It was a little bittersweet today to have reached our final port on this New Zealand itinerary, Bay of Islands. This cruise has been tough, both because of the pace and the fact that we have both been under the weather, but we still loved this itinerary. This cruise offers a little of everything, especially when the weather is as good as we’ve had for the past two weeks. Even in Akaroa, which we missed, the culprit was not rain but wind. And there are nothing like Kiwis for setting out the welcome mat and exuding overall friendliness. This is, without a doubt, my favorite country to visit.
We didn’t dawdle over breakfast; we were in and out of the DaVinci Dining Room in less than 45 minutes. Unsure of what we would do today, we went down to the ship’s tender carrying nothing, but wearing our waterproof jackets. Though it was sunny early, it quickly became more overcast. Besides, even though it was comfortably warm, the jackets felt good when we sat on the upper, open level of the tender for the ride to shore. Once there, we boarded the free shuttle bus for the 5-minute ride to the little town of Paihia. It dropped us off right at the wharf, which also housed the i-Site (traveler information center). We did not recall, until we got there, that two years ago when we did a boat tour to the Hole in the Rock (a geological formation and a major attraction), our second choice was to take a ferry to the tiny historic town of Russell. When I said in my post three days ago that Wellington is the third capital New Zealand has had, and the first one was in the Bay of Islands, that first capital was Russell.
The little bit of sun we had revealed the beautiful water colors
One of the 144 islands that make up the Bay of Islands
Actually, most of us don’t talk like that at all ;-)
For about US $8 each, we purchased round trip ferry tickets for the 15-minute ferry ride to Russell, and once there were totally enchanted by the town. In fact, G actually said that. He said, “This town is really enchanting”, and I was shocked, because I don’t believe I’ve ever heard him say the word enchanting in all the years I’ve known him. But he was right.
We looked high and low and couldn’t find a kiwi
There were several restaurants with outdoor seating right along the waterfront, but we weren’t into a major meal. Instead we stopped in the tiny, but well stocked grocery store and bought chips (of course) and kettle corn (for me) and soda and a water bottle and sat down on one of the many benches right on the beach and watched the water traffic and people go by.
They have very creative potato chip flavors in New Zealand as well as Australia
This sea bird held this position without moving for at least five minutes,
then would dive for fish and hold it again
The town was only three streets deep from the waterfront, with lots of little shops and B&Bs and cafés and even a tiny historical museum, and after we were done snacking, we wandered the entire town, admiring the architecture and spring flowering trees and shrubs.
Waterfront promenade in Russell
That’s a pohutukawa (New Zealand Christmas) tree in full bloom.
We loved this architecture
(Steve and Linda are saying of course we did!)
Russell Wharf with the Ruby Princess in the distance
This house was high on a hill overlooking the water
White picket fences everywhere
The spring flowers were in bloom
Looking back from the wharf
The ferry ran every 20 minutes, and we caught the 3pm ferry. By the time we took the shuttle back to the tender pier and the tender back to the ship, it was 4pm when we walked into our cabin, and we didn’t make it to the Elite Lounge in Skywalkers tonight. Instead we went directly to dinner at 5:15pm. Despite potato chips and kettle corn, we were starving, and it’s a good thing it was Italian night.
The sun finally came out as we were sailing away
Taken from our dinner table
Day 11 dinner menu, page 1
Day 11 menu, page 2
The Princess Theater entertainment tonight was something different: a husband and wife duo who performed a mix of dance, balance and juggling tricks. This is not normally my favorite kind of entertainment but they were quite good... and Mr. Six Pack was easy on the eyes, too.
I truly enjoyed this performance ;-)
And, before I wrap this up, today was especially noteworthy because we could finally take our iPhones off Airplane Mode, where they have been been since we left Kauai over two months ago. You haven’t heard me mention T- Mobile’s fantastic international roaming with free texting and data...because it is time limited. If the majority of data used is outside the US for three full billing periods, they cut off the roaming service. This hadn’t been an issue in the first two seasons we had T-Mobile; we limited our cruises to just under three months and then spent a month in Hawaii at the end. But this year we are skipping Hawaii and spending the entire season cruising. In fact, as of today, we have not yet reached the half way point of our season (I know. I can’t believe it either). But our new billing calendar started today, and we will be home in less than 90 days, so we could finally start that clock ticking. This will make our days in Sydney so much easier. I have been using Google Maps to find transit routing and schedules, and then doing screen captures to refer to when we are out sightseeing. I’ll be able to do that in real time now.
It’s a very good thing.
Bay of Islands Port Guide, page 1
Bay of Islands Port Guide, page 2
Bay of Islands Port Guide, page 3
Bay of Islands Port Guide, page 4
Day 11 Princess Patter, page 1
Day 11 Princess Patter, page 2
Day 11 Princess Patter, page 3
Day 11 Princess Patter, page 4