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Published: June 26th 2017
And the rough weather continued. Being at the bow of the ship and deck 10, Roisin and Chris have probably felt the motion of the shop more than most. The bad weather must have lasted for about 30 hours. On the day before we were due to arrive in Auckland the weather, as predicted, subsided and the status of the sea condition was reduced to moderate. Chris had been advised by one of the deck officers that in rough weather, the stabilisers of a ship are pulled in as they could easily snap and do damage to the ship. That's handy to know!! So, in rough weather, ships are at the mercy of the elements and have to ride the waves. What made Chris uneasy is when the officer added, '…and hope for the best!!!' Chris is sure he detected a smirk as the officer took his leave and turned away.
As a change from the normal lunch, Roisin and Chris decided to visit one of the clubs on board for the ‘pub lunch'. This is an alternative to the normal lunch and is usually available every couple of sea days. Decked out like a traditional English pub and with
Eleanor Rigby playing in the background it was just like being back in the Merton. Roisin plumped for the Snake and Pigmy pie whilst Chris ordered England's national dish of chicken curry washed down with a can of Guinness!!! When Roisin asked what was dessert, the Brazilian waiter replied, ‘
Sherry Trifle Pie, lady'. Intrigued by the Sherry and the Pie element of this sweet, 2 portions were ordered only to be disappointed when the trifle pot came with a cherry on top. It was a CHERRY trifle. Still tasty though although not quite home cooking!
With more boats per capita than any other city in the world, Auckland is appropriately known as the city of sails. The plan for today was quite simple. Take a ho-ho bus (hop on, hop off) and tour the city. The 2 main sights Chris and Roisin wanted to visit was Kelly Tarleton's Arctic encounter underwater world and the Sky Tower, the tallest structure in the Southern Hemisphere. (Now before you start a mass debate as to the tallest building, the towers that everyone is probably thinking about (and were depicted in the 1999 film
Entrapment starring Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones) are the
Petronas Tower in Kuala Lumpur. This tower is in the NORTHERN hemisphere. Check your atlas!!) So, now that's cleared up, anything else Chris and Roisin managed to see would be a bonus.
The Ship docked at about 8am, slap bang in the middle of downtown Auckland.
The information centre in Auckland is handily placed on exiting the port area. After picking up a leaflet on the ho-ho bus service, Chris and Roisin decided to head directly for Kelly Tarlton's and then purchase a ticket for the circular bus service. The Kelly Tarleton tickets were bought at the information centre as they advertised 10%!r(MISSING)eduction. As it turns out, friend's of Roisin and Chris had headed to KT's and bought the tickets from the ticket office who also gave them 10%!d(MISSING)iscount!!
They rushed to pick up the free shuttle. This is a novelty maxi bus in the shape of a shark with the license plate ‘
Shark 2'. Genius!! Chris and Roisin managed to secure the last 2 places on the shuttle. Roisin rode shotgun. Peering out of the windscreen gave the impression from outside that one was looking out from inside the jaws of a great white.
I'm telling you. These Kiwis! They know how to market a product!! (note: I'm being sarcastic!!!)
One of the first exhibits is a challenge to put your hand in water replicating the same temperature as the Antarctic Ocean. The challenge is for 30 seconds. Chris, ever the cynic, gave it a go!! 10 seconds – a tingling feeling. ‘
I've had colder showers', he thought. After 15 seconds his hand started to go numb while still maintaining some feeling in his fingers. After 20 seconds the burning came rushing up the whole arm and with this, his senses took over and the reaction was to withdraw his hand from the icy water. Looking around he made sure no-one had seen him withdraw his hand like a whippet out of the blocks. He then wiped it on the towel provided before looking down the armhole at the water as if that would show him what made the water so cold. As it turns out, he saw ice floating in the water. Mystery solved!!! (more sarcasm?)
After walking through a mock up of Shakleton's camp in the Antarctic then came the main event. The Penguins. However, it was not just a
case of walking through to an enclosure. Kelly Tarleton's boast these cuties are kept in as close to their natural environment as possible. For this reason, the penguins can only be viewed from either a glass window near the entrance or for a more intimate view, by snow mobile. The snowcat seated 6-8 persons and the ride takes about 8 minutes and slowly moves through the penguin enclosure. The Penguins are still behind a Perspex window but this is a much more fun way to watch them in their natural habitat than visiting a zoo. Unfortunately, the snowcat that Chris and Roisin were allocated had a faulty commentary. On the other hand, it was fortunate that one of the other passengers in the snow-cat was David Attenborough who managed to fill in the gaps quite admirably!! OK, it wasn't actually him but someone who obviously thought that they were a world authority on the penguin. Chris's only knowledge of penguins was demonstrated in the trivia quiz several days ago when he got the right answer of Oswald Cobblepot was the actual name of Batman's arch enemy ‘
the Penguin'!! Other exhibits included the underwater tube taking you through the world
of giant stingrays and sharks. A moving walkway was supposed to have led you through this section but had stopped working. The majesty of the rays was mesmerising, gliding effortlessly through the water.
A guide was busy giving a demonstration of feeding the piranhas. He pointed out that these fish are misrepresented in the movies and most will not attack a human as they are quite cowardly and will dart for cover if frightened by an unexpected splash. When challenged to stick his hand in the water to illustrate his theory, he declined! Who's the coward now??
Chris and Roisin waited for the return of the free shuttle. It was over 35 minutes late so the shark bus driver must have gone for his dinner. They ended up taking the local bus back to the downtown bus station.
As the Sky Tower was less than a 10-minute walk from where they alighted the bus, they decided to head toward this landmark.
Turning right onto Victoria Street from Queen Street, in the shadow of the Sky Tower, a bungee catapulted a capsule of 3 thrill-seekers a few hundred feet into the air. As it pinged skyward, it
frightened the bejeebus out of Chris who hadn't spotted this contraption until now.
The Sky Tower is 326m (1,078ft) high and consists of an observation deck and a sky deck. Similar to the Liverpool Beacon Tower (prior to a local radio station takeover), the Auckland Sky Tower houses a haute cuisine restaurant that revolves. Unlike the Liverpool Beacon Tower, the Auckland Sky Tower is in Auckland! Oh, and people pay good money to throw themselves off the top of the tower! For those who have a death wish, it is possible to walk on the outside of the Sky tower. There is a small grille approximately 4 feet wide that circumferences the sky deck of the tower. For the few who still don't get a rush from this 'act of stupidity', they can freefall (with the aid of a wire), a few hundred feet, giving those in the restaurant a heart attack, then are lowered the rest of the way to the base of the tower by means of a guideline.
Roisin decided to sit this one out. Chris, on this occasion, decided to play it safe and pay just for the observation deck. On entering the lift,
he noticed a glass section of floor. ‘
It can't hurt me if I don't look down. It can't hurt me if I don't look down ', he kept muttering to himself.
As the lift ascended and not aware of who else was in it with him, he heard a voice from the side say,
'14 quid for a ride in a lift. That's scandalous. In Liverpool we have a tower you can walk up for nowt!!' On making his acquaintance it turns out that this passenger lives in Arkles Lane, Liverpool. Recently retired he is spending some of his severance on a holiday of a lifetime. Question: Is it possible to have a holiday of a lifetime then a few years later have another holiday of a lifetime?? If the second holiday
is the holiday of a lifetime, is the first (holiday of a lifetime) relegated??!
The views from the Sky Deck of the Tower were astounding. On a clear day one can see up to 50miles in every direction. From above, Chris could see a number of marinas dotted down the Auckland coast full of wall-to-wall yachts. From this view one can see where Auckland gets its nickname.
It is said that there are about 48 volcanoes in the Auckland region that are visible from the Sky Tower. Most people can only recognise about 20. Chris, not being most people, managed to recognise 1. Lets face it, with due respect to visually impaired people; a blind man would have been able to spot this one!!!
Chris and Roisin never made the ho-ho bus. After a spot of lunch and a quick mooch around the shops it was time to head back to the ship and prepare for the next leg of the journey.
It's about 700 miles to Wellington, the next port of call so 16th October will be another day at sea.
In the evening Chris and Roisin's ‘evening' quiz team blitzed the opposition scoring 17 points compared with the next best of 15. A bottle of champagne was presented as a prize. As no one in the quiz team drink (or are able to drink for whatever reason), the ‘Champers' accompanied Chris and Roisin back to their cabin.
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Dave
non-member comment
I enjoyed that Chris. We've got mates over there and that was a good insight into the place.My mrs has always wanted to go on a cruise and now I have told her about the dodgy bits it's saved me ?thousands. I owe you one!!