Yellow Fish cruises

Tuesday, December 24, 2019

Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays!

The white sand and crystal clear water of

Kuto Beach,

Isle of Pines, New Caledonia

Monday, December 23, 2019

Day 91: Wellington

We had the best day today. It seemed like the entire ship and all of Wellington, New Zealand was full of seasonal cheer today, and it was really heartwarming to find ourselves in the midst of it.

I was slow to get moving again, though not as slow as yesterday. I was simply enjoying a largely unscheduled day. All we really wanted to do was go for a walk along the Wellington harbor front, on a combination boardwalk/ pedestrian sidewalk. And we didn’t need to start first thing this morning. It was chilly!

Instead, we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, dressed more warmly than anyone else we saw getting off the ship (they call it Windy Wellington for a reason, and it’s especially windy along the waterfront), and boarded a free shuttle for the 10- to 15-minute ride from the freight port into town. There are two shuttle stops in town, the first near the old Parliament building (now a law school).

We didn’t know about or even notice, until today, the crosswalk lights in Wellington. In fact, they would have gone unnoticed today but for a friendly Wellingtonian who waited at a crosswalk with us. She pointed out the walk symbol, which was clearly a woman wearing attire from a past era. This woman was Kate Sheppard, who led the suffrage movement that resulted in New Zealand becoming the first country to introduce voting for women in 1893. Kate signals when it’s safe to cross at eight intersections near Parliament.

Kate Sheppard, New Zealand suffragette

We continued down to the waterfront, and found what G was looking for. He had been seeing electric scooters for rent in several cities we’ve been visiting, and I had already downloaded the Uber Jump app on my iPhone to rent one. Actually, Wellington has at least three different companies that rent scooters, but since I already had a payment method for Uber in my phone, we elected to go with them.

In case you are not familiar with this concept, these companies have electric scooters in the CBD and surrounding area of many cities. They are found just willy- nilly, not in any one location. When you have the app on your phone, it helps you find the closest one to your location. In our case today, there were at least three Jump scooters close together, but the app also gave us the license number and range each scooter could be used for, based on its current charge.

G chose his scooter, and I said a silent prayer that he would survive this endeavor. I kept thinking about the song we’ve heard too often this cruise: All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth. That may be a cute look for six-year old, but I was having trouble picturing it would serve my husband well. Just between you and me, I had made a point of looking up the New Zealand equivalent of 911 from the Wellington Port Guide before we left the ship. It’s 111, in case you ever rent an electric scooter in New Zealand.

G had never previously ridden one of these scooters, but I knew he’d figure it out, hopefully before incurring any bodily injury. It took him less than five minutes to be confident enough to have both feet on the scooter.

Plotting his path and checking the brakes

Forward progress, but with one foot hanging off in case a quick save was needed

While I was following him, I noticed these three scooters from a competing company along the pedestrian walkway

Practicing turns on an empty side pier.

Looking more confident

Mastered it!

G would be well ahead of me, then circle back around to where I was walking, over and over again. He was confident to be around the many people out doing the same thing we were today, walking along the waterfront, though he was never as speedy as the many younger people that went zipping by on their rented scooters.

I noticed this sign for a free New Year’s Eve celebration in Auckland.

Sydney’s celebration by the Harbour Bridge is now largely not free and, in fact, is quite expensive.

G finally left his scooter behind when he got tired of riding (it can be left anywhere), and we eventually made our way from the waterfront to the second cruise ship shuttle stop. There were two ships in port today (the HAL Noordam was the other), and the shuttles were busy. We didn’t want to wait until the last one to return to the port.

Along the way, we encountered two more crosswalk lights unique to Wellington. The lights, found at seven city locations, depict haka and poi poses, some of the most well known elements of hapa haka, a Maori dance and song art form that dates back centuries.

Poi pose

Haka pose

We returned to the ship with just enough time to get showered and to the Elite Lounge before dinner. The fruit carvings set out with the hors doerves tonight were especially creative.

Cook Augusto from the Philippines always greets us with a smile and a wave.

It was Italian night in the dining room, which is kind of Christmas-y in its own right because the waiters wear green and white and red and white striped jerseys.

Day 12 dinner menu, page 1

Day 12 dinner menu, page 2

Day 12 dessert menu

We were excited to see tonight’s Holiday Wishes show in the Princess Theater. Apparently, everyone else was, too. There were going to be two performances tonight, but the 7:30pm one was full well before 7pm. These shows are left entirely up to each ship’s entertainment team to design and create, and we’ve seen our fair share of them over the years. This one was one of the best. The huge hit was the children’s choir. The cuteness factor was through the roof, especially when the kids walked on stage waving to their parents, and when the snow making machine was turned on during Let it Snow. One little boy was jumping up and down with excitement. He must have been an Aussie who’s never seen snow before.

The production show dancers

The children’s choir stole the show

The stage was beautiful

Following that, at 8:30pm, there was Christmas caroling with the ship’s company in the Piazza. G said it best, that nothing will ever match Christmas on the intimate Pacific Princess, but the Ruby Princess offered one of the best.

Caroling in the Piazza

There is a non-denominational service tonight at 11:30pm. We are trying to stay up for it, but if we don’t, it’s offered tomorrow at 9am, too. Meanwhile, Merry Christmas Eve to most parts of the world. New Zealand is among the very first in the world to celebrate the holiday, so Christmas is just two hours away here.

Wellington Port Guide, page 1

Wellington Port Guide, page 2

Wellington Port Guide, page 3

Wellington Port Guide, page 4

Day 12 Princess Patter, page 1

Day 12 Princess Patter, page 2

Day 12 Princess Patter, page 3

Day 12 Princess Patter, page 4

Day 90: Picton

I was moving slowly today. G left the cabin, went to breakfast and actually took the free shuttle bus through the freight port of Picton and into town...and I just slept and slept. Finally, about 9:30am, he burst into the cabin, waking me up to tell me I just had to see this restored stream engine in town and it would be leaving the station at 10:30am. Hurry!

Oh yeah, I just love starting my day like that. Still, it did sound interesting, and I could understand why G was attracted to it. I didn’t have time for breakfast or even coffee; we were off the ship in 15 minutes and immediately boarded one of the shuttles to town. I entered the bus through a back door, took my seat and saw this reflection in a large mirror at the front.

Instant attitude adjustment 😁

I just had to get a photo when I disembarked the bus.

This driver put a smile on everyone’s face (and who knew Santa had a New Zealand accent?)

We were taken to the i-Site (tourist information office) right across from the Picton Railway Station and were able to get close to the train for photos. The train is called the Marlborough Flyer, named for this area of New Zealand. The WWI memorial stream locomotive was built in 1915 and later renamed the Passchendaele, in memory of the famous 1917 Battle of Passchendaele. The train consists of carriages from the same WWI period.

We walked down to the closest crossing for some photos of the train in action. G was in heaven; it was pretty cool.

He had promised me coffee and breakfast in town, but the streets and restaurants were packed. I was feeling seriously overwhelmed by the crowds, dealing with them as I was, without coffee. We walked along the waterfront (very pretty; we had taken the mail boat cruise from here two years ago), and then stopped in a grocery store to buy a bottle of wine from the famous Marlborough wine region to take back on the ship.

Unable to find a restaurant that appealed, we just returned to the ship. We had lunch on the Terrace Deck (it was warm in the sun) until the wind forced us inside. By 2:30pm, I was napping in the cabin. I’m not sick, but we’ve been at this for three months now, and I am a little travel weary. Every so often, a down day is necessary.

The view of the port with the usual stacks of ‘South Island of New Zealand’ logs

Even Google Maps satellite view of the port shows stacks of logs

Picton, on the South Island, is almost directly across Cook Strait from Wellington, on the North Island.

There is a large number of backpackers, campers and other travelers who spend time

in Picton en route to and from the North Island.

The location of Picton in New Zealand.

Interesting note about all the timber reserves around New Zealand, particularly on the South Island: Harvard Management Company (HMC), that manages the Harvard Endowment Fund, is the majority owner of Kaingaroa Timberlands, the second largest owner of plantation forest assets in New Zealand behind US fund manager Hancock Natural Resources Group. We actually discovered this two years ago, and I found it interesting then (and still do).

We went to the Elite Lounge and then to dinner; we ate lightly in both places because of our late lunch. Sail away was at 6pm, and we were on the Terrace Deck to watch as the Ruby Princess wound its way among all the small islands of Marlborough Sound as it made its way to Cook Strait. It really should have been called scenic cruising because it certainly was. It was a lot like cruising in Alaska with views on both sides of the ship.

The beautiful islands of Marlborough Sound

A ferry follows us in Marlborough Sound en route to Wellington

The entertainment in the Princess Theater tonight was mentalist Ace McDermott, and despite the fact that he’s been on quite a lot lately, we’ve managed to avoid him every time. Instead, as soon as the Ruby Princess reached Cook Strait and the views stopped, we returned to the cabin, turned the fireplace channel on TV and G is watching videos on his iPad while I prepare this post.

One more port tomorrow until we get a short break on Christmas Day, a rare sea day on a New Zealand itinerary. Thanks to today’s slower place, I can do this!