9th Day Akaroa

A pretty frustrating morning here at Akaroa. We thought we were doing the right thing by waiting till the tour groups had got off on the tenders and went down to get our tender ticket at 10 am and ended up sitting in the dining room waiting for well over an hour. They told us there had been a medical emergency which took out our use of at least one of the tenders so what could one do. luckily we weren't planning to meet anyone here today. By the time we arrived on land ( more than a 25minute ride) the small village was overrun by us and also the passengers from the Sun Princess which we only just beat into this lovely harbour by a whisker. Whilst the shops were overrun, I heard some say they weren't selling much. We wandered around, had a coffee, bought some stamps to send postcards to the kids and the men did their thing on the IPads etc and Eric found somewhere to put a bet on the Melbourne Cup ( to no avail) and then back to ship for a late lunch and a nap before dinner. The Showtime comedian, Simon Palamares was a bit weak. We listened to music in Wheelhouse Bar and had a cuppa at Horizons before bed about 11pm.

8th Day Wellington

Right, well here we are in the NZ capital and at first the wind was not too bad but whew! Did it change its mind around lunchtime. It was so strong that I nearly fell over a couple of times. Just as well we aren't still sporting beehive style hairdos. We docked around 8am when it was quite calm although last night the winds were around 150kph and it was thought we may not be able to dock a at all. We enjoyed Brekky while docking and then walked off at 9.30 for a 25min walk to city centre. We took the cable car $4 one way up the mount where we took photos, had a Capp and a look over the Tramway Museum. Then we took the walk down through the Botanical Gardens seeing lots of different sections and colours of foliage etc including some very pretty rhododendrons. One delicate one reminded me of coconut ice. The huge rose gardens are all in bud but very few flowers out yet - a bit disappointing. There also seemed to be fewer plants in the Begonia House and I was so looking forward to that. We continued on down to the city and eventually found a coffee shop with wifi where we had a bite to eat and got our emails and sent some too. The men then came back to ship and Bev and I looked in a few fashion stores - such lovely summer colours this year. Eventually we found our way back to the ship though it was quite a struggle in the wind. We went to High Tea (without Eric) for the first time and that was very pleasant. Maybe dinner will have to be light tonight!

7 th Day Napier

The ship arrived in Port at the planned time of midday and we were on the second shuttle bus for a 10 minute trip to the info centre in the centre of town where we met Lyn and Dennis.Lyn was there to seek us out and then gave us the option of staying in town for lunch or driving down to their place at the beach which was 50ks south or about 40mins each way. The beachside won out so off we went hurtling round the bends in the winding road on the more scenic route to Wairama(?) what a gorgeous drive there and then on a different route back. The mountains were lush right to the top - just some magic views everywhere. They live within about 50metres of the beach with huge picture windows overlooking same for an unimpeded view from kitchen and living areas..But wait, there's more - we then were treated to a delicious lunch of fresh crayfish caught out the front that morning! What more could you want? 

We caught up on what our families were doing etc and talked of the different trips we have done. Lyn loves gardening and has a great display of flowers and shrubs and also a healthy veggie plot. Her own house suffered a severe flood in 2011 with up to a metre of water through so they have had to do a lot of work there inside and out too. 

Back to ship by 4.30 and then no time till it was dinner gong and off we went again. We decided we wouldn't go to Showtime at 8 so just sat in Wheelhouse bar and listened to music for a while. Then we thought maybe we would go to the late session at 10pm so asked how the show was and got differing views so went anyway and it was pretty good - Danny McMaster and Grant Galea with impressions and singing. The first show has become a bit of a problem with not enough seats with queues getting longer and people standing for too long. With a ship load of 2000 and 700 seats in theatre, they really need a third show each night and they did for the first 3 days.

Off to bed around 11pm - no late cuppa tonight.

Day 6 Tauranga

Well, we had a really lovely day today - the weather was great though with a strong breeze. After docking at 9am, we took shuttle to Tauranga - about 10mins - and had a walk around the main shipping street. There were loads of lovely shops for fashion and gift wares etc. We eventually settled on a spot at Starbucks where there was free wifi. Quite a few of our group also arrived there to enjoy coffee and check emails etc. It must have been about 12.30 when we got back to ship and had a light lunch up on the deck. After having crowds of people around all the time, it was nice to have lots of space everywhere as lots of people went out on organised excursions - most to Rotorua or Hobbiton. Everyone seemed to enjoy their day. 

After lunch we walked over to Mt Manganui shopping area which was quite a surprise in size. Once again there were lots of fashion shops with really beautiful garments. However we weren't tempted and gradually found our way to the beach. It was lovely to see so many people enjoying the beautiful day. Then it was off to do the walk around the base of the mountain. I foolishly briefly entertained the thought that it might be a good idea to climb to the top!!!! Luckily the thought soon passed and we headed off. Oh, was I glad we were not climbing as I found the hour walk pretty taxing - supposed to be 40minutes only. Oh well, I guess we don't travel too fast these days. We then settled for a coffee/cold drink at a cafe before starting the walk back to the ship. Whew, was I glad to get back and spent an hour on the bed to recover. I didn't even go to dinner, but made up for it after the show tonight. The show was very slick with lots of singing and dancing with lightning fast costume changes.The theatre has been packed each night - have to be there at least half an hour early to get a seat.