Gallivanting Grandma

Monday – October 29, 2018

There were rough seas all night long as the ship passed through Foveaux Straight and rounded the southern end of New Zealand.  Our destination was Fjordland National Park also known as Te Wahipounamu in the Maori language.  The park takes up the entire south-western coast of New Zealand and is a UNESCO Heritage Site.

The ship entered Dusky Sound about 8:30 in the morning as the clouds began to lift and the sun poked through.  Ian Thorne, one of the park rangers was aboard to provide commentary over the loudspeaker as we slowly rode through the calm and beautiful fjord.  The ship sailed around Resolution Island and out through Breaksea Sound.

The Majestic continued north to Doubtful Sound and entered our second fjord about eleven o’clock under a bright blue sky and excellent visibility.

Ian Thorne’s commentary was excellent because he was born in the region and lived his entire life in the National Park.  He told about his many hiking and camping trips and the park’s conservation efforts to preserve New Zealand’s flora and fauna.

The ship continued to cruise up the windy coast.  The plan was to turn in and explore three fjords before crossing the Tasman Sea to Australia.  After Dusky and Doubtful Sounds, the Majestic entered the amazing and awe-inspiring Milford Sound.

The mountains in Milford Sound were taller and more spectacular than the previous beautiful Dusky and Doubtful Sounds.  There was snow on top of the mountains and we watched as the ship slowly passed through the narrow stone canyon walls.  Fiordland reminded me of Norway.

The fjords were spectacular and the views were once-in-a-lifetime experiences.

Later in the afternoon, Majestic left beautiful New Zealand behind and we continued westward.  The ship was back in the open ocean, crossing the windy and rough Tasman Sea on our way to Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.  The Captain informed us that the wind had gusts up to 70 knots and waves over 16 feet high.  I’m glad I’m on a big ship with stabilizers and not in a small boat!

We have two Sea Days on the Tasman Sea before we reach the Australian island of Tasmania.  We’re looking forward to a few activities and lots of rest & relaxation……

Sunday – October 28, 2018

My brother, Bob, suggested that I take a photo out of our balcony door every morning to record the weather.  It had been sunny and clear all the previous days so I didn’t post those photos, but this morning gray clouds were moving in and look very threatening.

The ship entered the protected harbor of Port Chalmers and followed the channel markers to its assigned dock.  Two tugboats assisted in the docking procedure.  Port Chalmers is the commercial port for the city of Dunedin in the southern part of New Zealand.  I watched as one of the tugs kept the Majestic from touching the large container ship which was docked nearby.  The tugboats are really big, but look small in comparison to the large ships around them.

We had several options in Port Chalmers.  We could have taken a shuttle bus into the “Scottish” town of Dunedin and explored the city. It’s supposed to be a vibrant “college town” with a variety of pubs and great coffee.  Dunedin is the Gaelic name for Edinburgh in Scotland and was named by the early Scottish settlers.  We also could have explored the lovely town of Port Chalmers on foot.  We opted to ride the famous Taieri River Gorge Railway which travels inland so we could see some of the interior of south New Zealand.

The train picked us up right at the dock near our ship.  Very convenient!  We sat in the comfort of vintage 1940s railroad cars and shared our adventure with a couple from Toronto Canada and two couples from Davenport, Iowa.  The weather outside was grey and cool – 53 degrees – but warm and toasty in the train.

There are supposed to nine sheep to every one New Zealander.  We rode past a number of bright green fields speckled with white sheep and young lambs.

It was a pleasant ride through the countryside.  Spring flowers were in bloom and the deep valleys were lovely.  The train stopped at the end of the line and we all got off to take pictures.  Local people had set up tables filled with craft items to sell to the passengers.  As we stretched our legs, the locomotive turned around and reconnected with the back of the train for the return journey.  The host of our car mentioned that the engineer driving the train was a woman.  Good for her!

The train drove back through the beautiful New Zealand hills and stopped at the famous Dunedin train station.  This is reputed to be the “most photographed building in New Zealand.”  We joined the other amateur photographers and took lots of pictures inside and outside the station.

The train took us back to the port which was a short 15 minute ride.  We passed through ship’s security as a gentle rain fell on Port Chalmers.  We enjoyed a nice relaxing day out in “the bush” as the New Zealanders call their remote interior.

The Port Chalmers’ tug boats waited for the Majestic Princess to depart.  I watched a huge crane off load containers from the commercial ship on the adjacent dock.

Saturday – October 27, 2018

Akaroa is a tiny town of about 700 permanent residents located in a gorgeous protected harbor on the eastern coast of the South Island of New Zealand.  There are no port facilities so cruise ships have to anchor in the bay and passengers take tenders to the town. This is the entire town of Akaroa:

The first settlers of Akaroa were from France so the village is considered a “French” town.  Yellow spring flowers were in bloom along the top of the surrounding hills.

Many of Majestic’s passengers booked excursions to the nearby city of Christchurch.  Jeff and I preferred to stay in Akaroa and explore the small town.  We made the right choice because Akaroa was absolutely gorgeous.  Even with the invasion of a thousand people, Akaroa was peaceful and calm and lovely.

Everywhere we looked there was a postcard photo.  Akaroa became another one of our favorite towns in the world and we wished it was closer to home so we could visit often.

“Historic” buildings were only a century old but they were well maintained and painted in bright colors:

Some streets had French names like Rue Joli and several business flew the French flag. There was an outdoor Saturday market selling local produce and crafts.

It’s wonderful to know that there are such beautiful towns in the world and how lucky the residents are who live in Akaroa.

Friday –  October 26, 2018

We enjoyed a “Sea Day” yesterday as the Majestic Princess traveled down the eastern coast of the North Island from Tauranga to the capital city of Wellington.  The seas were calm and the weather was pleasant: 58 degrees F.  The ship tied up at the commercial dock where we had a good view of the harbor.  A ferry boat in the photo below:

The ship is sooo big that it’s difficult to get a good picture of it unless I’m far away.  I took the photo below from the ground looking up toward the middle of the ship.  The “bump out” at the top is called “The Sky Walk.”  It has a glass floor so passengers can look out and down to the water when we’re out at sea.

We didn’t sign up for an excursion because we wanted to walk around and explore Wellington on our own.  A shuttle bus took us to the center of the city.  The Parliament buildings are in the photo below.  The new round structure is called “The Bee Hive” for obvious reasons.

We walked to the famous Museum of New Zealand also known as Te Papa Tongarewa.  We really needed more than a day to see the entire museum, so we tried to see as much as we could in a short amount of time.

Te Papa had an excellent Maori section and interactive exhibits of contemporary art.  The building itself was an interesting artistic creation.  It’s located on Wellington’s harbor:

Later, we walked over to Cuba Street to find a place for lunch.  There were many ethnic restaurants: Thai, Chinese, Mexican, Turkish, etc.  We had meat and shepherd’s pies at J. J. Murphy’s Irish Pub.  We didn’t have time to sample Wellington’s coffee which is supposed to be among the best coffee in the world.  According to New Zealanders.

I took the photo below from the ship.

The Majestic Princess was ready to leave the harbor about six o’clock and it passed through the narrow inlet and back into the Pacific Ocean.  Tomorrow we’ll be in the South Island town of Akaroa.

Wednesday –  October 24, 2018

The Majestic Princess didn’t have far to travel last night from Auckland to Tauranga.  “Kia Ora” is the Maori greeting which means Welcome or Hello or Good Luck, depending on its use.  Mount Manganui (man-yuh-new-ee) at the entrance to the harbor and the end of the peninsula is the most dominant feature of the tiny town.

There was a realistic looking statue of a Maori fisherman out in the harbor next to the last red buoy.

We had signed up for an excursion to see the countryside, so we boarded a tour bus.  However, I was a little sad to leave Tauranga because it looked like an ideal peaceful little town to explore.  As a matter of fact, the bus driver/guide mentioned that there were many retirees in Tauranga because it was such a lovely place to live.

It was a beautiful spring day and we wanted to see more of New Zealand.  There are many peaceful lakes near Tauranga.  Further away there were many steep rolling hills covered with Monterey pine trees which is one of New Zealand’s major export.  The North American trees are cut, replanted, grow and mature in twenty-five years, and are re-harvested for trade with China.

After driving for an hour and a half, we reached our first destination was Rainbow Springs, a conservation and nature preserve.  Besides the silver fern tree, New Zealand’s official tree, we also saw mature North American giant Redwoods.

We also saw several native New Zealand birds which included a couple of brown kiwi birds.  They’re nocturnal and are kept in a special building where their day and night cycles were  reversed so people could see them in action. The kiwi birds’ quarters were dark and it was challenging to find the small brown birds as they moved around their pens.

Later we were driven to the geothermal region near the city of Rotorua.  We went to the Waimangu Volcanic Valley which is a regional park where visitors are escorted along the geothermal pools.  We were first greeted by four members of the local Maori tribe who sang and danced a welcome greeting for us.

Later, we rode a bus to one of the bubbling lakes nearby. It was amazing to see the steam rising from the blue water.  Steam could also be seen coming out the rocks.

At the end of lake where the water was more shallow, there were small geysers and bubbling pools of sulfur.

Then we went to a site which had been a small volcano.  The guide explained that the hot water boils up and spills over the banks every few weeks.

We also had a boat ride on a lovely lake which was an extinct volcano and had bubbling geysers along one side.  On the far side of the lake there was a tall mountain with a volcanic hole in one side.  This volcanic area reminded us of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming.

We made it back to the ship just in time for the “Sail Away” from Tauranga.  Time flew by quickly today and we learned much about the culture and natural resources of New Zealand.