We took a bus excursion around the city in the morning. Our first stop was high on one of the mountains with a great lookout. Except that Tasmania is having a drought and it is late summer. So there are several active forest fires burning. The smoke was blinding. I took a couple photos but they aren’t good. The architecture in the city was pretty interesting. But even then the sky is bad.

Fortunately our second stop was at the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens. The flowers were very much in bloom. But the gardens were very interesting because it wasn’t just flowers. They also labelled the trees even the giant redwoods and other plants. I took a bunch of photos there.

Kathy’s sister, Mary Leach will like this photo. She is a quilter. We walked all through the town and found a quilt shop. This was hanging on the wall. No we didn’t buy all of the different things necessary to make a copy. Sorry.

We did eat lunch at an interesting restaurant on the harbor. It was a family owned place where the family also had their own vineyard so we had a bottle of their wine, shared a salad, piece of Tasmanian salmon and some fries. We finally got in a lot of steps, over 15,000.

Dunedin New Zealand was settled 150 years ago this year by the Scottish. The architecture was spectacular. This was the railway station. Obviously not only was the building beautiful but the grounds had flowers and shrubs laid out as well as in Versailles. We went inside and looked at the stained glass.

Obvious theme for a train station.

We walked around the downtown area which was very crowded for a city of only 150,000. There were 2 cruise ships docked. Our ship has 930 passengers plus the crew. The other one was a big ship with over 4,000 passengers. So lots of tourists walking around. But even worse, the Eagles were in town and had a concert this evening in the large sports arena. We found a table at one of the outdoor cafes ( which took quite some time to find) and talked with the 2 couples near us. They were not locals but had travelled here just for the concert. Many had, or so they said. The fun part of our late lunch was figuring out what to order. We got menus and then Kathy counted out our New Zealand currency very carefully. We had NZ$69. And we did want to use all of it but nothing more. Why come back to the US with a couple NZ dollars. So we found a bottle of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and an appetizer portion of fish & chips for NZ$64. Tipping in New Zealand is discretionary. And then never more than 10%. So we had just enough money. The waitress took our order and suggested the entre size for the fish & chips would be easier to split for 2 people. We told her we didn’t have enough money to buy that for cash. She laughed at our logic for placing the order.

Our excursion in the morning was a bit underwhelming. It was to be focused on seeing the Yellow-eyed Penguins. These are the largest penguins in the world and are being threatened with extinction. So we hoped to see a colony of them. We had been told that we would not be right near them but I thought my telephoto on my camera could help. Boy was I wrong. I couldn’t even see one of them. Eventually the guide from the conservation center found one using binoculars. I saw that in his binoculars and could tell the area. So I took my camera still not finding it at all and just shot photos of the general area. I think I took about 20 pictures. Once back on ship I could look at them on my computer. This was the only shot with a penguin and this is the best I could make it. The guide did tell us that they always hide to avoid being found by predators.

On towards Australia with 2 full days at sea.

When I was in New Zealand several time in the 1990’s to replace the controls on the Waitaki River hydroelectric dams I mostly worked in Twizel. A small construction town about a 100 miles from Christchurch. But on some weekends I would travel to Christchurch because it was so beautiful and had more choices for restaurants and things to do. One of the most beautiful things in Christchurch was the Anglican Church Cathedral in the photo. There was a market near it where I bought handmade wine glasses and there was a walking only center with lots of outdoor cafes.

Today the church looked like this. There was an earthquake in 2011 that devastated the city. Not only was this church basically destroyed but the Catholic Basilica was destroyed along with 6 other Catholic churches, 30 hotels and thousands of homes. I basically didn’t recognize the city. But we went into a couple shops. My head was hanging low and I was about to cry. The lady in the first shop had a bright smile and said don’t cry. We are looking forward to all of the construction being completed. Buildings that hadn’t been built properly for earthquakes were gone. New codes and building practices were being used. The place will be lovely once again in just a few more years. You must come back. Is the glass half full or have empty?

Are you “on the Ball”? Years before GPS the way sailors set their time instruments which were used for many things including navigation, they would watch the ball drop in the harbor of Christchurch (perhaps others too). At 1 PM the gun would sound and the ball would drop. A sailor was on watch to set the time. If he became distracted and missed the ball drop he was considered to not be on the ball and would be punished. I was on the ball and took several photos as the ball dropped. But I only included the one with the ball at the top.

Wellington New Zealand. The capital and another busy port and sailing area.

Our excursion took us high up to Mount Victoria where we got a view of the city and harbor with the surrounding hills.

But the more glamorous views were right down at the water with the waves crashing against the rocks. There were no swimmers in these areas!!

We also had a stop at the Botanical Gardens. The flowers were well past their peak since summer is almost over. But still very pretty at 61 degrees.

The harbor area of Napier is noted for its architecture. A huge earthquake in 1931 changed the geography and demolished many buildings. So most new construction in the 30’s were of art deco design. So they have an annual art deco festival and many cars from the 30’s. Some local tour companies use these old cars and then they dress in the 30’s outfits. This building was the tobacco company as it says. Very pretty.

But the most notable part of the city for me was the timber. Near the port there were stacks and stacks of logs. This photo is only one small area of logs. They were everywhere!! The story goes that New Zealand soil is rich in minerals because of all of the volcanoes and earthquakes (Wonderful things to have frequently) so the trees grow much faster than in other parts of the world. So they have a huge timber industry and ship logs to many places.

The special buffet in the evening on the ship did New Zealand foods like cheeses and deli meats. But of course there was also lamb. 3 types of lamb dishes. Yum!

Whoever heard of Tauranga? It is the fastest growing city in New Zealand and is the largest shipping port in the country. As with most of the North Island it is made of land created by ancient volcanos. The cone in the photo is the most famous in this region. Now totally dormant, thank goodness. We walked from the ship to the hill and half way around. The views of the water were terrific. There was a sailboat race going on as we walked. We were told it was the class 1 &2 national championship. Whatever that means. I am not into sailing. The shore front is extremely pretty with house prices to match. Sunny and 75 if you care.

Auckland is one of the fasted growing cities in the world or so we were told. But it is also one of the most expensive cities. We had a great time walking around the harbor and then after getting on the Viking Orion ship we had an excursion giving us some great views and some history of the city and the Maori people.

The skytower in the city photo supposedly provides great views of the city and the harbor. But we never partook. It also provides a venue for pungee jumping while in the city. It costs about $200 for a 7 second fall. No thanks!

For lunch back on the ship Kathy was good and had a chef’s salad. I was great and had a huge piece of roast lamb with veggies and some fries (not many). That means I have had lamb 4 times so far. Not quite once per day. But I am trying at least while in New Zealand.

In a few hours we sail away. First port gone with many more to come. We have met 3 couples that never received their luggage from the flight to New Zealand. They remain hopeful that it will arrive in the next few hours. Or else!!!

We got onboard and into our stateroom by about 2 PM NZ time Sunday. I haven’t reset my PC clock so the postings have the wrong date. There was enough room in the closet for all of our hanging clothes and enough drawers for the rest. The 4 suitcases basically empty fit nicely under the bed. We are set!

We left the snow and ice from Iowa and arrived in Auckland New Zealand. 15 hours on one plane was enough! But we did sleep for a few hours. Unfortunately it was overcast in Auckland. However 70 degrees felt great. The map is the entire cruise with each of the countries and ports we visit. Lots of adventure ahead.

The harbor area still looked pretty good except for the weather. We took a long walk to see some sites and to overcome the jet lag. Besides our hotel room wasn’t ready and we wanted to find a nice restaurant for lunch.

Anyone who knows me very well knows that I love lamb. So the first meal in New Zealand was a rack of lamb. Delicious! And the view was over the harbor so we watched yachts come and go from the harbor.

Then Saturday morning (today) we sat at breakfast with a couple we just met. They are also taking the entire Viking Grand Pacific Cruise of 93 days. This couple is from Detroit Michigan. We shared many stories over breakfast and will likely share many more. There are only 13 couples doing the entire cruise. But we have also met many couples doing just one or two segments of the cruise.

Today we have a local site seeing excursion with a stop at a winery for lunch and wine tasting.

We are allowed 4 suitcases and our backpacks on our United flights. It was fairly difficult to figure out how many clothes to bring for 98 days. But we did pretty well. Here they are with one day to wait.