The winds are very strong, and our plans for Dunedin have been done in. Of all the ports, this is the most disappointing one to miss because this is where Scott spent his semester abroad. He studied at the University of Otago, the first university to be established in New Zealand.
And the news keeps getting worse. Tomorrow we were to be cruising the Fjordlands. That has been cancelled. Our crossing to Tasmania is predicted to be "rough" due to a gale. We are detouring to a more northern route, but we still can't avoid some of the bad weather. I'll let you know what "rough" means after we reach Tasmania.
They are scrambling to come up with onboard activities today. We went to a lecture on "Great Sea Mysteries." It was about unsolved disappearances, ghosts, the Bermuda Triangle, the Flying Dutchman, and so on. The lecturer, Russell Twomey, is affiliated with a maritime museum in Australia. This is not simply his hobby - he knows his stuff and he is a good speaker. He will be giving 5 more lectures. I look forward to them.
Update on Picton:
During our hike the woman walking in front of me fell when we were going down a steep bit. She was using one of the Manuka walking sticks made available by the tour company. SHe hurt her hand a little and banged up her face, but seemed to be ok. Today Ken talked to her and found out that she had broken her wrist in 3 places and bruised a rib - probably by landing on the walking stick.
We have REI trekking poles. I think they are less likely to lead to injury because they have sharp tips that won't slip and they are lighter than wood, so crashing into them won't be as bad, and you can adjust the height.
Yesterday I heard someone say he spoke to a man who was getting off the ship with a suitcase. The man said his wife had broken her ankle.
More Monique Dehaney tonight. She is so good. The audience loves her.
REALLY sorry to hear this. Are these, from your subjective perspective, the worst cancellations you've experienced in all your cruising?? As a mom, I certainly understand wanting to see where your child has studied and lived. And, to me at least, doing the fjords would be a major, MAJOR reason why I'd take a New Zealand cruise!!
ReplyDeleteI "get" that traveling is inherent unpredictable, but it sure can be a bummer sometimes.
I wish for you and Ken a safe and (hopefully) easy passage to Tasmania.
Worst cancellation was probably the Falkland Islands. We were signed up for a penguin tour.
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