Our last day in New Zealand, for a couple of years. It was just another day until……..wait, let me back up a little.
Throughout this entire Cruise, we have always docked with the starboard side of the ship to the dock, leaving us with a great view of the harbor all day, But, today, we docked with the port side to the dock, so I got to watch cargo ships and fishing vessels come and go.
We weren’t scheduled to set sail until 11:00 PM, so after dinner, we sat out on our veranda and just watched the activity around us. About 9:00, a heavy-duty looking flatbed truck with a crane on the back showed up. Soon after a pickup truck with advertising identifying it as a diver and salvage company, parked next to the truck.
The crane backed up to the edge of the dock and set out his stabilizers. The diver put on a wet suit and tank. We were wonder what in the world we were watching.
The crane operator signaled to the diver that he was ready, so the diver stepped off the dock and into the water. The crane operator was moving the crane around, but we couldn’t see anything. Soon, the diver showed up back on the dock. So, now it’s becoming quite obvious that the diver hooked the crane up to something. But what? Did a boat sink? Did something large fall off a cargo ship? All the dock workers were positioning themselves for a good viewing platform. What could it be?
Soon, we saw it, it was a car. Not an old piece of junk, but a late model silver sedan! Wow, what’s the back story here, how did it get off the dock and into the water? Was there going to be a body? Was it stolen? There are a million questions we are asking each other. But sorry, No clue.
By now at least my Liars Club friends are calling B.S. and probably some other are too. But I have photos! It really happened.
Happy Valentine’s Day all. We spent the day in the small town of Picton. When Kim came back to the ship for lunch, she said she wanted me to go see this city park, it was beautiful. So, after lunch (spoiler alert for those participating in the over under how many times will Steve leave the boat) we went to the park, as you can see from today’s photo choice it was a beautiful place.
Let’s get right to the Pool Chronicles. Nothing funny today, but educational. A lady is on the World Cruise and wears about twenty silver bracelets, she says she never removes them. They were given to her by her grandmother, who would bring her one every time she traveled. Every one has a story to tell. Anyway, we learned she is married and her husband does like cruising. She goes on a world Cruise every year, without him. Now, I’m kind of missing my friends, I can’t imagine if Kim weren’t here. On one such Cruise she met a man from Switzerland who had a different girlfriend for each of the three segments! Wow, that’s an aggressive schedule.
I also heard a man from Calgary, Canada talking with a couple from Halifax, Canada. He said when his wife died he retired and started cruising, He met his current wife on that first cruise and now they do a World Cruise every year to honor their marriage. How sweet is that! Just Valentine stories.
Our last day in New Zealand is spent in New Plymouth. Followed by a 3 day sail in the Tasman Sea to get to Sidney, Australia.
With the Super Bowl in the rear-view mirror, we spent the rest of the day cruising to Wellington. As usual, Kim shall go exploring and I will go on watch (for what I don’t know yet) and let others entertain me without them having a clue that they are giving me really good material for my next blog. Today has a high of only 66 degrees and a low of 62. Kim is going to freeze. Good thing she brought her winter garb.
Today we booked ourselves on the 2026 World Cruise Ring of Fire Hidden Gems Cruise. Once again it starts in Los Angeles and goes briefly to Hawaii then spends a few days in Tahiti and through a bunch of Islands we have never heard of before it swings up to Hong Kong. From there it takes us up through Japan then on to the Aleutian Islands and Alaska before dumping us off in Vancouver BC. 129 days on board and there should not be any war conflicts. So, are we hooked? Maybe, but we are telling you this now, so you too can join us for the Cruise of a lifetime part two.
It turned out to be a very windy day, so all the stupid stuff got blown away before I heard it.
This photo, as with many of the photos that I post are taken by Kim and I will try to give her credit each time I use one of hers.
So, last night after I went back to my harbor master duties, I was able to safely move cargo ships in and out. Even the Viking Cruise liner got out to sea safely. Finally, it was getting close to our departure time of 11 PM. Precisely at 10:30 two bright yellow tugboats showed up and one hooked a line to our bow and the other to our stern. At exactly 11:00, the tugs started pulling our ship away from the dock. Everything went as planned. Soon we were under our own power navigating our way through the narrow one-way channel. Once we were safely out of the channel and in open waters, my last and final job was to safely extract the Pilot from our ship. The Pilot boat slowly approached our ship and got closer and closer to the open gangway where the Pilot was waiting. Then precisely at the right moment the Pilot would jump onto his boat. The first attempt was waved off by the “handler”, a man that was strapped to the rail of the boat to assist the Pilot with his mission. A wave hit the boat just as the Pilot was about to leap. The pilot boat came back around for another attempt, this time the handler gave the Pilot the nod and he lunged toward the boat and his handler. Mission complete and time for me to go to bed.
Bay of Plenty? If you remember, I promised I would report back to you about plenty of what. Well, this area has some of the most fertile grounds in the world, the climate is perfect for growing almost anything. Their special treat is that this is the only place on earth to grow Kiwi. Kiwi grows on a vine like berries or grapes, so there’s century long berates over what exactly a kiwi is, is it a fruit, a berry, a grape or what? Like the Israeli war, it may never end. So, now you know because I know.
First a shout out to my brother- and sister-in-law for a successful 45 years of marriage. Kip is Kim’s little brother. I have been told there is a special place in Heaven for women that put up with guys like Kip, hang in there, Colleen (and I guess Kim also).
Today I played harbor master and got the freight ships in and out safely and kept the small sailboats out of harms way. I’m not off work yet as it’s 5 o’clock and we don’t leave until 11 tonight. But, it’s 5 o’clock here and I’m taking a beverage break.
Kim headed off early to go to a beach we found 5 years ago here in Tauranga. The beach was full of perfect shells then. Now it’s just a bunch of shell pieces. She explored around the island and along the way she found this beautiful place, today’s picture.
Tomorrow is a sea day and Super Bowl Monday. The game starts at 12:30 on Monday afternoon and they will play it in the Grand Salon. It has 3 big screen TV’s. Our ship was provisioned today and I was assured we now have plenty of Lagunitas IPA. Enjoy the game, GO HAWKS!
Okay, my beverage break is over, and a Viking Cruise Ship is leaving now. More after the big game.
As we left Auckland Harbor this evening, we finally saw some sea life. We spotted a pod of Orcas! The last time we saw anything in the Ocean was way back at Catalina Island. What a treat.
We are off to the Island of Tauranga, located in the Bay of Plenty. Plenty of what? I have no idea, maybe I will find the answer tomorrow.
Kim went out early this morning and was back aboard by 9:30. Then we just hung out mostly on our veranda. Today was the end of our first segment and therefore, many guest got off and we gained some new faces. We also lost some crew, so, we will need to retrain them to our way of doing things😉
