Sea Time

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Blog 19



Hobart, Tasmania – Fiordland National Park, New Zealand, March 30-April 2 ,2018



Friday, March 30^th - Weather forecast: mostly sunny, daytime temperature of 18°C; wind speed 16kts (5 Beaufort)

We left port on time and headed out to sea for a full two-day passage over to New Zealand.



Saturday, March 31^st – Weather forecast: cloudy, daytime temperature of 15°C; wind speed 14kts (4 Beaufort)



We were pleasantly surprised when we received an invitation to the Mariner’s Award Ceremony and discovered we had actually achieved 300 days of sailing time and would be awarded our silver medals. The next level is gold achieved after 500 days sailing. Our 5-star Mariner status will come sooner as it is calculated by combining our days sailed plus credit for ship-board expenses. Following the award ceremony, we enjoyed lunch with all the other Mariners



In the afternoon we attended a Maori Cultural Show presented by a troupe of Maori Ambassadors that have been on board since Sydney. They have been conducting classes in the arts and traditions of the Maori. The Vista Lounge, the ships main theatre, seats 750 and it was packed to standing room only. The presentation included the traditional Haka, the powerful ceremonial greeting, along with the songs and dances of the people; it was an extremely skillful and powerful performance.



In the evening we were invited to a reception to meet some of the officers from the Hotel staff and other 4 & 5-star Mariners.



Sunday, April 1^st – Weather forecast: cloudy, daytime temperature of 15°C; wind speed 38kts (8 Beaufort)



Overnight we moved our clocks forward one hour but something went amiss and it seems as though we moved forward two hours so everything was off on Easter Sunday morning – also screwed up my Fitbit syncing with my iPhone.



Spent most of the afternoon on the Lido deck aft writing prelim blog and reading. Typical relaxing day at sea.



Monday, April 2^nd – Weather forecast: heavily overcast with scattered showers, daytime temperature of 16°C; wind speed 33kts (8 Beaufort)



The day started early as we approached the Milford Sound at 7:00am in a heavy swell, rain and fog. We followed a Princess Line ship into the fiord at a respectable distance. After a two-hour journey we moved on to Doubtful Sound and ended the day with a passage through Dusky Sound. The physical sights of mountains rising from the sea, covered by dense forest and sliced by multiple waterfalls were spectacular. While seals, whales and dolphins inhabit the area we only spotted the dolphins.

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Photos

1
Leaving Hobart

2
Silver Medal - 300 days

3
Haka

4
Warrior

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Entrance to Milford Sound

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Foggy peaks

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One of many waterfalls

8
Cruise ship enjoying close encounter

9
Layers of fog

10
Twin waterfall

11
Leaping dolphin