard vestibules of morning breath quickly vanquishes hunger pangs and markedly reduces the desire to break one’s fast.  If you happen to be so unfortunate as to behold one of these robed brutes bellying up to the buffet after completing your breakfast, you may well suffer a bout of bulimia.    

During formal nights Fashionistas are easily distinguished by their tight leather mini-skirts that make them look as though they burrowed their way into a length of electrical shrink tubing and then accidentally rolled past a hair dryer.  Perhaps the most remarkable ensemble we were horrified to witness traipsing down the runway toward the dining room was propped upon suede purple stiletto heels with roman gladiator wraps winding up and accenting cellulite-tessellated legs before disappearing behind a fire-hose yellow-colored vinyl dress with reinforced seams.  This gruesome medley of color and textiles was accessorized with a short faux leather jacket that bore a vague greenish hue as well as 2-inch long crimson feather earrings extruding from beneath a bountiful clump of platinum curls in the form of a Dolly Parton wig.  Why, it’s enough to make one wig out!

Pago Pago

Our arrival is in the bay of Tutuila which is in the centre of the island and was formed as a result of a collapsing volcanic caldera.  The climate is hot and humid, just the kind of weather you love in February.  The location is at 14 degrees south latitude and because the Sun happens to be at a declination today of -14 degrees, at 12:36 PM today the Sun was directly overhead and our shadows had no length which was kind of cool.   The Samoan people are really friendly and helpful.  When a young girl noticed that the free email server at MacDonalds was down she logged onto another provider so we could check emails.  Really wonderful people.
One third of the work force here is employed by the government with another third in the service industry.  Land can only be owned by fully fledged Samoans.The joys of being a US Territory means I guess that the government is the major source of income. The traditional dress for women is a long skirt and for men knee length wrap around skirts.  We mainly saw men in pants but when we walked by the regional high school all the students were wearing white shirts and brightly coloured blue skirts with shorts underneath .  December to April is the rainy season but on our day here it was sunny with a few clouds.  Not a lot to do so we wandered from one end of the town to the other with our key purchase being Vailima, a local lager beer.  Nothing ends the hot day better than a cold 750ml bottle of beer that has an alcohol content of 6.7%.  Then, naturally, it is siesta time.  Never thought I would go to Pago Pago and I cannot imagine coming back again.  A nice place to stop after five sea days but not a lot to see and do. Today is February 10 and tomorrow will be the 12th as we cross the date line.  To bad (or maybe not) for those who have a birthday on Feb 11.   Next stop Fiji.

Cruise tip: It seems that, despite stated policy, you can bring aboard alcohol such as the local beer without having it confiscated at the security entrance.