Friday, March 6 - Day 62 - Cruising on the Tasman Sea Toward Sydney

After stops in Auckland and Bay of Islands this is our second sea day as we head to Australia.

In Auckland I only got off the ship to bring visitors on board.  One was Kyle Kincaid, who was in the Peace Corps in Samoa a year ahead of me.  He flew from Chicago just to see me then headed off to Samoa for a quick visit.  He's a flight attendant so the flight was free but that's a couple of very long flights.  I appreciated the effort and the hugs.

Ally Miller was in the Peace Corps in Samoa the year after me.  She married a Samoan guy named Rob and they now live just outside Auckland.  They left their two little girls at home and came onboard for dinner after work.  So grateful they came out on a week night to visit.

None of them had been on a cruise ship before and it was fun to see their reactions.  Helps me realize how very lucky I am to be having this experience.

We tendered in Bay of Islands.  It's a beautiful place but it was raining hard in the morning and since I've been there twice I stayed on the ship.

The big news is about the corona virus.  They'd previously announced we were changing our itinerary because of the virus and other security issues.  Singapore, Indonesia, Maldives and Kenya are out and instead the plan was to add another port in Sri Lanka and spend three days in Mumbai, India.  That didn't sit well with many passengers.  Lots of grumbling and yelling at the staff in Guest Services, who have no control over any of this.

Yesterday the Captain announced that because of both the changing dynamics of the spread of the virus and input from passengers they'd changed the itinerary again.  Now we're skipping Sri Lanka and India and instead will spend two weeks in Australia then head to Africa.  He warned that as the situation changes, the itinerary may change again.

I can't imagine the overtime HAL staff is putting in both on the ship and at headquarters in Seattle.  There are a lot of moving parts that need to be considered for any changes.

Last night was the Captain's Gala Dinner.  It used to be held for small groups in a private dining room.  Now, because there are so many passengers doing the entire world cruise they just had two seatings in the dining room, as on any gala night.  I opted not to go for a variety of reasons, including not wanting to get dressed up, the roughness of the seas and not being excited about the menu.  I ended up skipping dinner and just having the dessert which was available in the in the Lido.

I talked to a couple this morning who went to the dinner and they said it was lovely.  Large floral center pieces, crew in formal attire, and lots of free wine.  They also said the food was great.  Sorry I missed it but at 7:30 when I was scheduled to dine, I was in my jammies in my cabin with an ice bag on my knee.  It doesn't hurt much but is still swollen and bruised from the fall in Tahiti.  I walked about five miles while showing guests around the ship the other day and it was really sore the following day so I'm trying to take it a bit easier.

Sadly, there was another announcement this morning calling for medical staff to respond to an emergency on deck seven, which is the deck with the most expensive cabins.   There have been several announcements like this.  Not surprising when the average passenger age is late 70's.  One of my guests commented that I looked like a youngster compared to my fellow passengers.

I'm still loving being on the ship.  I miss friends, driving and even am starting to miss cooking.  Please remind me of that when I get home and start bitching about not having people serve me a huge variety of food.

And now, some photos.  Been trying to load photos but the internet is too slow.  Will try again later or worst case, will post them in Sydney.

More Photos

I'm not missing this opp to post photos.  Hope you enjoy!

This wind wand is a sculpture in New Plymouth.  It moves with the wind, hence the name.

First night in Taupo (pronounced Toe-paw) I had roasted chicken, beet salad and these tiny and delicious yams.  And cheese for dessert.

An expensive yet surprisingly tasteless lunch at the Prawn Farm in Taupo.  Prawn pate, steamed prawns over salad with no dressing and deep fried squid and prawns.  Squid was the best item on the plate.  Ironic since it's a prawn farm.

Huka falls.  I was going to take a jet boat right up to the falls but was afraid I'd freeze to death.  Taupo was the coldest place I visited by about 10 degrees, Celsius.

Beautiful lake Taupo.  Largest lake in New Zealand.  It was a bit foggy.

That's better.  Same view, different day.  There's a wonderful Maori legend about these mountains and Mt. Taranaki.  In a nutshell, Taranaki fell in love with the mountain in the foreground but the mountain in the background also loved her.  They fought and Taranaki lost and had to move to the other side of the island.  He cried so many tears along the way it created a mighty river that is still there today.

Love Intercity Buses.  Convenient, cheap ($1 for a six hour ride!) and a comfortable way to see the countryside.  Notice the guy in front of me was not wearing shoes.  It was 32 degrees, F.

Restaurants and homes serve water in these bottles.  I like it.  This was an Italian place where I got delicious lasagna, to go.  The woman didn't have change so as a gift just took what I had.  I love Kiwis.

My hotel was near the University in Auckland.  Everyday on this same spot was always the leftovers of a tiny little party the previous night.  I just thought it was funny.

Would you pay $30+ for cereal?  Standard size container.  I'd pay if Ewen Mac Gregor served it to me.  In bed.

I made most of my dinners in Auckland.  Lamb, roasted kumara, sauteed zuchini and greek salad. 

Another dinner.  Fried Haloumi cheese, roasted red pepper, marinated olives and veg, mussels.  Absolutely delicious.

Cheese enchiladas are hiding under all that rice.  I put all the salsa on the rice.  Very tasty.  Mexican Cafe, Auckland.  $15.

I did not jump off the Sky Tower but watched other people do it.

View from my balcony in Auckland.  Last night and there was a full double rainbow.

A little blurry...Betsey (mom of Mika) and I at Le Vasa resort in Upolu.  I'd just flown in from Auckland and she was flying back to the States that night.  Yes, I look like I ate New Zealand.

Manonouta in Upolu.  The tropics have a way of taking over everything.

If cock roaches were a cash crop, I'd be rich.  This was what I swept up this morning.

Differences

I've tended to travel to places very different than the United States.  Partly because of the economics.  Developing countries tend to be cheaper.  But also to explore the differences in culture, lifestyle, geography, etc. 

I'm finding that New Zealand is very different in many ways than the United States.  Here are some things I've noticed:

Samoa - things I thought were uniquely Samoan are actually Kiwi.  For example, Jandals is what Samoans call flipflops.  They were invented in New Zealand.  The donuts that I thought were from Samoa?  Nope, Kiwi inspired.  Going into a grocery store here, I see every product I can find in Samoa.  They just have more variety here.  Why is it that the only frozen vegetable you can get in Savaii is mixed veg?  If they can ship that, they could ship frozen peas.  Broccoli.  Cauliflower. 

Food - Kiwis do not eat Mexican food.  There are a handful of restaurants in Auckland (which are usually closed) but from the menu, they aren't authentic.  Any time a menu advertises that it's enchilada sauce contains tomato sauce I cringe.  There are no tomatoes in enchilada sauce.  I've searched high and low for green chiles.  None to be had.  Not fresh, canned, frozen or dried.  Damn.  In six months I'm going to eat Mexican food until I burst.
Can't fault the seafood, though.  Huge, succulent green lipped mussels are readily available and cheap.  I've been eating them daily.  Because I'm lazy, I've been eating the marinated ones.  Pop open the plastic container and slurp.  Lovely.

Food here is generally not cheap.  Once I solve my technical issues, I'll post a photo of a box of granola that sells for over $30 NZD.  Please tell me that food prices in the States haven't risen to exboritant levels.  I bought lamb yesterday for $18 kg.  That was on sale.  It was delicious.  I baked a kumara (similar to a yam), sauteed courgettes (zuchini to me), made a tossed salad and quick fried the lamb in a hot skillet.  Then I opened the mint sauce, which really is a sauce, rather than the sort of jelly we have in the United States.

Bathrooms.  Like many countries around the world, toilets here have push buttons rather than a flush handle.  You get two options.  1 button for number 1 and 1 button for number 2.  Makes sense.  The other thing popular here in upscale homes is a "wet room".  Instead of an enclosed shower, the entire room (either whole bathroom or a separate room) is a shower.  The wetroom at Janey and Andrew's was stellar.  A HUGE room with a window, deep tub and showerhead with great water pressure.  And the water was hot.  In another place I stayed you could brush your teeth or do your business while showering.  I had the same thing once in a hotel in Buenos Aires, but that bathroom was so tiny it was a necessity, not a luxury.

Bare feet.  I asked Andrew about the bare feet thing.  I go bare foot a lot.  Always have.  Always in the house.  Frequently I teach barefoot.  Which sounds weird when I see it written down, but seems perfectly natural, in context.  I would never consider, however, strolling through downtown Auckland, in winter, in bare feet.  What's up with that?  Seniors, kids, teens.  Dressed up or casual.  And no shoes.  The Ministry of Health is working on a campaign in Samoa to encourage people to stop spitting and to wear shoes outdoors.  It's not healthy.  And cold. 

Attire.  Aside from the bare feet, I've noticed that hot pants are VERY popular in Auckland.  Since I haven't been in the United States in two years I have no clue what the clothing fads are.  Doesn't really matter to me since I'll continue to wear the same stuff that I've worn for 20 years.  Perhaps I need an intervention.  Anyway, hotpants worn with panty hose or leggings are very common here.  I'm far from a fashionista but here's a couple of tips.  If you want to wear your shorts that short, cut out the pockets that are hanging below the hem.  Also, if you can see the line on the pantyhose where the reinforcement at the top starts, either wear the kind that has no line of demarcation or wear slightly longer shorts.  I strolled through a mall yesterday and found very few items that I would consider buying, even if I was in the mood to buy.  Let's just say that working girls would have a field day shopping here.

Language.  Yes, they speak English here, but with an accent.  I was in the grocery store with Janey and needed her help to translate what the cashier was saying.  First she asked if I wanted to have my fish (which was sealed in plastic) wrapped in newspaper.  I could neither understand her or grasp the concept.  Then she asked (I think) if I had a discount card for that store.  I do the same thing here that I do in Samoa when people speak quickly and I can't hear/understand.  I just smile, nod and let them think I'm an idiot. They're not far wrong.

There are some phrases here that are commonly used.  I may adopt them...

Easy as.  Cheap as.  Fresh as.  Kiwis seem to like to encourage you to use your imagination.  Let's say someone is commenting on the how easy something is.  They'll just say "Easy as."  That leaves you to fill in the blank.  Easy as...falling off a log?  Easy as...pie?

Fresh seems to mean "nice", "feeling good".  I'm not sure exactly, but if you're referred to as fresh, it does not mean that you just pinched someones bum (or butt, if you're an American.)

I was told before coming to New Zealand that they don't like Americans.  I was told that by some Kiwis in Samoa.  If they are this friendly and polite to me, what are they like to people they actually like?

Speaking of friendly and polite, I bought some lasagna the other day for dinner.  The restaurant had just opened and all I had was either a $50  or $17 in change.  The bill was $20.  The nice owner took the change and called it even.  I offered to go to the store next door and get change but she insisted we were even.  "It is my small gift to you.  Eat, enjoy." 

I love it here.