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Published: October 26th 2010
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We finally made it (sort of). We landed Wednesday Morning at the Bay of Islands, New Zealand (Tuesday for you Americans, as we are a day ahead). Hard to believe that 28 days have gone by since we got on the ship.
But I look out and there it - the “Land of the Long White Cloud” as the native Maori’s named it. 8 am and 59 degrees out. We are not used to this. Two days ago it was 85 and we were lying on the beach.
It is the middle of spring here. There summer does not really start until December. Hard to believe we are so close to our daughter but will not see her for 48 hours. We have the day here in the towns of Pahia and Russell and will be in Tauranga tomorrow then Auckland at 7:45 am the following day.
We are not real motivated to see the towns on these days as we will probably be back later in the year when the weather is a lot nicer. That won’t stop me from giving you some history (I know thats what you are waiting for!).
So here it is:
Our favorite spot on ship
Our room was next to this small public balcony...always nice and quiet. Watching the water was mesmerizing. Bay of Islands is on the east coast of the North Island. It is where the first Europeans showed up in the 1640’s. It is pretty funny to read the first explorers accounts, because the Maori’s were always killing and eating them. Finally the British showed up in the early 1800’s with some force and signed the Treaty of Waitangi here near the town of Pahia. It was written in English and translated in Maori. The translation was not very accurate (there is arguments as to whether is was accident or on purpose). Which led to basically two sets of rules.
So the British started buying and settling the land and the Maori’s eventually figured out what buying and owning really meant and did not really like it. So they had a few small battles with the British until they finally were put down. So now the British could really get down to civilizing the country for real.
The town of Russell was the original capital until it was moved to Auckland to be more central then to Wellington to be even more central. It is now home to 4.5 million Kiwi’s. Not very many when you
consider the country is the size of California. But for a small country, they still lost more men per capita in WWII then any other country.
We went into Pahia and took the ferry over to Russell. Nice little towns pretty much geared to summer tourists from the rest of the country. If the rest of the Kiwi’s are half as nice as the people we met here, it should be great.
Due to the crap weather, we really did not spend to much time off the ship. At this point we just want to get to see Nicole in Auckland. We might spend more time in Tauranga as they have a nice hot spring there. And I love hanging out in hot springs. If you have never tried it (there are tons in the Rockies), you do not know what you are missing.
When we get to Auckland I will put a ton of pictures up of Nicoles life. We have tried to get her to do it, but we are just not worth it (only kidding). Her life has been busy with school and work, so we will cut her a break (we did have
to give up out lives in New York to come down here though).
Leaving the ship we have mixed feelings. We are ready to get on land, where the hallways and bed don’t move to much. On the other hand, we are well taken care of here. Someone cleans your room, cooks for you, picks up your dirty plates and makes sure the pool is full and the towels are clean. Life is very easy. If you have not experienced a cruise before, treat yourself to one in the Caribean or even from NYC. I cannot recommend Holland America high enough. The Staff, Food and Accommodations we wonderful.
Holland America is owned by Carnival (as are a whole bunch of others). But they are not the party ships that Carnival is. Some of the people on this ship were stuffy, but I do not think it is typical due to the length. So give it a try, I think you will like it.
Breakfast is over and I need to find an internet cafe so I can send this blog post out. So, Dianne and I hope everyone is good and talk to you soon.
Bruce
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Eileen vergoz
non-member comment
Congratulations you made it.
Great pictures, Nicole and Chris look fantastic.