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Published: February 13th 2014
ELLIE & STEVE
At the caravan parkWe spent a week cruising New Zealand and what a spectacular place to cruise around. The highlight of our visit here was meeting up with my youngest brother Steve, who has lived on the North Island for the last 10 years.
We sailed into Auckland on a sunny morning and as it turned out, a national holiday. The waterfront was alive with a sail boat regatta and paddling competition. Steve and his five year old daughter, Ellie, came aboard as soon as we cleared Immigrations. Ellie first visited us on a ship when she was 2 months old and then every year since and she loves being on board. What kid wouldn’t love a place where you can get all the cookies and ice cream you want? We showed them around the ship, played some ping pong and watched the waiters fawn over my niece. We decided to celebrate Chinese New Year a few days early by going to a fancy dim sum restaurant close to the harbor. It was packed and probably the loudest restaurant I have ever been in. But the food was good and plentiful. We spent the rest of the afternoon on the ship getting caught
ELLIE & FRIEND
They liked each other up and chatting about life and then all too soon it was time to say goodbye. I’m sad that Steve lives so far away but thankfully we are able to see him almost every year when we cruise the South Pacific.
We had a Cruise Specialists sail away party on the aft deck as we departed the harbor and cruised through the Hauraki Gulf. Steve and Ellie were staying at a caravan park outside of Auckland and they took a picture of the Silver Whisper as we sailed past their campgrounds.
In Tauranga we hiked around Mount Maunganui overlooking the Bay of Plenty and strolled through the quaint village. There were two other ships in port, both of which hold over 2000 passengers. So the mountain path and town streets were pretty crowded with travelers. It must be a boom for these small towns to have such a dramatic influx of visitors on one day.
In Napier, the Art Deco capital of the world, we decided to try out the Ocean Spa. This is a city run pool complex right on the shores of Hawkes Bay. There are three wading pools, two large hot tubs and a
lap pool all of which are filled with heated salt water. It was a real treat for us water babies.
With six straight port days we didn’t have much time on the ship except for the evenings. There is a new restaurant on board called the Hot Rocks Grill. It is located outdoors on the pool deck. This is quite an innovative idea where square lava rocks are heated to 500 degrees for 24 hours and then are used for grilling the main course at the table. It is really cool to eat under the stars while cooking our own steak, fish and vegetables as we wish. There are heaters in the event of cold weather and awnings in case of rain. It is our favorite restaurant on any ship. When we are home in Sausalito on “Mana” we grill most of our dinners on our upper deck bbq.
We stopped at three ports of call on the South Island---Picton, Akaroa and Dunedin, and finished with the crowning glory of cruising the Milford Sound. These are all lovely towns for residents and visitors alike. We lucked out with the weather as we had no rain and when we
KEVIN & STEVE
Ping on the left...Pong on the right. entered Milford Sound it was spectacular…our best day ever in Fjordland. Actually, New Zealand is a perfect cruise destination with beautiful scenery, friendly folks, human-sized cities, low crime rates and temperate weather. This small country has 4 million people and 40 million sheep. One in six residents owns a boat. New Zealand is renowned for its trout fishing, crisp Sauvignon Blancs. This is a paradise for hikers, surfers and skiers. We always enjoy ourselves in this lovely land Down Under.
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Jd
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Happy valentines day
Hi enjoyed reading your whereabouts . Hello to raj,