Pictures from Picton - March 6

Picton has a population of around 4,000. The population of our ship, including passengers and crew, is probably a little more than that. Picton lies at the end of a fjord in Queen Charlotte Sound at the tip of New Zealand's South Island. The fjord is not glacial - it was created by the movement of tectonic plates. Picton reminds me of a sunny Seward or Haines.

On the sail-in to Picton we passed a number of "holiday homes." The Kiwis often call them "cribs" or "benches." Most of them were fairly substantial houses.

There are few roads in the area, but plenty of boats, ferries, and water taxis.

Floatplanes buzz overhead from time to time.The port is. Busy place for shipments of lumber.

We boarded a boat directly from the ship to begin our shore excursion with Cougar Line. We sailed across Queen Charlotte Sound to Mistletoe Bay.

There is an eco-camp there, used to educate school children on environmental stewardship. The property is also available for rental by families, etc. on weekends and school holidays.

Mistletoe Bay is one of the access points for the Queen Charlotte Track, a 73 km trail that may be hiked in smaller segments. This is going to be our "bush walk." We were divided up into groups of 12 plus a guide.

Our guide, Cloe (not Chloe) reminded us of our kids. She majored in geology and environmental science and is guiding during the summers.

Cloe is showing us a "weta hotel." Wetas are large cricket-like insects.

One of the interesting things about this area is the effort being made to restore it to its natural condition. One hundred years ago, the region was used for sheep farming. It wasn't very successful, and it caused erosion. Now most of the farmland has been reforested and is owned or managed by a trust.

In earlier times attempts were made to develop a lumber industry and a number of species of trees from other countries were introduced "to see which ones would thrive." One kind of pine tree began to self-plant and, unfortunately, it produced a substance which was toxic to native species. Now they are marking each tree with a GPS. Crews go to the trees and inject a poison which kills the trees and their seeds. 

There is also a project underway to create a predator-free area so that the kiwi bird can be reintroduced. The predators would be possums (not spelled "opossum" like Americans spell it), bobcats, rats, and a few others. Originally there were no predators in New Zealand. Everything here was introduced by Homo sapiens.

After our hike we got back on the boat for tea and biscuits and sailed back across to Picton. We were dropped off in the town. There is an area about three blocks long and two blocks wide with cafes and shops. There is a little park by the water. A pipe and drum band was playing there. The sun was out and it was beautiful.

We had dinner at Sabatini's. The maitre d' was a little bit weird. After dinner we were supposed to see Monique Dehaney again. It turned out she was ill, so we saw a comedian/magician named Brian Manuel. His material was new (at least to us) and funny.

Absolutely. Positively. Wellington. - March 5

 19Yes. Absolutely. I could live here. 

Wellington is very accessible. This city really makes an effort. There are city ambassadors here and there, dressed in black and yellow jerseys, to answer tourists' questions. There are useful maps. There is a lot of public art. There are lots of arts venues. There is a robust food culture. There are great parks. There is civic pride. Wellington even has a tag line: Absolutely Positively Wellington.

All the big city amenities and there is still on-street parking in the CBD.

We took a walking tour/food tour through Zest Food Tours. Our 3 1/2 hour tour ended up going for four. Doris, our guide, was excellent. It turned out that we were the only people in her group today, so we essentially had a private tour. In addition to food, Doris told us about Wellington and pointed out buildings, sculptures, and other items of interest.

Our first stop was Mojo Coffee, where we learned about all the small coffee roasters in coffee-loving Wellington. We drank "flat whites" and ate "bakings."

I loved the floor in Mojo. I can see a quilt.

On the way to our next stop we crossed the City to Sea (?) Bridge, passing by a little harbor. There was some kind of rowing competition going on. Lots of rowing teams, mostly women, were marching over to their boats.

Moore Wilson Fresh is a grocery store that only sells fresh local food. Their stock was beautiful to look at and I could have happily browsed there for a few hours.

At Moore Wilson Fresh we tasted three cheeses: a cheddar aged for 3 years, a feta with mint, an a mild, creamy bleu cheese. This was accompanied by some local oat crackers, fresh fruit, quince jelly, feijoa chutney, and another chutney. Also, feijoa soda, Granny Smith juice, and 4 types of boutique peanut butter from Fix and Fogg. Give me more.

Next stop: Gellissimo. The process of making gelato was explained while we tried out all of the flavors and saw the gelato machines used to produce all this scrumptiousness.

At Kura Art Gallery we got to taste Manuka honey and two other kinds of New Zealand honey, while learning about Maori art and browsing through the gallery.

Finally, we visited the Wellington Chocolate Factory. This company is committed to fair trade/direct trade, low impact, sustainability, and helping others. The owners developed a new source of chocolate beans in the Solomon Islands in a unique manner. They sailed to Bougainville in a waka, a traditional Maori sailboat, without using an engine. It was supposed to take 5 or 6 weeks but it ended up taking14. They helped local farmers set up a small cooperative and worked with them to develop methods for drying cacao beans. They brought bags and bags of beans and bright them from the port to their shop by bicycle. All of their chocolate is processed in their small shop, the wrappers are designed by local artists, and it seems to be a thriving business.

One of the take-aways was that many of these businesses maintained quality by staying small.

Doris and I are about to be attacked by some kind of Hobbit creature that snuck into this photo.

After the tour we went to the 1902 cable car and rode up a hill to the Botanical Garden. Nice view from the top. The Botanical Garden was free, and there were pleasant trails to walk on, but there was very little signage.

We were enticed by a store that only a tourist would enter, so we went in for a look around. There were some nice things with the fern designs that you see everywhere. We made a few small purchases. Oh. It's that tourist fugue that overcomes you.

After that we were hot and tired so we went back to the ship. Good-bye to the southernmost world capital.

Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow - March 4

I totally get time zones. When I am in Anchorage I always know what time it is on the East Coast, and vice versa. But this one is hard to wrap my head around. When I wake up on Tuesday morning in New Zealand, it is Monday morning in Anchorage.

When you fly to New Zealand (without a 2-day layover in Honolulu), you will find that you have arrived two days later. The flight may seem like two days, but don't all flights seem like 2 days? Within your personal reality as you experience time, it has only been slightly less than one day as measured in hours. The other day has disappeared. I can't tell you where it went, but you do get it back when you go home. 

But it will take two days to get here, as measured on a calendar. Tip: If your birthday is, for example, June 30, don't fly to New Zealand on June 29. You won't get there until July 1, and you will miss your birthday. (You know who you are.)

In Auckland, most of the clocks seemed to be about 10 minutes faster than we thought they should be. My phone agreed with me. We never did figure this out and the problem didn't appear in other places.

But my phone, and my iPad, and my FitBit are a little confused. In the settings, under time zone, they say "Auckland," but they are all two hours early (late?). If it is 10:00 in New Zealand, my phone, etc. will say 8:00. It wasn't a problem until now because I always had my watch. Now my watch has died. It probably couldn't handle the stress.

(Photo not taken in NZ)

A Little Bit of Anchorage in Tauranga - March 3

Tauranga (population 123,500) means "anchorage" in Maori, so what's not to like about it? It is located in a sizable protected harbor within the Bay of Plenty. This part of New Zealand was, of course, first discovered by the Maori, but later Captain Cook came along, thought he discovered it, and named it the Bay of Plenty. 

We docked in Maunganui, which is a beachy part of Tauranga. Tauranga/Bay of Plenty is a very welcoming area. "Ambassadors" came onto the ship to answer questions and hand out maps and they were also stationed on the dock with a mobile visitors' center where it was possible to get information and book tours. We got a nice map showing a historic heritage trail in the center of Tauranga, and hiking trails in the Maunganui area.

Tauranga is the port cruise ships use as a jumping off point for Rotorua. It's about an hour and a half to Rotorua from here, and many of the passengers took ship tours to Rotorua and had an enjoyable day there. I found a website for Tauranga with maps showing 11 different walk ways and cycle ways, including the center of town, an estuary, and some non-urban trails. We decided we would stay in Maungania rather than spend half the day on a bus going to Rotorua.

The most distinctive feature of the Tauranga skyline is Mount Maunganui, also known as Mauao.

Mauao is sacred to, and owned by, the Maori. It's 232m high. Mauao means "caught by the dawn." The Maori couldn't have known this, but Mauao  happens to be very close to the International Date Line and is one of the first places in the world to see the dawn each day.

There are various trails for hiking at Mount Maunganui. Neither dogs nor bicycles are allowed. We chose the Oruahine Track.  (Auto-correct changed it to "roughing." Sometimes auto-correct is smarter than you think.) The trail climbed about 3/4 of the way up. We passed fields where sheep grazed and wooded areas.

The beaches we could see from the mountain stretched on for miles. According to TripAdvisor Maunganui Beach is New Zealand's best beach, and the 4th best in the South Pacific. That's saying something.

We met many other hikers on the trail and some runners as well, including a woman running barefoot. Along the way we had some terrific views.

Eventually we came to a fork in the trail which gave the hiker an option to take a steeper, more difficult trail to the summit, or go back down. We picked one of the forks at random and found ourselves on the trail heading down. 

At the end we came to a beach on the other side of the neck leading out to Maunganui. There was some kind of competition going on there that had to do with "surf lifeguards."

We walked into the Maunganui commercial area where there were several nice cafes and shops. We had a delicious lunch at a place called Eighty Eight Cafe. 

After lunch we decided to go back to Mauao to walk around the Base Track. This is a 3.4 km track described as "flat" because it goes around the base of the mountain. It offers lovely views of the water, quite different from the views available on the Oruahine route.

Fitbit says:

17,500 steps

54 flights of stairs

After our mountain experience I staggered back to the ship, cursing at the people occupying every bench along the way. Oh, for an empty bench. I needed it more than those people.

Right before we sailed we were able to see a folkloric show on the ship - Te Ao Turoa. It was quite good. We saw some of the things we had seen in Rotorua, but there were some differences. The show included dancing, singing, weaponry and poi balls. I really liked the poi balls. If they have a class on poi balls during this cruise, I will try to go.

After dinner we went to hear a vocalist - Monique Dehaney. She is originally from Jamaica. She went to Japan to teach international affairs at a university. She had not intended to be a singer and just fell into when she sang at a Japanese birthday party and was "discovered." I loved her rendition of "Day-O." Everyone in the audience loved her.

Awkward in Auckland - March 2

 AsThe Coast-to Coast Walkway

Auckland is a large city, in population and area. Walking seems to be a popular thing in New Zealand, and there is something called the Coast-to-Coast Walkway that starts in Auckland and goes, apparently, to another coast. This seemed like as good a route as any to see a little of the city.

Before starting on the official route, we decide to ramble to the west a bit to check out an interesting pedestrian bridge and to see the trendy, renewed Wynyard Quarter. We passed a yacht harbor and arrived at the pedestrian bridge (it was a drawbridge) just as the warning bell started to ring. It was quite interesting to watch a group of tourists continue past the gate despite the bell, walk over to the side of the bridge to stand for a few minutes and admire the view, and then slowly continue their oblivious way across the bridge. They eventually realized what was about to happen, but it took a while.

After the realization:

On the other side of the bridge we found cafes, a park, a fish market, and an events center. It was a pleasant area and the weather was awfully nice.

The side of an interesting building:

Then we headed back the way we came to embark on the Coast-to-Coast Walkway. I have to say, it really wasn't all that interesting a walk. We had a map, which is a good thing because the trail was not marked in any way. There were no interpretive signs and there was no commentary to go with the map, so we don't know if we passed anything interesting. We decided to go as far as the museum, which was in a big park, and then loop back. Alas, our map was not a topo map.

We passed a shopping center before we turned inland to climb a long steep hill. This shopping center wants people to remember to buy shoes:

According to the map we passed Albert Park and the Auckland Art Gallery. I'm not sure I actually saw either one. Continuing on in an uphill direction we walked through part of the Auckland University campus. It was nice enough, but not overly impressive. There were a lot of signs pointing towards a historic government building on the campus. We followed the signs without finding the building. Most of the campus buildings were newer and not necessarily unified architecturally. This was my favorite building on or near the campus. I don't know what it was.

We decided not to continue to the museum. It was hot, and it was still uphill, and the Coast-to-Coast Walkway was disappointing. We found our way to Queen Street, one of the main streets in the CBD and headed down to the port. 

A nameless gnome:

There was very heavy pedestrian traffic in this area. That is always interesting when you are used to a low-density city. You never know where to walk, especially in a country where they drive on the opposite side. Do you move to the left or to the right when someone is coming towards you? I tried to figure this out by noting which way the approaching people moved, but it seemed to be about 50/50.

I did like the Kiwi method for crossing at intersections. All vehicle traffic would get a red light and pedestrians on all 4 corners would get a walk signal. If you wanted to go kitty-corner, you could. It was practical - you don't have to wait for two lights to get across. It also seems safer than having to cross when cars may be turning. 

In addition to pedestrians, Queen Street was jam-packed with every kind of ethnic food and fast food you can think of, and all of the name brands you could ever imagine.

The Back-Story

How did we end up doing this walk? 

I almost always plan everything very carefully before a trip. I research the local attractions, when they are open, their popularity ratings, and how to get to them. When we lost two days of our time in New Zealand, I had to improvise. We stayed in Rotorua a little later than I had planned and went to Waitomo on our way back to Auckland. Thus, we arrived in Auckland half a day later than planned and I had no chance to visit the tourist information center or revise our plans.

The following is what can happen when you arrive somewhere without a specific plan and schedule.

We woke up at the Hilton on Princes Wharf. Our ship was just across from us on Queens Wharf. It was so nice to have a lazy morning. No schedule, no rushing around. Our only deadline was to board the ship by 5 pm. We would have to go back to the hotel to pick up our bags and get a cab to the ship, so we really wanted to get back to the hotel no later than 3 pm to allow for any unforeseen issues. We were told it could be very hard to get a cab at the hotel.

After a leisurely breakfast we returned to our room, finished packing, and brought our bags down to the bellman to be held until we came back in the afternoon. 

We had a Great Idea for our time in Auckland. We would walk down to the end of the wharf and catch the Hop-On Hop-Off bus. Arriving at the HOHO office at 10:32 or so, we found that we had just missed the 10:30 bus. The next bus came at 11, so we decided to wait for it. 

There were two ships in port that day and a lot of tourists were milling around the HOHO office.We asked the young lady at the ticket office if there were a lot of people already waiting for the 11:00 bus and she said yes. We asked her if the reasonably priced one-hour pass would allow us to see both loops and she said no, but the expensive all-day pass would (not her exact words). The HOHO is a double-decker bus, so we asked her if you could see much from the lower level. She made a face which we took to mean "No, not really."  

The HOHO route followed two routes. They looked like a figure 8, with one red circle and one blue circle. The ideal way to see the city was to take the red route to the museum, get off, wait for the blue route bus, take the complete loop back to the museum, get off, wait for the red loop bus, and then continue back to the wharf. The buses run every 30 minutes. If one comes along and is full, you have to wait for the next one. Another Great Idea bites the dust.

There were all kinds of ferries and tour boats and they looked nice so we stopped at a few of the booths to find out more. 

The Ferry Terminal:

ALL of the boat tours had just left at 10:30 and had another tour leaving at 1:30. The tours were 2 1/2 to 3 hours. This did not satisfy our comfort level for getting back in time, so we abandoned that idea.

Yeah. Our timing was pretty awkward. This is why I plan.

Sailaway

Embarkation went smoothly. It always feels like coming home when we board at the beginning of a new cruise. Auckland has a nice modern skyline.

The wormy thing is part of the ferry terminal.

You can bungee jump off of that tall tower on the right. Really, as in really, they let you, and really, people pay to do it.

Glimmer . . . Glimmer - March 1

Today was fantastic! We left Rotorua and drove about 2 1/2 hours to Waitomo. We only got lost once. How can you get lost with a map and a GPS and a good sense of direction? Beats me, but it happens.

Waitomo is a really small town - really small - but it is in the center of cave country. People come to see the caves - by the busload - because of the glow worms. We went on a tour with Spellbound. Glowworm & Cave Tours  They limit their tours to 12 people - our tour had 9.  Our guide, Hohepa, drove us by van over some rough, winding roads, through some gorgeous country. It was rolling farmland with cattle and sheep. The area is chiefly limestone, so the surface is interesting, but what's under the surface is really interesting.

After a short walk we arrived at a stream where there were a few eels. We donned our official glow worm expedition helmets and followed Hohepa into the first cave.

In the cave we stayed on a walkway until we got far enough from the entrance to be in darkness.

The we turned off our headlights so we could see the first glow worms. Hohepa explained the life cycle of glow worms while our eyes adjusted to the dark and the glow worms began to get brighter.  They are amazing things. Unfortunately, it is very hard to photograph them. Here are a few photos Ken took. Most of the glow worms didn't even show up in these photos.

To see more photos. Go to Spellbound's website, glowworm.co.nz.

Most of the glow worms are on the ceiling. Some are on the walls. They have little silky threads hanging down that function like spiderwebs.

We continued further into the cave until we came to a river. There we saw so many more glow worms that it was magical. It is hard to believe that so many of them could find enough food in such a small area so deep in the cave. This is where I really wish I had a good photo.

We got into a zodiac and Hohepa pulled us along using a cable attached to the ceiling. As we quietly floated along the subterranean river I was overcome by a feeling of awe and beauty and the specialness of such a place. The estimate of 30,000 glow worms in this cave seems awfully low. There were so many glow worms that it was possible to see a little bit, even though we were now quite far into the cave. You might have trouble walking , but you could see your hands and the other people and the reflection of the glow worms on the surface of the water. We floated around for a while and I think every one would have been happy to have stayed longer.

After a short break for coffee, tea, or cocoa we proceeded to the second cave. This cave didn't have very many glow worms, but it had some wonderful stalactites.

Hohepa showed us a number of cave wetas, a type of large cricket. We also saw a number of sink holes from the inside out. In some cases we saw the bones of animals that had fallen into the sink holes.

This was a fabulous tour. I will never forget the beautiful glow worms. And I will never get that song out of my head.

After the tour, we began the 2 hours + drive back to Auckland. We almost ran out of gas. We were so far out in the middle of nowhere that we never really came to any towns. The GPS didn't work when it came to finding gas stations. Finally we found one after the little light that looks like a gas pump had been on for a while. When we were about 16 km from our destination, we hit the afternoon rush-hour traffic. We didn't think it would be too bad going. IN to town. It was worse than we expected. Much, much worse. We were delayed about 50 minutes and almost didn't get the rental car back in time.

From there it was a short cab ride to our hotel - a new Hilton on a wharf next to the cruise ship wharf. We have a nice balcony outside of our room and we are able to look across the water and see the Diamond Princess. We will be boarding her tomorrow!