December 23rd

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Napier, New Zealand, North Island - December 23rd - 1:48pm
I got to sleep in a little today as we didn’t get to Napier until 11am. Lee had to go to work and do his talk so I had no trouble sleeping. I soon got woken up to him coming in to change, he was pretty jealous that I was still curled up in bed. We decided last night that I was going to head into town on my own for a bit or else I wouldn’t get to see the town of Napier, as we had an excursion booked.

Napier is a very cute town, lots of artsy buildings and sculptures everywhere. I just walked around, people watched as I drank my cappuccino. We didn’t really need anything just a few bags for Christmas presents. I enjoyed my time around Napier and then jumped back on a shuttle. Lee and I planned to meet up at 1pm to have some lunch before our excursion. I called Lee when I got back on the ship and he was still in the office and he wouldn’t be able to go out for lunch as he had to help with dispatch. The team is a little unorganized at times. I grabbed a bit to eat and headed to catch the bus for our wine tour.

6:19pm
We just got back for the wine tour. It was more driving then wine tasting but still very good wines. The first stop was at Sileni Estates. We had some great wines, “Red River” Sauvignon Blanc 2007, “The Lodge” Chardonnay 2007, “The Peak” Syrah 2007, and “The Triangle” Merlot 2006. They were all complemented with some great cheeses from the area as well which was nice. Anne (the hostess) brought Lee and I on our own private tour of the area. She wasn’t sure if the guests would be able to walk the area as there were a few stairs and uneven grounds with slippery floors. But it was neat to see their facility. She said it was the biggest winery in New Zealand which was neat. She showed us all the machinery, the de-stemmer, the crusher, the tanks, etc. They have a great area in the basement where they bring in culinary chefs and small groups to have dinner. Lee suggested offering that as a tour, which would be awesome.
We then headed down the road to the second winery, Ngtarawa. They weren’t expecting us as we were a bit early, but they managed quite nicely. Some guests were getting quiet rude as they were helping themselves to more wine after their first glass, only when the nice young lady would leave the room. It was a little annoying, but being an escort you get to smile and nod. She soon realized what was going on and took the bottles with her. Stupid guests! Haha

The tour was alright but I thought it a little boring, I can’t really complain though.

10:15pm
I don’t get to nap today as I’m needed upstairs in the office. Shuttle Shuttle Ya Ya Ya, Shuttle Shuttle Ha Ha Ha. As you might imagine I have to book shuttles. In the majority of our ports we have to take a shuttle bus from the port to the center of town and these shuttles are range from 3$ - 5$. The shore excursion gets the lovely advantage to charge each guest. It is very repetitive actions, but I did enjoy it. I got to laugh at the team when they would freak out at each other. So my first real night of shore excursion wasn’t too bad at all. I’m probably going to help them out every night from here on in as we have lots of shuttles.

But for now, it’s sleepy time.

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