onthegogirl

Akaroa, NZ Today was all about being on the water and wildlife sighting. We board the Black Cat and head out into the harbor, the remnants of a volcanic caldera like Santorini. We are looking for dolphins, penguins, fur seals and sea birds. As we cruise, we pass Onuku Maria a Maori village where there is a meeting house, a kitchen and accommodation for Maori traveling there for meetings and festivals or just to visit local residents living in the area. Soon we were met by Hector Dolphins. These are the most endangered dolphins. They measure about three feet versus nine feet for bottle nosed. They have been driven to the point of extinction by long net trawlers. With a perdition rate of 7% and a reproduction rate of 4% it appears their days are numbered. ... read more

A day at sea. I know folks who say they would be bored cruising. I never seem to have that problem. Today I awoke at 5:30 and that seems to be my routine so far. Checked my email and the news then had breakfast in my cabin; juice, cereal and coffee. It was then time to visit Australian immigration officials as we will hit an Aussie port tomorrow. Headed to the Lido for my smoked salmon and sat in the sun to enjoy. Next I went to a lecture on bio-diversity in the South Pacific. It was excellent. Checked out the casino to see if we would have a tournament but only three signed up. Took a little time on my deck chair chatting with my next cabin neighbor and reading and before I knew it ... read more

Off on an adventure Sort of. Most of the roads in downtown Auckland are torn up which makes walking or driving a challenge. Instead of going walk-about I decided to experience High Tea. There was a large assortment of teas, I chose the Elderberry and Apple infusion, four finger sandwiches; salmon, egg salad, ham & cheese and a chicken curry puff. I don’t do curry. There were three mini scones with clotted cream and an assortment of mini pastries. All were delicious. I decided to take a short nap before deciding on dinner. Thirteen hours later, at five am., sleeping beauty awoke refreshed and ready to go. But I couldn’t head for the port till around noon. So I headed to the business center to print out my luggage tag. For an Apple user Microsoft was ... read more

Four ports in Four days. Dubrovnik, Croatia We stepped out on the pier and into a wooden boat for a short sail to the Old Town. There are now hotels along the coast as tourism continues to grow in importance here. The old town is walled against invaders but during the Balkan war it was besieged by the Yugoslav troops and it took weeks before the siege was broken. Bullet holes are visible on the walls as a re I dear of that dreadful time. In 1666 a massive earthquake devastated more f the Romanesque architecture and the town was rebuilt in the Renaissance style. I would love to show you the wonderful pictures I took but (Drat, Damn, and Oh Sh-t) I deleted them by mistake. That was a first. After a walk around in ... read more

A few of you have let know that you weren’t receiving my blogs. Please advise by email if you get this. Thanks, CAL... read more