As we travel through the South Island of New Zealand, it just keeps getting colder and wetter.  A few years ago, I said that New Zealand is very much like the Northwest.   Well, it really is.  Rainy and cold. It’s also Latitude 46 degrees South, at home, we are 46 degrees North. But this is their summer and it’s still cold. Don’t get me wrong, we are still having a great time. 

First stop Wellington. Cold and rainy, but Kim got her hair cut and walked around town.

In Nelson, Kim took an Electric Bike Tour.

I guess we could have saved a lot of money if we sat in the rain in a row boat at Port of Longview. Same view.

At dinner that night, all the l;adies got a red rose. Be my valentine.

Yet another reason to start the entertainment before 9:15. As I sit here tonight in the grand saloon listening to a very famous pianist playing Chopin, I reflect on the weather over the last 3 days.  It was very special. Not in a good way.  I tried to keep my routine and was mostly successful, but sometimes it was painful. 

Today, the weather in Dunedin finally beat down Kim.  She got ready to go ashore and it was raining sideways, litterally.  She gave up and took off her rain clothes, jumped back into bed and had a very well-earned day of relaxation.  Another guest told me she weathered up and got 20 feet past the gang way before she also gave up and returned to the ship.  It was brutal. 

I continued my normal routine and went to the pool deck at 11 each day.  There was nobody out there except me and the crew that had to be there. 

It was palatable for a while, but even I called uncle and retreated inside after a couple of hours.  One of our friends saw me out there and said if he can do it then so can I.  She went back to her cabin and got her umbrella and came to sit with me. She lasted about 2 minutes before she too gave up.  

Another passenger came by and said “Oh I can’t believe you are out here all alone”.  I said I had a friend, I think his name was Jonathan. 

It’s been so rough that yesterday, when I was leaving the pool deck and heading to my room, I was waiting for the elevator and a huge wave hit. I was looking into the restaurant just in time to watch all of the wine glasses fall to the floor with a huge crash. 

I had to teach the crew how to keep this sign from blowing away. As I have told you,  it has been rough.

As we were leaving Stewart Island, Seabourn invited the World Cruisers to an exclusive dinner. The menu was designed by Chef Karl, the head chef of the ship. The theme was South Pacific Food. As you can probably guess, Lobster, Tuna and an amazing fresh white fish that was caught that day were on our plates. Yum. This was the view from our table.

Well, you can’t stop some things, even with bad weather.

Pool Chronicles, you just can’t make this shit up.

At one of the Islands, I over heard a guest that was returning from an excursion explain to another guest that the guide said that the only way to get on and off the Island was by boat or plane. You can guess the response….”Oh,is there an airport on the island”? I can think of a couple of ways you could get onto the island from an airplane, but can’t think of a way to get back off without an airport.  

The new hotel director joined the ship a couple of days ago. I have history with this man and it’s not real plesant. Kim cautioned me to just be cordial to him and it will be okay. Well, the first time we ran into him was at the World Cruisers dinner. He was making the rounds from table to table. He greeted us then asked if we were on all the way to Vancouver. I started to open my mouth and remembered what Kim told me, so I just said yes we are. If you are paying attention, even you know who is in the dining room. Either you are in uniform like he was or you were sitting at a talbe eating. Define exclusively for World Cruisers…..

Kim was telling our friends that we get together with every afternoon about 3 of the people that were on her hike. When they got to the trail head and the lunches were passed out, these 3 women announced they were vegitarian/vegan. So, everyone had to wait 30 minutes while the tour coordinator called for 3 special meals to be delivered. They shouold have taken care of this when they signed up, but that would take some independant thinking. One of our friends said they knew exactly who the 3 women were and they had experienced simular events when they were with them on a tour. He went on to say that one of them had a cause to fight for the preservation of farm animals. To which I replied “I need to meet her because not only do I preserve farm animals but wild ones too. I have 3 freezers full of them”.

While in the Milford Sound I heard a lady ask if that white stuff up on the mountain was snow. My thoughts, either it was snow or a cocane farm, or a video of a waterfall on pause. Where do people think up these questions.

Another guest was over heard saying “I can’t believe how many passengers are wearing hearing aids on this ship”. Well, I have already told you that we are among the youngest passengers on board.

More later………….