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Published: March 7th 2011
Had a wonderful time in Auckland – a really nice place, seems very laid back and some very pretty parts. Got off the ship and took a “hop on, hop off” tour bus around the city, hopping off in a very nice part called Parnell Village. There were some lovely quaint shops and lots of nice bars and restaurants. After this we hopped back on the bus and went into the main part of the city, getting off at Sky Tower with a plan to walk around the top of it. Unfortunately this was when Scott’s bank card stopped working – the Fraud Department at the Royal Bank of Scotland had stopped it as they saw money coming out from different parts around the world – despite the fact we had told them this is what we were doing. Anyway after a few panicky moments as, by this time, we only had a tenner left, Scott then called RBS (goodness knows how much that will have cost from a mobile) and got the card unblocked, although by the time this had been done we had run out of time to walk around the top of Sky Tower. We strolled around for
a while then back to the ship as we had to get ready to go to the Cunard World Dinner which was being held in the same Sky Tower.
The night was brilliant. It started with a cocktail party on board and the drinks just kept flowing, then off on a bus which stopped to pick up Captain Cook on the way who gave us a potted history of how New Zealand was found in a most entertaining manner. When we arrived at Sky Tower we took endless escalators through the building and on each floor there were either Maoris in National Costume or entertainers of a New Zealand nature doing their welcoming stuff. The room was done up amazingly (photos included), the meal was good, the drink kept coming and the entertainment was great. The Haka was performed by some very fit men, there was a mini cirque du soleil type thing, and other bits and pieces. The live band were great and the dancing was good – well we thought so but there again we had had a lot to drink!!! We left and were back on board by midnight as the ship was sailing out at
this time but of course we didn’t feel like stopping then so off we went to the Commodore Club with a few others and continued. It wasn’t long before I realized that Scott had lost the power of speech so unfortunately we never made the nightclub.
A very quiet day was had the following day!!
We have now been at sea for several days on our way to Guam which I think will be a bit like a service station stop, i.e. just refueling, re-stocking, and stretching the legs. I believe it has quite a bit of WW2 history and some nice beaches and is a holiday island used by the Japanese and that it has a type of snake which is endangering many species of animal which live there ….. and that’s about it!! Of course we will do our regular searching of an internet café!
The weather on this leg of the journey has been good although we have seen a fair bit of rain. The temperature is high in the 80’s and the sun is out for most of the day so all is good. I must say that Kim has been strutting her
stuff on deck in her gold lame bikini – it is truly amazing. She also puts on loads of gold bling to go with it 4 or 5 bracelets and arm bands (not the swimming type!), enormous earings and full make up. It puts me to shame as I don’t think I go to this trouble when going out for the night!!
The clock has being going back steadily over the last week too so we are moving towards normality now and I think are only about 10 hours in front of GMT now so much sleep has been had.
We have seen a hammerhead shark, flying fish, and a Booby Gannet in the way of nature life.
The dinner table is developing well – the four we share with are an interesting bunch with many an entertaining tale to tell. Joanne and Ralph, a Jewish couple in their 70’s from Ohio, are really good fun. They have only been married for two years and were telling us they met on an internet dating site. She had finished working in book publishing in New York and moved to be near her sister in Ohio and he was
a recently bereaved and retired English Prof and things just went from there. They are a bit like Woody Allen characters. The other two, John and Michael, are always good for a giggle and I must say that we did the music from the show quiz this morning with them and we got full marks so earned double golden tokens!!! I say “we” but really I mean Michael – I don’t think there’s a show he hasn’t been to.
Also today we crossed the equator again and are now back in the Northern hemisphere. Therefore the moon will now be observed from our normal perspective and won’t appear to be back to front. We crossed the Tropic of Capricorn the other day and are heading northwards towards the Tropic of Cancer which is apparently why the weather, although always hot, can be a bit unpredictable and bring on the tropical rain. I didn’t realize that the area between these two tropical lines is called the Doldrums altho’ it doesn’t feel like that to us… so there you go!! So off to Guam and then Japan in a couple of more days. Then things start to get more active with
various shore trips every one or two days until we reach Barcelona on the 15th April.
Right I think that’s it up to date, so love to you all. Xxxxx
In Guam and it’s beautiful!
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PHIL
non-member comment
Who is the lady in red wow!!
Hi you two! Still enjoying life I see, and managing to win a quiz ! In the group photo of "girls night out" is the lady in the red dress a harpist and was she on the Queen Victoria, she is scrummy! Well continue to enjoy the rest of the trip, Scott are you still wowing them on the dance floor! Finally have you two acquired another stalker yet!! Regards Phil