Cngratulations to Jason!

On his Bar Mitzvah on Saturday!
AUCKLAND
After a night that began very rocky on the seas, we slept we. The ship docked at 7 am to view a set of offices or apartments, we were never sure which, directly across from our ship. Apparently a developer decided to convert this area into offices and apartments though for the life of me I’ll never understand why anyone would want to live in this part of Auckland which is actually a very pretty, modern urban area that rivals any city in the world. It is characterized by a huge tower with a revolving restaurant and observation tower than reminds me of Toronto when I see it fr4om a distance. There is water everywhere as there are islands everywhere and it deserves it’s knickname of the City of Sails.
We had ordered room service which came a few minutes before our asked time of 7 am. Our tour left at 9:30 am and we were there in plenty of time. I had my camera ready so I could take a photo of the little beagle sniffing Ed’s bag but alas, we were only subjected to a hand search of our bags. Shucks. Our driver/guide was Alex of Norwegian descent with a very calm, slower demeanor.
Accents
I’ve been meaning to write about this for sometime. The South sea islanders have a hint of an Aussie accent colored with the specifics of their own local dialects. They almost always apologized for their poor English but for the most part, it was very understandable with a few words now and then that required some figuring out on the part of the listener.
New Zealanders have a soft Aussie like accent but it is much less harsh than the Aussies themselves. They do have the flat, broad aaaaaa that we associate with the Australian speech.
Harbor Bridge
WE drove over this bridge which started out as a 4 lane bridge that rapidly became too small. So a Japanese made 4 additional lanes, 4 for each side of the bridge, and these are termed “the Nippon Clipon.” The views both ways are wonderful with lots of wide ocean and sailing vessels of all kinds.
We drove through various parts of the city and heard of it’s history. It is a mix of buildings from many eras, many coexisting on the same block. The main street is Queen Street with souvenir shops filled with the expected shoddy geeky stuff, next to Louis Vuitton and other high class names you’d know.
The Tower
This stop begins as you go down stairs before taking the 11 second elevator to the top of this landmark. You can jump from the top in a harness or simply walk around on the glass walkway around the edges. I had forgotten that the elevator also has a glass in the middle so you can see underneath you as you rise along with the outside disappear and become smaller as you go higher. You exit through the expected souvenir shop with the typical Kiwi local stuff: puau jewelry, woolen items, Maori themed jewelry, and stuff for kids.
If you want to see the gorky photo they tried to sell us, go to www.kellytarltons.co.nz and click daily photos. Then enter this photocode: 5859-U4SBV6CL4M54
Newspaper
I found a quick stop while we were waiting for the others on the bus to gather and bought a newspaper. It is Sunday and was clearly heavier than the daily ones. The first thing you notice is that they are much wider than our papers. They have several sections but I never saw any cartoons or sodoku. One section, front and back, was an ad for Weight Watchers items at Mickey D’s. 6.5 points for each dinner recommendation which included a sandwich, salad and drink. I wonder if it’s a try out here or if this is also unveiling in the US. We’re bringing the ad back with us.
There’s the local Hollywood type gossip, some financial scandals, real estate projections, and a small amount of politically oriented commentary but nothing like we have in the US.
We may auction off this newspaper on the ship to help pay for the excursions.
Special note to Nancy: Lyle Lovett is appearing in Auckland on March 20th. Knew you’d want to know.
Antarctic underwater experience
This is near the beach and is a private endeavor though it reminds one of an aquarium and sea world mixed into one. They have live gentoo and King penguins you watch while driving in a snow cat. There is a tube you walk through on a moving sidewalk that has sharks and other varmints of the deep including enormous sting rays floating around and over you. In between are many exhibits of expeditions and play areas with interactive tasks for kids. This took about an hour and a half and was a quiet way to spend some time and of course we love the penguins. What’s not to love about these very funny animals.
Shopping?
We got off in town along with Chuck and Kathy and had lunch on the balcony overlooking Queen street of a steak house. The weather is wonderful and this was a pleasant respite. Then we started looking in the tourist traps and I quickly lost Ed as he spent time with them. I walked a ways up Queen street and then decided I’d better start heading back toward the wharf since my vision isn’t great and I need more time to figure out my environment. As I was crossing the street headed toward the ship, I heard Ed hollering at me. We checked in with each other and I continued toward the ship while he stayed with the others. This is not an uncommon event when we get off a bus with others.
Since we have two sea days ahead, I emptied my bag of the stuff I won’t be using for a while and then began to read the paper. Ed came in shortly and laid down and checked out the McDonald’s ad. I came down to save a seat for the entertainment from the shore. We saw this show last time we were here and we wanted good seats as it is outstanding. I came down 45 minutes before it was to start and the only front row seats were on the far sides which doesn’t work well for viewing and certainly not for photography.
Taking the stairs
Except for times when it might be dangerous, we always take the stairs. We have remarked on the number of folks of ALL ages who seem to be doing the same, more than we recall on previous cruises.
Captain’s announcement
We were scheduled to go south to Picton (which I am told is across from Wellington (which is on the North Island) on the South Island). But the weather we had such a time with last night is now awaiting us in that direction. So he has made a decision to take us north by the Bay of Isles and around the north part of the north island and go to Picton that way. We all cheered.
Deciding on tours
This often constitutes a job all it’s own. So I took all the tour forms we currently have and went down to consult the tour books info on deck four. I’ve put my opinions on the forms and will pass them to Ed for final decisions. One good thing: it was our intention to finally go to Raffles in Singapore to have a Singapore Sling. It turns out that one of the tours does just that.
China tour: they are offering an extended overland but we’ve decided against it. It isn’t any bargain to begin with but it goes to Beijing (we’ve been there before) and then Xian to see the terra cotta warriors (we saw them at the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana) and then to Singapore (we’ve been there before) and then to Hong Kong where it meets the ship again. It does not go to the three gorges which was something we were both interested in. Sooooo we’ve decided to go into Beijing (a 3 ½ hr bus trip one way from the port) for an overnight as the ship is in port for 2 days. We’ll see all the big sites again and we’re happy with that. The price isn’t a bargain but it’s reasonable for us.
Dinner
Three couples at the table. One couple went sailing. The other did a tour with some of the same things we did and a few different. They did not go to the tower.
Tonite the entertainment is a showing of the original film “South Pacific”. As you know, Ed did go and I didn’t. I had lots of things to get done.
Tomorrow’s schedule
Well it’s very atypical. The port talk for Picton starts 30 min earlier. The Academy Award designer is doing a lecture in the Casino Lounge. Trivia isn’t until 11:30 am and even then it conflicts with several other things. Well I guess that’s always true but they’re different than usual. And tomorrow’s trivia is being done by a fellow passenger who is Aussie and so it will focus entirely on Australia. We rarely have such focused trivia questions I absolutely hate those, as to many others, and I can’t imagine a passenger who would want to remain friends with anyone volunteering to do that. The answers are often personal prejudice than true ones.