Finally, an excursion

We finally, we got to do an excursion Thursday, April 6, in Wellington, the capital city, also called the “Culture Capital of New Zealand.”  In the rain, of course. 

It wasn’t raining too much when we boarded the bus to take us to Zealandia.  By the time we got there, it started to pour.  We went on our walking tour anyway. 

Up the steps we went.

We saw a few birds.  A very cool place.  It’s like a Jurassic Park setting, and that’s what they call it, the Jurassic Park of New Zealand.  They’re working to return this piece of land to the way it was hundreds of years ago … without dogs, cats, rats, stoats, possums, the ones that wreak havoc on bird life.  There were no mammals here long ago, just birds and marine life.  It’s a giant and noble undertaking. 

The giant weta.  We did see one of the 3-inch ones that lives inside the tree.  Ugly in real life.

There's a lake and a dam, and loads of hiking trails here that would be nice to walk, if it were sunny.

The moa was a flightless bird that was hunted to extinction.  It looks kind of like an emu except with lots of feathers.

They’ve put up special fencing, with wire underneath it so rodents can’t dig under it, and a tubular piece over the top so they can’t crawl over it, and they patrol it often looking for breaks or deterioration. 



The fence looked pretty good from where we stood.

As back up there are traps set around to catch rodents.  The object is to bring back birds that have been on the edge of extinction.  It’s a beautiful place, and would have really been lovely in the sunlight.  As it is, it’s lush, with the sounds of birds, even if they can’t always be seen. 

 

The takahe is a large, flightless bird that is usually near wetlands.  It was once thought to be extinct, and is considered critically endangered.  They are similar to another bird we'd seen, but have a larger beak.  Zealandia is also the home of the largest population of little spotted kiwis on mainland New Zealand.

I didn’t take a photo but there is also a pateke, a brown teal duck.  It’s a rare native duck half the size of a mallard with a beautiful mosaic of brown feathers on its back.  It doesn’t quack like the ducks I’m used to hearing.  It growls. 

From there we went on to Otari, Wilton’s Bush Trust, a collection of native plants.  It’s a rather a cool place, particularly if you’re into plants.  The rain lightened up some.  I had my rain poncho so just the bottoms of my pants, my shoes and socks were wet today.

They did have some rain coats. 

Otari is the only public botanic garden dedicated solely to New Zealand plants.

It is a beautiful place and one that would also have been fun to explore more 

Otari propagates and grows rare native plants to be planted back into the wild.  In fact, only one tree of a certain variety survived the introduction of goats.

These berries, and one other type I saw, are a beautiful bluish-purple hue. 

Back to the ship and a bite to eat.  Tonight there was a show we went to see, two of the four Kinsmen (Pearson & Harvey), I believe local type of talent.  Funny, musical.  It was great and I was laughing so hard I cried.  However, the Captain came on and told us the seas would be very rough, and to be careful and make sure everything in our cabins was stowed.  He came on again.  This time to tell us the water was so rough our pilot couldn’t get off the ship and on to the pilot boat.  He would be continuing on with us.  He also said that the seas could get violent, his words, not mine.

The water got very rough, with seas of 12-18 feet.  We were sailing through Cook Strait, where it appears all the water from around the islands comes together and make it into a huge boiling pot.  I’m thinking this is some of the roughest we’ve been in … on all our cruises.  The ship is creaking and groaning, rolling from side to side, and our speed has slowed to 14.2 knots.  No hammer down tonight.

The report from the bridge indicated that the wind was 45 knots, strong gale, force 9.  Stef and I went out on the balcony to look.  The water is crashing over the bow as we make our way through … with the high-flying mist dancing over the top of the waves.  It’s beautiful, but also scary.  It makes me want to eat chocolate.  It’s a good thing I’ve been rat holing the chocolates the room steward brings every evening.  But I have faith in our captain. 

As Friday, April 7, dawned, we continued on, another ship drive by.  When we have to use tenders in a port, if there’s big water, it doesn’t happen.  So we didn’t get into Akaroa, and we still have the ship pilot from Wellington with us.  I hope he didn’t have some special engagement yesterday evening or today, like maybe his wedding or vacation plans.  We were to go see little penguins here …  Three out of five excursions so far missed.  But we occupied our time with another at-sea day.  And we really do enjoy afternoon tea in one of the dining rooms.  Little sandwiches, scones, other fancy desserts.  Yum!! 

I’m doing a lot of reading on this cruise.  I also went to the gym, listened to a piano player in the piazza, and enjoyed some appetizers in the Skywalker Lounge, which is a part of being a Platinum passenger.  We sat there enjoying our water with lime and shrimp, cheeses and fresh fruit and vegetables.  The view is magnificent from the 18^th deck at the back of the ship, and quite relaxing. 

Back to Auckland

Back to Auckland on Monday, April 3.  On our way we saw a few dolphins, but not well enough to get any photos.  Maybe another time. 

 

Here we are again, another big, beautiful city.  Our tugs await our arrival.

This is the slip we glided into, something seemingly not nearly large enough,

We didn’t plan any excursions as we’d been here a couple of weeks ago and had done pretty much what we’d wanted.  But there was a mission for the day.  When heading to the shuttle to take us to the ship on the 31^st, I had a luggage malfunction.  My small bag’s handle broke … and while I was still able to use it, it was no longer in top shape and I required a new one. 

We got off the ship and planned to walk up the street, Queen’s Street, I might add.  Our plan was to look for a shop where I could find a replacement piece of luggage, and a coffee shop where we’d stop and have a cup of coffee.  Mission accomplished, with first the luggage that I then drug up and down the street, and then coffee.  The good thing about the luggage was that I could put my purchased trinkets in it rather than have to carry a bag.

The ship called us back and we changed into our swimming suits and went up to one of the pools.  It was great as we had it to ourselves for a long time, as well as the hot tub. 

Later in the evening we changed and went to a performance of a local group who did traditional Maori chants and dancing.  It was quite enjoyable, and I sure do like it when the locals come on board to perform. 

A walk in the hot sun, and a hot tub ended my night pretty quickly as I was spent.  So bed time came early as a light rain began falling. 

We were to be in Tauranga Tuesday, April 4.  We’d received word the evening before that our tour for here was cancelled due to bad weather.  We’d had a kayaking and thermal pool trip planned.  What a disappointment.  It was raining, but not hard, but we couldn’t change it.

Off we went, outfitted in long pants and our Harley jackets.  We’d decided to walk around the base of Mount Maunganui. 

Off in the distance from where we got off our ship, we could see Mount Maunganui.

The seas along the base were angry, and got way angrier as we walked.  The wind was blowing hard, and it was raining.  As we walked, the rain began to come down even harder.  By this time we were probably half-way around the base.  So, we just kept on going. 

It was beautiful with a well-maintained path around the base of the mountain.

The walk was beautiful, even in pouring down rain, but sure would have been nice in the sun with the waves crashing against the rocks, the tide pools calling us to come see what underwater life they held. 

There were some beautiful rocks and pools that called us, but the weather continued to deteriorate.

 

It was so foggy and raining so hard we could barely see our ship.

 

We just kept going until we got back to the ship.  Our wet clothes hang dripping in the tub.  We’re even more grateful now for the larger room, with a tub and a clothesline that holds most of our clothes as they drip, drip, drip.We were really glad to have the Princess bathrobes.  I got into dry clothes, put the bathrobe over them and crawled into bed, cold and tired.  I slept for a few hours, and finally was warm again.

It was time to have a bite to eat, and walk around a bit.  Inside not out as the storm was still dropping buckets of rain onto the decks of our ship.  The wind is howling, and the seas will most likely become a bit rougher again tonight. 

Gisborne was our port of call for Wednesday, April 5.  Well, that didn’t happen either.  Due to bad weather the ship couldn’t get into port, so we didn’t do our bicycle-riding trip.  So far, we’re not doing well, and pretty soon Princess may have to be paying us to take this cruise (I wish).  But it’s not as though we don’t find things to do.  There’s plenty to do, and I’ve taken this opportunity to do a lot of reading.

We're on our way

I’d tried last night and then again this morning, Friday, March 31, but still couldn’t get a blog to upload from the hotel.  CRAP!!!  My work isn’t done.  And I’m way behind.  We got the car returned, and I had a luggage malfunction when the handle broke on my small bag.  I was still dragging it along although it was a bit more difficult.  I’ll have to find a replacement somewhere.  But we got a shuttle to the port, and being that we’re now Platinum travelers, we got boarded pretty fast.  We figured we were probably about in the first 10 people to board.  Woo hoo.  Walked around and checked some things out, we had our first bite to eat at Horizon Court and then went topside to watch the sail off. 

How could I not take another photo of the Sydney Harbour Bridge?

We’d received an e-mail a few weeks prior asking if we’d want to upgrade from a balcony room to a mini-suite and decided to take the plunge.  It didn’t cost much, and we figured it would be nice for the first two weeks.  Oh yes, it was.

It seemed like we had about twice the space; we had a couch with decorative throw pillows, two flat-screen televisions, a larger balcony, nice robes to wear and even a tub so we could take a bath. I decided to check. 

Looking from the balcony toward the door to the hallway.  So much space is awesome.

 

It was nice to have a larger bathroom.  A tub was pure luxury.

A balcony room is approximately 279 square feet at the largest while a mini-suite with a balcony is at its largest about 323 square feet.  Believe it or not, those extra square feet make a huge difference.  We were loving this already.  And the price had been very right.  Now we were getting spoiled and probably wouldn’t want to just have balcony cabins anymore.  Smart of Princess.

The pilot and the crew are amazing.  They get the ship out of some pretty tight harbors.  This one was no easy task.  The ship was backed out from the dock, and then swung around.  We had spectacular views of both the Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House, as if I hadn’t taken enough photos of them already.  It all had to be done with lots of other traffic around, some waiting, some darting about the ship.  That could be a not-so-great prospect as we’d already watched one ferry try and try and try to get into his slip to offload and onload passengers.  It was interesting to watch as he just didn’t have quite enough power and made about five tries to finally slip in.

We seemed to come awfully close to the opera house and I had visions of knocking down the architectural wonder.

It was a great exit from the harbor, and our captain sounded the horn as we left, a deep bass that let everyone know we were the biggest, baddest ship around. 

And sailing out gave us the most wonderful view of the opera house.

And there's the rain.

But in the distance you could see rain clouds and they were moving our way.  The wind was increasing and finally the storm caught up with us.  It was a rough night, tossing back and forth.  I slept like a baby.

The seas are still rough this cloudy day of Saturday, April 1.  Hard rain.  Clouds.  We spent most of the day in the cabin, reading, napping.  We came out for coffee, a short walk on a rolling and pitching deck, and food.  Then back to the cabin.  It was a pleasant and relaxing day, wearing the bathrobes we got for being in a mini-suite and drinking water from wine glasses.

Nice and comfortable these robes are.

The day began gray again on Sunday, April 2, but cleared later.  Then fog moved in and out … and our ship sounded the fog horn.  It was a comforting sound, hearing the deep bass to let others know we were out there. 

We walked some, went to a Maori cultural lecture, a couple of port lectures.  We went to one of the shows and met a couple that have done 127 cruises.  And they’re not the ones on this ship that have done the most.  They’re second best.  Wow.  I don’t expect to ever get there.

Back at the cabin, the ship continued to go in and out of fog, and the fog horn continued on and off.  It’s still comforting to hear.  And I’m still sleeping like a baby being rocked to sleep in its cradle.

Kangaroos and koalas

We headed down from the mountains as Thursday, March 30, was our last full day in Australia for now.  The plan was to head to Blacktown to go to the Featherdale Wild Life Park as I needed my tourist photo with a koala.  After that we wanted to get closer to Sydney to return the car on Friday and get to the port to board the ship at noon. 

The rain mostly held off until we arrived at Featherdale, which has the world’s largest collection of Australian native birds and animals, numbering about 1,700. 

As we arrived at the park, the rain really began to come down.  Tropical Storm Debbie, formerly known as Cyclone Debbie, was continuing to make herself known.  But I still intended on going in as I wanted my koala photo.  It’s the tourist way, and I am a great tourist. 

Nothing uglier than a hairless baby.  Awwww.  So cute.

One koala photo coming up.

We had rain ponchos, and I’m certainly glad I’d brought one.  It was worth the few bucks I’d paid for it.  It rained most of the time we were there, sometimes a little less, but mostly just harder.  But it was still interesting.  And I didn’t care.  I got my photo with a koala and fed the kangaroos and wallabies.

Fuzzy-butted koala.  Got my tourist photo.

Look at those eyelashes.

They're so cute I wanted to take one home.

However, these have some pretty sharp-looking claws, too.

This is a quokka.  It looks like some kind of rodent to me, or some strange type of kangaroo. 

The little penguin can swim at 6 km per hour and can dive to a depth of 40 metres.

The little penguin is the smallest in the world and can be found up and down the east coast of Australia.

Then it was back to the hotel to wash clothes so we’d have everything clean for tomorrow on the ship.  Of course, we jammed the dryer with our clothes still wet, but eventually got that done, then worked on blogs and photos.  We were ready for our premium boarding experience as Princess Cruise Platinum Guests.

Today, the canny kangaroo

I woke up today, Wednesday, March 29, thinking maybe today was the day.  I was going to go check and see if I could get internet on the porch by the office.  But first, I decided to go see if there were kangaroos.  If they were like other animals, many of them feed in the morning and evening.  I wandered to the field at the back of the cabins.  There’s a little grassy area and I stood and waited silently.

There seemed to be some movement across the field.  I wasn’t sure.  I stood still and continued to wait.  YES!!!  It was a kangaroo, also standing and watching me.  I was so excited.  I ran back to the cabin and got Stef.

How exciting.  Our first kangaroo.  She looked pretty big, even from the distance, with a powerful tail.

We stood outside, watching and taking photos.  It wasn’t quite sun up and the light was coming through the trees and grass.  I stood there and suddenly out of the corner of my eye something quickly moved on my left-hand side. 

It was just a blur.  I turned, I pointed my camera and clicked off a couple of frames.

And then all I had was backside.  But I love the feet.

It was another kangaroo, a small one, Momma and baby.  They stood mostly at the edge where the grass was taller, in the shadows, but they were easy to see once you knew what to look for.

How exciting it was … kangaroos there for us as we appeared to be the only residents.  Worked for me.  They kept an eye on us, but didn’t seem that disturbed.  But we didn’t approach or try to annoy them.

After a bit I started to itch.  My wool socks?  Probably not.  Most likely, little bugs.  But it was worth it.  And that was just the beginning of the day. 

We were off to see some things, to walk around, to do our usual wandering.

Govett’s Leap is one of the places that even locals like to visit due to the beauty of the valley and the falls.  The area was named for William Romaine Govett, an assistant surveyor who came upon this place in 1831. 

This stonework looked to me like a wishing well.

 Once again, we were greeted with cloud cover, pretty in its own way.  But a bit of clearing gave us a view of the falls there, at the edge of Grose Valley. 

Looks like marshmallow crème.

The clouds moved in and out, covering and uncovering most of the falls.

We followed some of the trails around until we reached a number of the lookouts.  The trails are steep in some places, or muddy or have puddles, but you do what you have to in order to get to the view. 

From there we went to Evans Lookout and views of what they call the Grand Canyon.  It’s much like ours, with a river at the bottom and grand cliffs, except it’s covered with trees.  It’s as beautiful as our Grand Canyon, but has a lushness because of the greenery.  Both are spectacular.

The color and formation of the rock cliffs are also reminiscent of the U.S. Grand Canyon.

The cliffs on the other side appear to be a different color in the lighting.

The view takes your breath away.

We stopped for lunch, and you never know what kind of things you'll see painted on the side of a building.

The wind-eroded caves also required a bit of a walk down a trail, but everything we’re seeing is worth any walk we do.  I worried about bugs or snakes, and just tried to keep a look out and not touch anything. 

The breaks and cracks in the rock made odd patterns.

We peered up at the cliffs, and noted the odd patterns there, as well.

Our journey today also took us to Anvil Rock, where I think someone has a great sense of humor.  And we did more walking to other areas.

Someone had a great laugh to think of people climbing up here to see "Anvil Rock."

When we finally did our walkabout into Pulpit Rock, I was expecting more of the same … but not this time.  By now we’d seen so many rocks and valleys and trails, I wasn’t even sure what I was looking for.  So this may or may not be Pulpit Rock.

Does that look like a pulpit?  I don't know.

Most of our walks weren’t long, only about 15-20 minutes one-way.  But I counted each round trip as a walk.  I figure we need to do three walks a day. Today was more than three.

It was level walking here, but don't let it fool you.  There was a lot of up and down today.

There were many interesting plants.  But I didn't touch any of them.

Many of the areas we visited are near Grose Valley, encompassing a large area.  A river runs through it, and we could see it in the far distance.  There are so many beautiful areas, so many waterfalls, so many rocks, that after a while it’s a bit difficult to keep them all straight.

Later in the evening after we came back, we were treated to seeing more kangaroos, three of them in the field this time. 

What you looking at?  Take note of the claws.  Looks as though they could rip off your face.

One was quite small, and so it seemed like a real privilege to see it.  After a bit it was close to dark, so I needed to try to get online to post a blog.  I went up to the office and sat.  I kept hearing these loud noises and finally determined the birds were dropping seeds or nuts or something on the tin roof of the building.  It was quite loud and sounded like a heavy hail storm.  I got the blog finished and posted, but not before being eaten alive by mosquitos.