Day Seventeen - Auckland

The customs officer informed us as we left the ship in Auckland that they had not had rain for over five weeks. Today we had all five weeks worth!!!! This was a real pity as the ship was berthed right in the city with a terrific view (if the weather was clear). In the centre of this photo(barely visible) is the Auckland Sky Tower, apparently the tallest building in the Southern hemisphere. Although we had packed our cagoules , the rain was driving off the sea and we were drenched right through.

The second reason that the weather was disappointing was that we were meeting  Sylvia & Lorna’s school friend from Wendover, Sally .We were a little concerned that having not seen Sally for over 30 years we would be unable to recognise her. We had arranged to meet outside the cruise terminal at 11.00. Walking out of the terminal , Sylvia immediately recognised a person walking up the street. It was Sally and her partner Barry. We retired to a restaurant on the waterfront for coffee and Sylvia & Sally exchanged reminiscences of places and people that Barry & I had hardly heard of. One of the waiters was kind enough to take the following photo. Apologies for the bedraggled looks but it’s the weather’s fault. After chatting for over an hour Sally had to go back to work so we said our goodbyes. It was so nice to meet up with them and hopefully we won’t leave it so long next time.

By this time the rain had abated a little so  souvenir shopping was called for . We walked about three blocks away from the ship looking into various shops, and then the rain returned with a vengeance. Although the walk back to the quay was partly undercover, the rain was driving and we were soaked again. A complete change of clothing was called for prior to lunch!

The afternoon was spent on the ship as the rain continued. For a cruise ship there is very little to do on the “Rhapsody” when you are in port. All of the normal activities are held over because most people are ashore, Except when it’s raining!!!!!

The one event that was still on was the afternoon trivia and we decided to enter as a two man team. Unfortunately we were beaten by one point. I wonder how the “Village People” did this week?  We made it to dinner tonight only to find that last night everyone missed except PJ & Joan. Everyone seemed more relaxed tonight and during the course of the conversations found that we all (at least the men) had a liking for rock music. With that in mind we decided to enter the “name that tune” competition after dinner. Despite a sterling effort we were beaten by a magnificent team who only got one question wrong.

It was nice yesterday to receive an e-mail from Marmaduke, he’s obviously not missing us very much as he is being looked after so well by Colin and Vilma. I hope he remembers where he lives when we come back! Thanks one again for this.

And finally……………………………………………….

I thought it was two sheep but it’s apparently a kangaroo????????

Day Sixteen – Tauranga and Rotorua

After a quiet nights sailing we arrived at 9.00 in Tauranga, in the heart of The Bay of Plenty region.  We had booked a trip today which didn’t depart until 11.00am ,so had a leisurely breakfast and a game of table tennis before leaving. The coach took us through the countryside before arriving in Rotorua around an hour later. This is a very touristy town due to the geo-thermal springs that abound in the area.

The highlight of the trip was the visit to a Maori village, which commenced with the traditional “Wero” or challenge. Prior to arriving at the site the coach had to select a chief to represent us. It was suggested by the guide that only a “real man” should apply, his definition of a “real man” being someone who plays rugby!!! It was no good me applying. The chiefs were challenged by the Maori warriors before being given a peace offering. The ladies of the tribe then sang to allow us into the village.

After wandering through the village we were treated to a Maori show, with songs and music representing their culture. The Maoris arrived in New Zealand, or the Land of the Long White Cloud (Aotearoa) as they knew it,from Tahiti only about 1000 years ago. We then retired to the dining room to enjoy a meal baked in the traditional Maori way.

Rotorua was originally inhabited by the Maori people because of the hot water and steam produced by the volcanic action. This allowed them to bathe and cook for free. All the houses even today rely on this form of heating. The smell of sulphur or rotten eggs fills the air, and hot mud baths or geysers spring up everywhere.

The other product that this area is famous for producing is the kiwifruit and everywhere we travelled today this was apparent. The kiwifruit grows on a vine, a little like a grape vine. They are harvested before they are ripe when their sugar content reaches a determined level and then stored refrigerated at about 1c. They can be stored at this temperature for several months before being slowly warmed to ripen.

With extra stops added the trip took longer than anticipated and we arrived back at the ship at 5.45.This was  a little late to get ready for dinner so we ate for the first time in an evening in the Windjammer. Our room attendant never fails with his towel animals and was quite pleased when I told him they are appearing on the internet each night. Tonight is was a turtle or tortoise.

Day Fifteen – Sailing Towards the White Island

Today is a sea day and as the sun was shining  we decided to spend the morning on deck to take advantage of the good weather. One of the best things about cruising is meeting people, as most are extremely friendly. Today has been a great example of this and also proving that it is a small world after all. Firstly when sitting in the sun, the lady on the next lounger spotted we were discussing visiting Sydney. As she lived there she proceeded to give us suggestions of how to spend our week there. After a short time the conversation was joined by the couple on our left who “rubber stamped” her selection and added a few of their own. At first I thought that they were also from Sydney , but instead they were just regular travellers from Warwickshire. They came from a small town in the North of the county called Atherstone (anyone heard of that?). We informed them that our daughter and son-in law used to live there and it appears that their daughter Rachel Clamp lives at 12 Herring Row. About 4 doors down from Victoria’s old house.

At lunch we were joined by a couple Roger and Mary Griffiths, who 40years ago left their home in Kenfig Hill to emigrate to Oz. Mary’s maiden name was Clatworthy and a number of her relatives still live in the Pyle and Cornelly areas. I wonder who we will meet next?

White Island is located about 30 miles off the North Island of New Zealand and is the country’s only active marine volcano. We arrived off the island mid way through dinner and everyone was hastily taking photos between courses.

Tonight was the second formal dinner, an opportunity for a photo of table 117.

And finally tonight’s animal………….

A MONKEY.

Day Fourteen - “Windy” Wellington

CONGRATULATIONS to Briony and Thai on the birth of their son and to Lorna and Paddy their first Grandchild. Patrick, my advice to you is to keep your wallet in your pocket!

The nickname for New Zealand’s capital city derives from the fact that it lies in the only major gap in the central mountain range. It has nothing to do with over use of the buffet by visiting cruisers. We arrived in port at around 7.00am and once again we are docked within the industrial part of the port. There is some speculation on board that this is a deliberate policy of the cruise line as a revenue generator, with the shuttle into town today costing $5. Sylvia and I decided to walk to the quayside area where the National Museum of New Zealand, “Te Papa”, is located. Although the walk was along side a busy road it only took around 20 mins and we arrived at the museum before it had opened. A look around the souvenir shop and a cup of coffee later and we were in.

The museum focussed on the history of the islands and was very child-friendly, with many hands-on exhibits. We particularly liked the floor entitled “Journeys Through history”, which gave an insight into the many cultures that make up the modern New Zealand. It contained many artefacts donated by the Maori people including the boat shown on the left. In addition the museum had an outside space entitled “Bush City” where many of the country’s natural plants were growing. This being a school day in New Zealand the museum was full of young children eager to learn, or misbehave. Although we only spent just over an hour here, it’s the sort of place that if you were staying for longer, you could dip into on several occasions as admission was free.

Apparently Wellington is often compared to San Francisco , it’s hilly and is located on a bay and it has a cable car. This takes you on a ride from the busy shopping streets up to the botanical gardens. The views over the city from here were spectacular, helped by the gorgeous weather we enjoyed today. Not a hint of the wind! There is a nice walk back down from the heights through the gardens , but we decided to take the cable car back down.

Wellington, as all you keen quizzers will know is the most southerly capital city in the world. The parliament buildings were on the way back to the ship where we returned for lunch. After lunch it was too hot to play more than one game of ping-pong, so we retired to the poolside to eat ice-cream and take in the sun.

Last night’s animal has been confirmed as a penguin and tonight we have a stingray!!!!

Day Thirteen - Christchurch

Today the ship docked at Christchurch or more precisely the town of Lyttelton, which acts as the port for the larger city. Lyttelton is located inside the rim of an extinct volcano that makes a natural harbour. As we have been away from Wales for almost a fortnight we decided to have a trip to a sheep farm as we are getting home sick.  (As if !!!!) . After boarding the bus we climbed the steep winding road away from the harbour until we reached the first stop, overlooking the Canterbury Plain. As the picture suggests, the bright sunny weather of the last few days seems to have deserted us, with a cloudy sky and cool conditions. Hopefully this is just a temporary glitch.

The city of Christchurch is situated in the centre of this flat plain, and has been described as the most English city outside of England. One of the areas that this is most noticeable is in the naming of the streets, Hereford, Worcester and Gloucester were a few I spotted. At the centre of the town is the large cathedral. We stopped here for a few moments before proceeding towards the sheep farm. Christchurch incidentally is not named after the Hampshire town but the Oxford college.

From the centre of Christchurch to the farm was about a 40 minute drive in the coach passing through beautiful countryside. Once at the farm we were initially treated to a short sheep dog demonstration, with the dog running around a mile up a steep hill and returning with a flock of ten sheep. I’ve seen this on television before but never in real life.We then moved into the shearing shed where the farm owner sheared two sheep for us. All the rest of his 1300 flock will be shorn (or is it shawn) next week. For this he gets a team in to assist. The two pictures illustrate the before and after of the shearing process. After this demonstration we were invited inside for a cup of tea and some home-made mixed berry muffins, which were delicious. Sylvia has obtained the recipe so I’m sure we can all look forward to sampling them in the near future. The farm is called “Manderley”, after Du Maurier’s novel,”Rebecca”. The trip was spoiled a little by all the moaning from some of our American colleagues who insisted that it was freezing but it was only a little British drizzle. And they call us the whingers!!!!

After returning to the ship for a spot of lunch, we played our now customary game of table tennis. I think we must be the people to use it as it is always available when required. We then took the free shuttle into Lyttelton to explore this port town. That took precisely 5 minutes to complete, there wasn’t a lot there! Over tea we watched the workers in the container terminal loading the lorries. Sylvia thought that this would be a nice job and is thinking of retraining. Any thoughts??

Our dinner table situation has now stabilised and we dine each night with PJ and Joan from Buffalo,Larry and Mari-Jo from just outside Washington DC and Isabelle and Alvero from the Azores. Tonight’s topics ranged from the trips we had all taken, through the Kings of England , finishing with the pros and cons of President Obama. Tomorrow I will try to explain the rules of cricket. Tonight’s animal is………………………………………

Answers on a postcard to………………………………………..

Day Twelve - Dunedin

After a good night’s sleep, we awoke to find this view from our cabin. We had arrived in Port Chalmers,the port of Dunedin. This is situated about 8 miles away from the city proper and requires a taxi or bus to get there. We hadn’t organised any trip here as after three days on the boat we wanted to stretch our legs a little.

The town of Dunedin itself has close historical links with Edinburgh, not only sharing the Gaelic name for the Scottish capital but also many of it’s streets have Scottish sounding names. The centre of the town is an eight sided plaza known as “The Octagon”, on one side of which stands Saint Paul’s Cathedral. The picture shows Sylvia on the steps of the cathedral. Inside they were celebrating a flower festival with arrangements at the end of the pews and various other locations throughout the church, like the one below.

Whilst in the town we visited the art gallery and also the railway station , which is supposedly  one of the most photographed buildings in the whole of New Zealand. Opened in 1906, the building was designed by George Troup. The building earned him, the nickname “Gingerbread George” from the detailing on the outside of the building. After returning to the ship for lunch we decided to walk around Port Chalmers in the afternoon and ended up in the magnificent church that overlooks the harbour. Here we received a wonderful reception from the locals especially the organist who commenced playing requests. Amongst the tunes played were “Cwm Rhodda” and “The Londonderry Air” reflecting the fact that we had travelled so far. He incidentally had been playing the organ here for 63 years but I’m sure he will improve with practice.

Tonight's animal is (I think) a chicken or perhaps a peacock.

Day Eleven – Cruising the Sounds

In the words of the song - “What a difference a day makes”. After last night’s bad weather we awoke to the relative calm of the New Zealand fjords.But before I talk of today’s sights a couple of congratulations are called for. Firstly to Robert and Jo on the birth of their daughter, yet another Grand-Daughter for Gayney and Jeff. At this rate the Jones family name will die out!!!! And secondly to the “Village People” on the occasion of their victory at the weekly quiz. I knew you could do it lads!!!!

We awoke at 7.00 just as we were entering the first of three sounds we  visited today. Milford Sound was discovered by a Welshman who named it after his favourite place, Milford Haven. Although the weather had improved the wind at the front of the ship was strong and cold. the coats that we packed due to the snow back home came into their own. The following pictures covey some of the sights but probably do not do justice to the magnificent views. 

We decided to retire to our cabin’s balcony ,where we were protected from the wind , and have breakfast. The views just kept coming, and as the morning past the sun came out

Second came, Doubtful Sound , Named by Captain Cook as he felt it was doubtful he would be able to get his ship in. Our Captain was quite confident and so was the other cruise ship we met in the sound. The  binoculars that the girls bought us for Christmas really came in handy.

The sun got hotter as the day progressed and with the shelter our balcony provided quite a sun trap, that necessitated the use of sun screen. At the entrance to Dusky Sound we spotted a pod of dolphins playing not bothering about the large cruise ship that was passing them. Once again the scenery was stunning.

Once leaving the sounds we tracked the coast of New Zealand , onward bound towards Dunedin. Tonight’s animal , for all you fans of towel craft, was an elephant.

We have requested a chicken so Oliver can compare!!!!!

Day Ten – All at Sea Again……………

The sea has once again been fairly rough overnight as we head towards New Zealand. After breakfast we had a quick game of table tennis and sat and watched the sea go by. There are a number of activities planned for today that could not go ahead due to the high winds, and I was so looking forward to entering the “Mr. Sexy Legs” competition. We have eaten lunch for the last two days in the main dining room as it is a lot less crushed in there. The focal point of the meal is the superb salad bar where you chose the components which are mixed by the chef. After which you add the meat or fish,this includes smoked salmon and extremely large prawns. A meal in itself.

We have spent a fair amount of time enjoying “taking the air “ on the balcony, and although the views aren’t great at the moment, it is very relaxing. 

We arrived at dinner tonight to find once again that no-one else had turned up. We requested from the maitre d’ that the situation be rectified and we are now on a table with two couples from the USA. The first from Buffalo, NY and the others from Washington. Hopefully we will enjoy many more dinners with them.After dinner we returned to our room for an early night , to ensure that we are up early tomorrow for the fjords. The night was extremely rough with doors slamming, cupboards opening and at one stage all our water bottles falling from the cupboard. Hopefully it will be calmer as we reach the shore.Oh and by the way we won the quiz again!!!!!

Day Nine – Across the Tasman Sea

Today was the first of two sea days as we traverse the Tasman sea bound for New Zealand. The sea has a fair swell on it and there is also a strong wind,not the best of sailing conditions. First of all the good news – we won the morning trivia and are the proud owners of two Royal Caribbean marker pens as shown below.

There are plenty of activities on board but apart from the quiz we have only used the table tennis, preferring to sit on the balcony and take in the sights.

Tonight was the Captain’s reception and the first formal dinner which entailed us dressing in our finery.

The dinner was a little disappointing as once again there were gaps in the table, with the couple from New Jersey not showing at all and just the husband from The Azores. There has been a fair amount of people suffering from travel sickness so this may be the reason, if it happens again we will ask to be moved.  After dinner we attended the first production show of the cruise entitled “Ballroom Fever”. The show featured the singers and dancers from the ship and also the professional ballroom couple who teach on board. They were superb and to some extent showed up the talents of the other dancers. The singing was also very good, altogether a very good production.

On our return to our room we found this animal on the bed!!!!!!!

Day Eight – Sydney harbour

Today the ship is moored in Sydney harbour . Tenders have been provided for passengers to visit Sydney, but as we have a week there at the end of the cruise, we have decided to use today to fully explore the ship.

The Rhapsody is one of the older ships of the Royal Caribbean fleet and as such is comparatively small when compared to the new super ships. I believe that when full it will hold around 2500 passengers but we have been told that there are only 1900 on board at the moment. The fixtures and fittings in the Centrum are very ornate as the following photos will show.

The main feature that is different from the Sea Princess is the covered solarium area. This allows you to swim even in adverse weather conditions. For some reason it is decorated in a mock Egyptian style, I’m not sure of the significance of that!!

We haven't tried out the pool yet but the table tennis tables are in here and we have used these. The food on board so far has been first class although probably not up to the standards of Princess, in fairness it is too early to compare.Here are the buffet and main dining areas.

We are very pleased with the stateroom especially the balcony which Sylvia has been enjoying.

In the afternoon we took part in the Trivia quiz, but didn’t perform well.(MUST DO BETTER !!!!).After the compulsory muster drill at 5.30 the ship began to sail at 6.30 as we went to dinner. Two more couples were on the table. Jim & Pat from New Jersey and Isobel & her husband(difficult name to remember ) from the Azores.Will learn more about these on our travels.Once out of Sydney harbour the sea became quite choppy and during the night even more so. I have heard that the Tasman sea can be rough …….We have two more days of this!!!