Serene Wandering

We were in Napier on January 21, 2025.

As we woke up, our ship was heading to Napier, NZ.  Residents in Napier are the first in the world to see the sunrise given the international dateline.

We are on board the Westerdam, a new ship to us. This class of ship is smaller than the previous Holland America ships we have sailed.  For a couple of days we’ve been thinking that we miss the Dutch Café, the 180 degree screen in the main stage, and the New York Deli. Yet, we’re settling into this smaller ship.  

This is the lovely Gallery Bar.  There are paintings in every possible space.

The Westerdam also has these great elevators on the port and starboard   sides allowing for very nice views of the port or the sea. There are two elevators on each side of the ship, which are steps away from our cabin. For some unknown reason everyone gravitates to the main central elevators, that take a long time to arrive and are often full. We have found the four outside elevators are fast and appear to be less used. We exclusively use these now. The larger ships do not have these elevators.

Our first activity of the day was a Cruise Director Talk with the Chief Engineer. We have seen him around the ship in coveralls checking lifeboats and other safety equipment to keep his “hands on the ship equipment”. It was satisfying to see a senior officer doing this work.

They talked azipods and stabilizers, engines, and desalination. 

There were two statements that I understood and remember. Sewage treatment is so effective that the results can be released in Alaskan waters.

There is a Zero Overboard policy for waste disposal.  There is extensive recycling and the money earned goes into a crew fund. (They are the ones doing the work!)

Our excursion for today was to Cape Kidnappers Station to see a gannet colony, one of the largest on the mainland in the southern hemisphere.

On the way we saw the six sisters houses that were built by a wealthy doctor with six daughters.

As we neared our destination, we learned this land was once part of a ranch that began in 1859.  The initial owner purchased 13,500 acres from the New Zealand government.  Within two years, he had cleared enough bush to run 8000 merino sheep.

By 1900 the owner had broken up the farm into five 2500 acre stations. Those were sold off.

We visited one of them, Cape Kidnappers.  It is still an active farm. It also has a golf course and lodge for the ultra wealthy. 

The farm operates with 2000 head of sheep and about 500 cattle. 

Supplying beef is a major export of New Zealand.  At least the cattle here live a nice life before their demise.

With the owner of an adjacent station, they have created a sanctuary for native species.

They have installed specialty fencing which have been very effective at keeping out pests and vermin.  They are designed so that it falls back towards an animal trying to climb it.

There are also numerous traps around to get anything the fence hasn’t stopped. They rarely catch anything anymore.  

All this is to benefit the flightless kiwi (national bird) and other native species.

Again, the scenery was stunning.

We were also stunned when we got our first view of the gannet plateau colony.

We were also stunned when we got our first sniff. Whew! That was really stinky!

Gannets live in Australia and New Zealand. Four colonies live on Cape Kidnappers totaling about 20,000 birds.

This colony is the largest on mainland New Zealand and an estimated 10,000 birds live on this plateau.  Gannets have been nesting here since the 1870s and have not been impacted one way or another by the sanctuary.  The adult gannets arrive in July and engage in courtship and nest building.  After raising their chick, they’ll leave in April. Gannets eat raw fish, specifically herring, anchovies and squid.

According to our guides, male and female gannets have no difference in appearance.  It was mentioned that if an adult brings seaweed back to a chick, it is likely a male doing that.

They share both incubation duties and the responsibility for rearing the chick.

 

A chick will live at this colony for about 15 – 16 weeks. In that time, its appearance will change dramatically from a black naked bird to a white fluffy chick. By three months of age it becomes gray and speckled.

The parents feed them to 50 times their birth weight. The chicks are fed on demand but that is generally at dawn and dusk.

In the colony, each little hill is a property. Randy observed a young one starting to wander off, and the gannets around it made sure it went back on its little mound.

The chicks leave in March.  Their very first flight is all the way to Australia, non stop. The trip will take them 4-7 days.

If they survive the trip and their early years, the gannet will return here to find a mate.  They generally mate for life.

 

A gannet typically lives 20-24 years but may live up to 33 years.

There are about 5000 gannet on another colony closer to sea level.  The sandstone formation, The Shard, is behind.

The government started the Cape Kidnapper’s lighthouse in 1897, but it wasn’t a high priority. A light beacon was finally installed in 1963.

 

On the way back to the ship we saw some Freedom Camping sites along the beach. You are able to camp at a Freedom site for free for three days before having to move on.

In 1931 there was an earthquake that destroyed almost all of Napier.  British insurance companies refused to provide payment because it was “an act of God.”  The town was rebuilt, using an art deco style.  

As we returned to port, we had to show our ship card and a government issued ID. That seems to be a NZ thing and not something we usually experience.

As we approached the ship we were able to see some vintage cars with men dressed in period clothing for our enjoyment.

We were also serenaded by a local musical group! Thank you Napier!

We had pre-dinner drinks and music in the ocean bar.

Then dinner!  We had arancini as a starter.  We didn’t even know of arancini before we went to Italy a couple years ago.   We love traveling!

Next up: Wellington and sheep dogs!

The ship arrived at our first port, Tauranga. Our shore excursion, Bay of Plenty: Rich Land, Rich Culture, was the last excursion group to leave the ship.  It made for a quiet couple of hours onboard as most people had left to explore on their own or on earlier excursions.

We went up to the Crow’s Nest and found an old friend!  My family learned this game we called “shu-buck” from a Dutch family when we lived in Bangkok.  My parents ordered a board and discs that we had for many years.  Randy eventually made one for our family and we don’t remember what ultimately happened to it.  On board, it is called a “sjoelen .”  There was a competition on board but I didn’t participate.  Was 50 plus years of experience too much of an advantage to exploit?

We hung out on our balcony and watched the tugs navigate this cargo ship from Singapore.

We headed to the theater to gather for our excursion.  We were on time, but almost late!  We now know we need to always be early!

This process is sometimes poorly done, but the excursion crew on the Westerdam seems to have a good system.

Of course, we received some local history on the way to our destination. The Bay of Plenty was named by Captain Cook upon his ship being fully resupplied by the Māori. 

Our guide told us that this is the largest port in New Zealand exporting timber, dairy products and 198,000,000 trays of kiwi fruit.  That means BILLIONS of individual fruits.

This is what The Mount looked like from the ship.

There are Norfolk pines planted along the bay.  Missionaries planted them as a sentinel to tell seafarers that this was a safe place to land. 

They probably also liked that new growth looks like a cross.

Still on the bay side, there are salt water geothermal pools.

The surf beach is on the Pacific side.

This little bungalow has heritage status and sold for $4 million NZ, roughly $2.25 million US.  The outside cannot be changed.

These are flax plants.  Flax was brought here in the 13th century.  The Māori were able to weave it into many needed products.  Flax was the first product exported in the 17th and 18th centuries.

The Māori came from other Polynesian islands and brought crops that they had been growing at home.   Those coming from Samoa brought taro root, those from Tonga brought the mulberry tree,  those coming from the east brought the sweet potato.  The sweet potato quickly became the staple diet for Māori.

Warriors had observation points on elevated terraces to see intruders approaching so they could defend the villages. Modern trench warfare grew out of this type of defense.

Our first destination was a Māori marae, or gathering place.

We were given instruction on how to proceed respectfully.  

The women gathered at the front of the group right behind our “chief.”  The men were around and behind to keep the women safe.  

A member of the family came and challenged us as to whether we come in peace.  He threw down a feather.  When our “chief” picked it up, they knew we were friend, not foe.

We removed our shoes prior to entering and agreed to not take pictures inside.

They sang a song of greeting to us and we sang a song in return “You are My Sunshine.”

They told stories and entertained us with more songs and dances. 

When they asked for first women and then men volunteers to learn some of the traditional dance moves, neither of us volunteered.  

Afterwards, our Māori hosts invited us to take pictures with them.

Schools in New Zealand were started by the missionaries.  They banned students from speaking the Māori language.  It was almost eradicated by the 1950s.  Efforts were initiated to revive the language in the 1970s.  Today, schools operate in both languages or bilingually from preschool through university.  Both Māori and English are official languages of New Zealand.

In the distance we could just barely see the island where 20 tourists and two guides died in 2019 when a volcano erupted unexpectedly on Whakaari, the White Island.  There is a Netflix program about it called The Volcano: Rescue from Whakaari.

The most common crops here are kiwi fruit and avocados.  Everyone seems to have one or both trees.

In the early 1900s,  a teacher ate Chinese gooseberry in the Yangtze valley.  She brought some back to New Zealand.  Her brothers were horticulturalists and the results developed into a massive industry.

A Kiwi is the national New Zealand bird. It is flightless and elusive.  A kiwi can also be New Zealander.  The fruit is not kiwi, it is “kiwi fruit.”

Almost all of New Zealand’s immense and world-famous kiwi fruit crop is grown in this small area.  There are 2500 orchards growing billions of individual fruits that are picked one by one.

These are accommodations for harvesting workers.  The fruit is picked 3-5 months a year.  Harvest is 12 hours per day, six days a week. The workers generally come from Polynesian Islands and NZ has strict regulations and protections regarding their pay and accommodations.  Accommodations must include high speed WiFi for them to stay in contact with their families.  

There is a very elaborate process for pollination and growth and harvest season to season.  We spent thirty minutes learning about it!

It began with how they trick bees into pollinate blossoms that have no nectar!

These teepees are vines that weren’t pollinated but saved for the next season.  Also notice the wind breaks in the background. All of the orchards have them so the wind does not bruise the fruit and lower the grade classification.

Growers use an organic insecticide but do not have a problem with birds because the fruit is picked before it is ripe.

These gold kiwi are just a few weeks into their development.  Even though they are already the size of what we typically see in our neighborhood grocery stores, they will double in size and be classified as Grade A.  This classification level of crop primarily goes to Asia.

The fruit is picked hard (not ripe) because the market is at least six weeks to six months away.  Fruit can last up to a year through processes they have developed.

Green kiwi fruit was the primary market for decades but 80 percent of the fruit was lost by disease.  They grafted vines to grow gold kiwi fruit onto still healthy green vines to create a gold fruit.  That is now the primary crop with the best, again, going to Asia.

Ruby Red Kiwi is in development!

Kiwi fruit is very healthy nutritionally – we’ll have to eat more.

We had a nice treat with tea at a local community center. We sampled green and gold kiwi fruit! The gold was so good!

There are so many restrictions on taking products into Australia that we didn’t get any lotions or soaps or chocolate.

Back on board we had dinner at our favorite specialty restaurant, Canaletto.

Then we went to the captain’s welcome toast.  He gave us a little information that the Westerdam had her maiden voyage in 2004. The captain’s career began with Holland America in 1992. He introduced his senior officers and gave a toast to our journey.

We stayed in the theater then for a wonderful show called The “Shredderz” .  A woman on cello and a man on electric guitar combined classic rock and classic sounds strange, but it worked very well.

We concluded our night at Billboard Oboard.  This venue is available on all Holland America ships and incorporates two piano players playing together.

It was a great day from shore excursions to dinner to shows. This is why we like cruising!

We were in Tauranga, New Zealand on January 20, 2025.

 

We were given late checkout at the hotel so had a relaxing morning.  We weren’t very far from the pier, a 10-15 minute walk that we had done several times, but we opted for a taxi given our luggage. 

Queen’s Wharf has two cruise ship terminals.  Cruise ships have been coming to Aukland for 14 years.

The process of checking in on the Westerdam took about 45 minutes. We  were always moving so it went quickly.

This is our cruise itinerary – mostly New Zealand, and three ports in Australia.

We found our cabin and our key cards. Randy was pleased that he finally had some status as we were Mr. and Mrs. R. Matthews.  Because I do all the travel planning, status accounts are almost always in my name. He’s always “complaining” that he doesn’t exist!  He’s just a kept man on our travels!

This was our first view of our signature suite, a new cabin category for us. 

We had lovely flowers from our travel agent.

We watched the safety video and then the end of the Chiefs-Texans football game.

We were able to watch some of the Sail Grand Prix from our balcony. We had seen a lot about it during our stay in Auckland but were out of the city on Saturday.  On Sunday morning, we were more focused on getting on the ship. It was a nice surprise to see a little of the racing and what all the fuss was about.

And if you don’t know, because we certainly didn’t know, Sail GP is an international sailing competition featuring high-performance F 50 foiling Catamarans. 

We completed our last required event for embarking, to find our muster station for lifeboat evacuation in case of emergency. 

Next up was the Mariners’  Reception for loyal Holland America cruisers with status. We barely qualify, but we do!  We sat with a couple from Florida we had met in line to embark.

Because this smaller class of Holland ship is new to us, we spent some time finding our way around. 

We went to the spa for a tour and signed up for the raffle.  I won $100! Of course, given the inflated prices on a cruise, my $100 discount makes it about the same as Phoenix prices.  I’m all in!!

We opted to pay $119 for unlimited laundry on this cruise.  As we’d already been away from home for a week, we sent off our first bag of clothes for cleaning.

We went to dinner in the main dining room and then to the theater for a talk about our next few ports.

Most of that information will come out as we reach those ports, but he told us a few general items of note. 

The footwear people in the US call flip flops are called jangles in NZ.  Those same sandles are called thongs in Australia.  (I actually grew up in the Pacific Northwest calling them thongs.)

New Zealand money is very colorful and durable.  They have done away with 1$ bills, nickels and pennies.

New Zealand is generally cashless with almost everyone using cards.  There is no expectation for tipping as workers are paid a livable wage.

Instead of 911 for emergency, NZ uses 111.

The longest place name in the world is in New Zealand. There are 85 characters!  The presenter didn’t want to attempt the pronunciation so he played a recording narrated by his sister!

We boarded the Westerdam on January 18 2025.

Next Up: Tauranga

On our way to Waitomo Caves and Hobbiton, our guide told us more about New Zealand.

Although New Zealand is made of 600 islands, there are just two main ones: the North Island and the South Island.  Aukland is on the north island. 

The city is very long and narrow positioned between the Pacific Ocean and Tasman Sea.  Aukland has the most coastline of any city in the world. 

The total population of New Zealand is 5.2 million on a land mass about the size of Japan.  Aukland was the nation’s second capital between 1842 and 1865 (now Wellington). One third of the population of New Zealand lives in Aukland.

New Zealand is a democracy holding elections every three years. Their former prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, became quite famous for her very aggressive, and successful, approach to fighting the COVID pandemic.

Power in New Zealand is generated by hydro and wind. This is the last operating coal plant. It is due to be decommissioned soon.  Coal is imported from Indonesia.  Fuel is imported from Singapore. 

There are no snakes or crocodiles in New Zealand but they do have mosquitoes so it isn’t perfect.

New Zealand’s largest industry is dairy farming.  They export product to 170 countries around the world.

Tourism was the largest industry before COVID with 3.5 million annual visitors.  Now it is the second largest industry, but coming back.

We arrived at our first of two primary destinations, Waitomo Caves.

Waitamo means water caves. These sandstone caves were formed over millions of years.

We saw the beautiful rooms and formations such as stalagmites, stalactites, pillars and columns.

On our way down to the river still running through the cave, we learned about its more recent history.

Local Māori knew about the caves but they had never been fully explored. Chief Tane Tinorau and English surveyor Fred Mace did so in 1887.

They experienced the multitudes of glowworms lighting up the ceiling of the cave.

Each worm has an attachment that gathers their food.

In 1889, the caves opened to tourists.

The government took over the cave in 1906 but it was returned to Māori descendants to operate in 1989.

Two floods have impacted the cave and temporarily reduced the number of glow worms.

Picture taking was not allowed in the cave so these are internet stock photos or pictures I took of post cards I bought in the gift store.

This experience was magical and reminded us of the bioluminescent bay in Puerto Rico.

Our day continued with a very nice box lunch and the marginal experience of eating it on the coach.

Our next destination was Hobbiton, the movie set used in the Hobbit and Lord of the Ring movies. 

Prior to leaving on this big adventure to New Zealand, we watched the first Hobbit movie.  I intended to watch all three but didn’t enjoy the first enough to spend more time on it.  Randy watched the entire Hobbit trilogy.  He had already seen Lord of the Rings years ago so he filled in the general story line for me.

Hobbiton is a popular place,  with 2500 visitors each day.  It is among the top five tourist attractions in New Zealand. 

Nathaniel, employed by Hobbiton, came aboard our coach and gave us some history of the movie set.

In 1998, location scouts for the Lord of the Ring movies were looking for rolling hills, a lake and a large tree.  They found what they were looking for on the Alexander family’s 1200 acre sheep (13,000) and cattle (500) farm.

“The Shire,” home to the Hobbits, would be built on 120 acres leased from the family.

The New Zealand Army helped build the road into the shire site and several soldiers were rewarded with roles as extras (Orcs).

Thirty-nine temporary Hobbit Holes were created for the Lord of the Ring movies. 

“The Shire” was later reconstructed with more robust materials beginning in 2009. That process took two years!  The set was used for only 12 days of filming in 2011 for the Hobbit trilogy. The work, time and artistry on any given aspect, may only have seconds of film life in the movie.

Two artificial trees were constructed with leaves sewn on the branches, including this one above Bilbo Baggins’ Hobbit Hole. The director was not happy with the color of leaves so art students were acquired to paint 200,000 leaves before filming began.

The landscaping and settings are so detailed!

Remember those 13,000 sheep the family owned?  The director thought another breed looked like they belonged in “The Shire” and he had a different breed imported from the south Island of New Zealand.

We had a completely enjoyable hour with Nathaniel walking around “The Shire” and hearing stories about the various cottages.

We were able to go inside a Hobbit Hole and see the level of detail used on the inside sets.  

The interior scenes were actually filmed at a studio in Wellington and re-created here as part of the Hobbiton experience.

We finished off Hobbiton with a visit to The Green Dragon Tavern. A complimentary beverage is part of the experience. We opted for amber ale and apple cider.

The Alexander family still owns the land and one son still runs the farm and lives in the family home.  The Alexander’s also own the company running Hobbiton.

Our visit to Hobbton was completely delightful. I am now inspired to watch the last half hour of the final Hobbit movie as Bilbo Baggins returns from his adventure.

PS.  Randy and I were just fascinated, and a bit saddened, to watch these two young women.  We first noticed them as the one meticulously fixed her makeup while in line to go into the dark Waitomo Caves. I believe they were Japanese so have no idea if she is famous or maybe just wants to be.  The second woman was always taking her picture – so many times!!  I hope they were employer and employee because if they were friends, there was a definite imbalance in the relationship.

We were at the Waitamo Caves and Hobbiton on January 18, 2025.

Next up: We board Westerdam for our cruise!

We woke to our first full day in Auckland with my Apple Watch bouncing back-and-forth between Thursday, January 16 and Friday, January 17.  I left it to sort itself out and it eventually did.

One of the things that always makes us laugh as we travel internationally is the trouble we have figuring out new to us shower fixtures. This was my time to be stumped and Randy’s to figure it out.

 

While walking to our Aukland City Tour meeting point, we passed the hull for KZ1.  It sailed against America 1 in the America’s Cup race in 1988.  Unfortunately, that America’s Cup competition ended with court battles and hard feelings. 

Our guide told us that the Māori arrived about 1350. There were only plants, insects and birds.  Many of the birds were flightless. 

The Māori were a structured, warrior based people, adept at defending their lands.  In 1642 a Dutch explorer, Able Tasmin, was the first European to find the islands.  He named it New Zealand.   The Māori ran the Dutch off.

In 1779,  Captain James Cook came to New Zealand.  The Māori greeted his expedition.  He claimed the area for the British Empire.  

There was beneficial trade for a time but the Māori had no concept of land ownership so there was eventual conflict.  

A lot of the fighting occurred in a region south of Aukland.  These Māori totems sit on some of those lands.

A treaty was signed and is still controversial today as the Māori control less than one percent of the lands they once fully occupied.

The colonization of New Zealand was seen as a bit of a bait and switch.  If the colonists survived a three and a half month journey, they found mostly dense forests.  The “English” cows and sheep did poorly on the native grasslands in New Zealand.  

The English introduced possums, from Australia, to develop a fur trade.  There are now 90 million possums in New Zealand and they are considered pests.  Merino wool is a mix of possum fur and wool.

Aukland’s Ferry Building was built to service the Royal British Navy.

Much of the early architecture in Aukland is Victorian.  Eighty percent of houses are made of wood, primarily using the native Kauri trees.  (The Kauri tree is the second slowest growing tree in the world after California redwood.)

The Poncenby post office came into service just after the turn of the 20th century. We were told that the building was involved in the first conviction using fingerprint technology in the British Empire, if not the world.  When I looked for details, I couldn’t find any so that may or may not be factual. 

We walked up Mount Eden to see views of the city from the top of one of 53 former volcanic sites around Aukland.

This crater was formed 28,000 years ago.  

As we walked on the board walk, people walking the opposite way would graciously cross over.  It finally occurred to us that we should be walking on the left side, matching the way traffic operates.  

We drove by the Aukland War Museum.  The various alcoves were dedicated to war campaigns.  

Our guide said Gallipoli was the most significant.  It was a ten month campaign during 1915-16 in the Middle East campaign of World War I.

We went to Achilles Point and saw a memorial there.  It is named after the HMNZS Achilles which defeated a German battleship in the South Pacific in 1939.

Our guide is standing by a Nikau Palm. It is one of the smallest palm trees and the only one endemic to New Zealand. 

The Harbor Bridge was originally built in 1959 but was soon deemed not large enough to meet the needs of Aukland.  

Ten years later a Japanese company figured out how to weld and clip extra lanes onto each side.

We saw bungee jumpers in action under the open arch on the left side. After jumping they are hauled back up to the bridge.

After 400 jumps the bungee line is replaced.

This is physical education for high school students in Aukland.  It is a very water based society where nearly everyone owns a boat.

This is boat storage!

The Aukland Sky Tower became a point of reference for us as our hotel was nearby.  Although going to the top for viewing or dinner is a local attraction, we didn’t get to it before leaving Aukland.  It is the second tallest structure in the southern hemisphere behind a tower in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Australia is New Zealand’s nearest neighbor but it still over 1300 miles away.  Sometimes, New Zealand is called “The Lonely Place” because of isolation.

Our passports got stamped in and out of Tahiti. That doesn’t always happen since everything is computerized.

We boarded another 787 Dreamliner for our 5 hour flight to Aukland that would cross the international date line.  Tahiti is 23 hours behind Aukland, but only five hours away.

Our route was just over 2500 miles.

Air Tahiti Nui has the best safety video!  I watched it mostly on our flight to Tahiti and really watched it on the flight to Aukland.  It is available on YouTube at YouTubehttps://m.youtube.com › watchAir Tahiti Nui Safety Video – English – YouTube. Imagine that – A recommended airline safety video!

Once we were airborne, we were served breakfast.  Randy watched movies.  I listened to podcasts and randomly watched the update screen. Notice the altitude on the bottom left! That is pretty precise.

We passed the Cook Islands.  Our family took a trip there with my parents in the 1990’s.   It was on my father’s bucket list to see the southern cross, the southern hemisphere’s answer to the big dipper. We also had a wonderful excursion to Aitutaki, also shown on the map, that we still talk about.

Our flight towards Aukland was uneventful.  That’s a good thing when you are going thousands of miles across the Pacific Ocean.  Note to self – I prefer flights in which I stay awake during daylight hours instead of “sleeping” during night time hours.

We can see New Zealand from the plane!

After we landed, and as we were taxiing to the gate, I turned my phone off airplane mode and the time was 2:48 on Wednesday January 15.  

One minute later, after my phone oriented, it was 1:59 on Thursday January 16th!  We lost a whole day in moments!!  

We had participation streaks for a couple of activities and one of Randy’s was broken at 760 days! Bummer.

Before leaving the plane we saw a video about declaring contraband foods or facing the consequences.  They also expect you to declare if you have been hiking because of what may be on your shoes or equipment.  Right away we acknowledged an open bag of cashews and pistachio nuts but they were acceptable.  

We passed several more reminders to declare items or have consequences.   We finally passed “the last opportunity.” They take protecting their country in this way very seriously.

We walked through a Māori carved arch towards immigration and baggage claim and began a multi step customs and immigration process.  The first was to insert our passport into a machine and have a picture taken, all automated.  Then we had to visit an officer where we were once again asked about what food items we might have to declare.

We gathered our luggage and it was scanned. Then we were free to find our driver.  He was right there waiting for us.

 

Walking to his car, we passed a statue of Jean Batten,  an aviator from New Zealand with several record-breaking flights.  These were records for any aviator, not just a woman’s record.  Her records include being the first aviator to fly solo from England to New Zealand.  She did it in 1936, yet, she was denied the opportunity to serve in any flying capacity during World War II.

Our ride to the hotel was very pleasant and our check-in went smoothly.

 

The hotel is ultra modern!

Our evening plans were for a Harbor Dinner Cruise.  We expected a yacht or trawler type boat.  

Instead there were two sailboats, the Courageous and the Defiance.

On board the Courageous, we joined guests from Vienna, Bulgaria, Japan, Australia, South Korea, and Canada.   We were the only ones from the US.  That doesn’t happen very often, maybe never before.

We had drinks, canapés, a main dish and dessert while we sailed in the harbor.

This is Aukland’s first electric tugboat, Sparky. Over 2000 batteries provide adequate power to direct this small cruise ship.

We generally tracked with the sister boat, Defiance.

The Spirit of New Zealand was built in 1986 to teach New Zealand’s youth about sailing and their heritage.  It operates year round on journeys with students 16-18 operating as crew trainees.

Randy drove the boat!  The captain let everyone who wanted a turn have one.

This is New Zealand’s only naval post.  The navy has seven boats that operate more like the US coast guard.  It is primarily focused on search and rescue. There recently lost a ship, an eighth of their navy, when it was grounded on a reef and sank due to the captain’s error. 

The Chelsea Sugar Factory has been in business since the mid 1800s processing raw sugar cane from Fiji and Australia.  The orange color was the only paint they had enough of when it was originally painted.  Now it is tradition.

There were many views of the Aukland skyline on this side of the harbor. The bridge below extends the city to the opposite shore.

We had a perfect evening for sailing.

The Viaduct Harbor and Marina was once a small fishing harbor.  Now there are many gorgeous yachts and many restaurants.  This harbor area was imagined and funded after New Zealand’s America’s Cup victory in the 1990s.  

As we walked into the hotel at the end of the day, we thought how strange it was that we woke up Wednesday morning and are going to bed Thursday evening. 

We arrived in Aukland on January 15 and/or 16, 2025.

Next up:  January 17th!

We ate a light breakfast because we had a morning food tour!

The resort’s breakfast buffet is very well done.  Unfortunately, neither of the dinners we had at the same restaurant were good at all.  It was our working plan to stay in town long enough to have our evening meal elsewhere.

A pre-arranged taxi picked us up at 7:00 a.m. for an 8:15 meeting.

When we looked at the map, it just didn’t seem possible that it could take that long to go from the resort to Papeete.  The concierge confirmed the time was correct due to heavy traffic at that time of morning and never knowing what might happen to cause a significant delay. (We live near Phoenix, we know all about that!)

Our taxi driver dropped us off in front of a very elaborate building that identified as a hotel in big letters and city hall in small letters.  

We verified that we were in the right place.  It never was a hotel as we know it – it’s just French for City Hall.

Our drive from hotel to city hall took only 30 minutes so we walked to a pharmacy.  We had to show a picture to be understood but we got what we wanted.

We chuckled at the receipt identifying Randy as American tourist. 

Back at city hall, we explored a bit. A plaque outside the building said it was commissioned in 1966 when the president of the republic was Charles de Gaulle.

The statue was on the grounds.

This mural was inside.

At 8:30 we met our food tour guide, Oramu, and one other guest.  Our first stop was for a typical Polynesian breakfast.

That consisted of a donut type bread that was not real sweet.  We also had a raw tuna dish with a small amount of vegetables in coconut milk, a coconut biscuit, and piece of taro root.  Oramu said this is the breakfast people eat everyday. There is only a small amount of lime, not enough to “cook” it like ceviche. The tuna, or other fish, is just always very fresh.

THIS GIRL ATE RAW FISH – and it was actually pretty good.  (In my world of not eating fish, I will very occasionally eat tuna or salmon.)  

The next stop was Lucky Luke’s which has been in this spot for many decades.  Luke is now 90 and still comes in to greet his customers.  The next generation is now doing the day to day work running of the restaurant.

This is a picture of Oramu and Luke’s nephew.

We tasted fried pastry with tuna inside, banana crepes, and a baked pastry with banana inside.

This is the market building.  It is much larger than it appears! It is open everyday but Sunday’s are the biggest event. It is the main day for locals to shop for their food for the week.  Sales begin at 3:00 a.m. and end at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, otherwise there are more typical hours.

We saw a sampling of the fruits and vegetables available on a Sunday.

These white potatoes are a type of sweet potato.

Taro root is purple when cooked.

We sampled mango with Chinese Plum Spice Powder.  It is not spicy in a hot or ethnic way as Tahitians don’t eat spicy food. Oramu said this type of mango is candy to kids in Tahiti.

Beneath the bowl are bags of mango at various degrees of ripeness.  A person chooses a bag to their preference and the powder is shaken over it.  This was my favorite food on the tour.

We also had fresh mango and pineapple.  On this trip, the pineapple, both fresh and juiced, has been the best ever.

Next we had coconut water and coconut bread from a market stall that sells all things coconut.  We didn’t like the water but the bread was interesting.  We like fresh coconut “meat” so we enjoyed  the taste and texture of it inside the bread.

There are other things for sale too including flowers and flower crowns. The crowns cost about $25 or you can buy the flowers and create your own.

Black pearls are a product of the South Pacific and Oramu showed us the difference between natural and cultured.  I bought cultured pearls when we were here in 2019.

The material used for weaving bags is the same as used for thatched roofs.

There was a section of grab and go foods. Sandwiches are often a most economical meal because the cost of bread is government controlled.  A generous sandwich costs 350 francs, roughly $3.50. I think this was the only bargain we saw in Papeete.

We left the market and went for Tahiti fast food at Vini Vini.  We did pass a McDonalds and a Burger King but they were not on our tour. Our guide said the American fast food places are very popular.

The cases show many kinds of fish and sushi that are ready to eat.

Oramu ordered us a burger.  The meat was cornflake encrusted tuna.  The coating was very crunchy and the tuna was good.  The burger was one of our favorites on the tour.

This is not food, but it was the same stop.  It took me a bit to figure out that I needed to “hip action” the white rod to get the water to turn on in the sink….

We stopped at this street mural and Oramu told us how it represented the three cultures that mesh in Tahiti: the Polynesian culture that has always been, French culture after becoming a protectorate of France in 1844, and an influx of Chinese in the 1860s as laborers. Food is also a mixture of the three.  

Residents of French Polynesian are French citizens and are allowed to vote in elections in France.

Oramu told us as that school is taught in French.  In elementary grades the students learn Tahitian as a second language.  In secondary school, they learn English.  

She told us that when she was young, her parents would argue in English thinking the kids didn’t know what they were saying.  Oramu’s grandfather spoke English and he was also instrumental in her being an excellent English speaker.  

Papeete was bombed during World War I by the Germans.  Much of the area around this church was destroyed but the church remained.

Our next food item was Polynesian King’s Cake.  She told us the oldest person in the family cuts the cake and the youngest family member  delivers the pieces of cake randomly to others.  Who will have the baby Jesus inside?

Our next stop was for a Tahitian liquor tasting.  We had a sip of Tahitian gin that was honey infused. I don’t like gin and the honey didn’t help.  The rum smelled so much like molasses that it should have tasted good – but it didn’t.   One of the islands specializes in pineapple wine which sounds wonderful given how good the pineapple is here.  Unfortunately, they didn’t give us a sampling of that and we didn’t have time to drink a bottle before leaving the island tomorrow.

Our last stop was for “papaya pie”.  Of course, all these dishes have a Tahitian or French name but we don’t remember them. 

We were skeptical about this dish because we don’t like the texture of fresh papaya at all.  Cooking it made papaya so much better!  Served with some coconut milk and vanilla ice cream – this was Randy’s favorite dish on the tour.

We had been pretty fortunate with weather during our four hour food tour around Papeete.  We said goodbye to Oramu and our fellow guest.  The food on this tour won’t be remembered as the best, but the experience was very, very good.

We did a bit of shopping and then the rain came down in sheets. We didn’t know if we’d even want to eat again, so we put on our raincoats and made it to the taxi stand.  We were shortly back at the hotel.

We felt a bit grimy and actually did go swimming this time.  Randy stayed in longer than me so I was able to take his picture in the pool, looking out at the lagoon, and the ocean beyond.

Back on our balcony, we saw the beginnings of a canoe race.

We eventually decided that we did want to eat again.  We went down and ate at the bar.

We began with the local beer – Hinano.  We remember the beer and this logo from the last time we were here.   Randy had asked for, and was given, a dozen cardboard coasters hwith her picture on them.  Several are still at our house.  Over time she has become the local symbol for Tahiti, not just the beer.  Randy bought a T-shirt with her on it and we also bought her on a coffee mug.

We also had decent pizza! It was a good last dinner at the InterContinental Tahiti Resort.

Our food tour was on January 14, 2025.

Next: Aukland, New Zealand – a new country for us.

We knew rainy days were coming because our snorkel tour in Tahiti was canceled before we even left Phoenix.  It is the rainy season in French Polynesia.  We would have taken that into account if we were specifically coming here for vacation.  That wasn’t the case.  It is an allowed stopover to break up the flight by Air Tahiti Nui.  We aren’t paying extra for that with the airline.  Of course, we are paying for our hotel and food.

Because we’ve been here before, and it isn’t a priority destination this time, we weren’t concerned with rainy days.  

With overcast skies, we explored the InterContinental Tahiti Resort.

We found some crabs and this one played a bit of hide and seek with me.

The flowers were pretty growing in the trunk of a palm.

We climbed to the top of a lookout and saw some nice views of the lagoon and island. 

Almost all of the photos in this post are light enhanced because it really was a dark day.

We saw several pretty trees that caught our eye and smelled nice!

This one we could tell from the fruit – a breadfruit tree.  There is probably a fancier name – but it grows breadfruit!

This red blossomed tree was striking and is called royal poinciana or flame tree.

This is a screw pine.

The screw pine also produces a type of breadfruit.

It wasn’t quite the same as snorkeling, but we did get to see some marine life while walking around the various ponds.

They have rehabilitation ponds where a group has been working for 19 years to help sea turtles.  They have helped over 650 turtles!

We watched this one swim into the boundary rock so we suspect it may be blind.

This is another resident of the rehabilitation pond.

There were some nice fish but getting a good picture from above on a dark, dreary day wasn’t within my photographic capabilities!

This is a view from the “lagoonarium” looking back towards the hotel restaurant and main building.

We also spent time looking out at the scene from our balcony.  We could see the lagoon and hear the breakers beyond the protective reef.

Often we were looking through rain and Randy marveled at the rowers in outrigger canoes.  We asked about them going out when it was raining and were told they don’t mind the rain and were just getting exercise rowing in the lagoon.

When we were getting ready to go down for dinner, we discovered that Randy’s phone thought it was already Monday. The hours and minutes were the same as mine, but my phone said Sunday and his said Monday.  We had to validate to make sure what day it was because we are on vacation!

The discrepancy caused us to look up the international dateline to see if we were right on the edge and, for some reason, his was tipping over and mine was not. We both have iPhones so they should behave the same.  He eventually got his phone to recognize that it really was Sunday but doesn’t know what he did to fix it.

Meanwhile we learned the international date line has this strange little jog to the east to include the Republic of Kiribati.  Its 32 atolls cover 313 square miles and include Kiritmati, also known as Christmas Island.

And that was rainy Sunday!

We had hoped to wander in to town on Monday but the continued rain was impressive enough to change our plans.

I started prepping the initial blog post for this trip.  I have always waited until we got home to write our trips and always used my computer.  However, I have found that some initial work, as I have time on a trip, makes it easier.

An hour later I had actually finished writing the blog on my iPad with my attached keyboard.  There were some things that were harder to do and others that were easier using the iPad. I’m intrigued with using it.  I don’t know if I’ll have the time to keep on blogging the trip “live.”  We’ll see how it evolves.

Later we went down to the lagoon intending to swim because if you are going to get wet, what does rain matter? The cone shaped building is the pool bar.

We had tropical drinks with PASTA straws.  They were delicious which was good because they were a bit pricy at $24 a piece.

Despite the fortification, our swimming was abbreviated at the knees.  The water and air felt just too cool.   We enjoyed our cabana time while staying mostly dry. 

After dinner, we exchanged dollars into pacific francs, the local currency of French Polynesia.  We’ll need that for our next activity, a food tour in Papeete.  We are likely to be touring in the rain.

And that was a rainy Monday!

These rainy days were January 12 and 13, 2025.

Our next big adventure is to experience another item on Randy’s bucket list – snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Before that, we have a few days in Tahiti,  a few days in Auckland, and a two week cruise.   

The cruise is mostly around New Zealand with a few ports in Australia.  We hope you’ll follow along.  This trip began on January 11, 2025.

The first leg of our journey was from Phoenix to Los Angeles. We had a bit of anxiety about whether our flights into and out of LAX would be operating normally because of the massive wildfires.  (We recognize that our flights are unimportant in the big picture of the LA tragedy.)

Our flight from PHX to LAX was in the evening so we expected to see the fires from the plane but we did not.  We arrived and spent several uneventful hours in LAX.   

I spent most of the time reading Mrs. Jewel and the Wreck of the General Grant by Cristina Sanders.  I enjoy reading books in preparation for a trip to get a sense of place or the history of a region.  I especially like books where an author takes a historical event and creates a fictional narrative.  It is truth that Mrs. Jewell was the only female survivor, of 15 total, from the sailing ship General Grant, which wrecked in the Auckland Islands in 1866. Little is known about how she spent the eighteen months before the group was rescued so the author made a narrative.   I loved the book and hope I am able to get a feel for the location when we sail around New Zealand.

Our flight to Tahiti was an overnight flight in premium economy on Air Tahiti Nui. That meant we had reclining seats, just two together on the side of the plane. The attendants gave us a hot sandwich soon after we boarded and mostly everyone slept. (I spent a bit too much time finishing with Mrs. Jewell.) 

We were roused about 3:30 a.m. local time (5:30 pacific time)and fed a hot breakfast. 

Since my book was finished, I spent time with the plane’s onboard entertainment screens to learn more about Polynesian sailors and how they became experts with navigating by the stars.  They also knew about the currents and the indicators for land.

I learned just a little about Tupaia, who accompanied Captain Cook on his journeys in the South Pacific.

In 1770, Tupaia put his knowledge on paper, the first Polynesian to do so.  I was not surprised to hear that the original map resides in the British Library.  (It could be a year long bucket list item to explore all the things we’ve heard about in our travels that are in the British Museum and British Library.)

We landed about 4:45 a.m. and walked into the terminal.

There were dancers waiting to greet us.  

Many years ago we experienced something very similar as our family and my parents came through Tahiti on our way to the Cook Islands.  That brief experience led to Randy wanting to bucket list Tahiti and staying in an overwater bungalow.  That trip actually happened in May 2019. It was his mental reward for getting through chemo and surgery for bladder cancer in 2018.   The blog post for that trip is Randy’s Bucket List – Tahiti and an OverWater Bungalow.

Getting back to our early morning on January 12, 2025, we gathered our bags, received our lei greeting, and met our driver.

We arrived a little after 5:00 a.m. at the InterContinental Tahiti Resort.  Because we have an IHG Hotels account, we were able to access our room right away.

 

It was quite nice. 

We had eaten on the plane a few hours before, but knew we wanted more breakfast before taking a nap.  We had slept for a few hours on the plane but nothing like a whole night’s sleep.   

As we walked towards the restaurant, we had the sensation we had been there before.   I remembered that on the 2019 trip we had spent one night in Tahiti before going to Moorea and Bora Bora.  We checked on our blog, the same one I referenced earlier, and sure enough, we stayed at the InterContinental Tahiti Resort before.  The restaurant that felt so familiar was actually on the InterContinental Moorea Resort, where we also stayed.

The Sunday Brunch extravaganza was available at the main restaurant but we were too tired for an extended and large meal. We opted for a continental breakfast at the bar cafe.  We were prepared to order two, but our waitress wisely suggested we share just one order.  

It was more than enough! 

We did get a look at the brunch show, but didn’t stay long. Our need for a nap was more important.

We left for Tahiti on January 11, 2025, arriving on January 12th.

Next Up:  We explore the grounds of the InterContinental Tahiti Resort.

Before our final day, we had our final night aboard the Treasure of Galapagos.  Our ten person crew joined us in their dress uniforms so we had a chance to say goodbye and give them a thank you tip.

Victor had prepared a photo montage of our trip.  I was able to grab a quick picture of one he took of Randy and me on the lava bed.

Fortunately, our last overnight was uneventful and we awoke on the other side of San Cristobal Island. We said goodbye to the crew and went ashore in the zodiacs. 

Of course, we saw one more sea lion sleeping in the rocks.

We were bussed to the San Cristobal Interpretation Center to learn more about the Galapagos Islands that we had been exploring for the last four days. 

The Galapagos are a group of islands with unique ecosystems and biodiversity because they are impacted by four world currents which converge in the area.

Administered as a national park of Ecuador, they try to balance eco-tourism, the communities that live on five of the islands, responsible fishing and waste management.

The center offered us a history of the islands from origin to its discovery by Europeans and the abuses of attempted colonization. There’s even a murder mystery in there!

Over the course of millions of years, underwater volcanoes erupted repeatedly.  The islands are the tops of underwater volcanic mountains.  There are fourteen islands in the Galapagos, using the definition that each island has its own volcano.  There are many more “extra rocks.”

Currently, the hot spot from the earth’s core is creating new islands to the northwest.  This happens as the Nazca Plate is moving southeast at 3-4 inches per year.

Legend, and pottery shards, suggest that indigenous groups found their way to the islands from the Ecuador mainland during pre-Columbian times.

Documented discovery began with Tomás de Berlanga, sailing for Spain to inform the king about lands conquered from the Inca.  When the winds died, the currents took them out to sea. They landed, near death, on these islands.  A few died in the next 21 days, but most were able to sail back to the mainland when the winds returned.

Once discovered, the King of Spain sent numerous expeditions to explore and map the islands.  Many of the islands were named during this time and still bear their Spanish names.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, the islands became a haven for pirates.  Exploitation of resources, including the great tortoises, began. 

Non-native species were introduced.

In 1832, Ecuador claimed the Galapagos Islands as their territory.  Jose Villamil was designated the first governor and tried to establish a community that included prisoners who were pardoned in exchange for doing the work.  The mixture of colonists and former prisoners didn’t work and Villamil left within five years.

In 1835, Charles Darwin arrived during a voyage on the Beagle. 

The Galapagos were just one stop on a five year voyage under Captain Fitzroy but left an indelible mark on Darwin, and eventually the world of science and religion.

Darwin recognized that, geologically, the islands had a unique origin that should be studied.  He noted the differences in species not only from the mainland but also between the islands.  Darwin warned against the introduction of non-native species.

Over time, Darwin developed his theory of evolution that resulted in great controversy throughout the world. The implication that humans could have evolved from another, more primitive species caused him to be greatly and maliciously criticized. Charles Darwin died in 1882.

Back on the Galapagos, the exploitation of the islands continued. Cattle were introduced.  Criminals continued to be sent there. Over time, the islands were mostly abandoned because various criminal acts left an aura of being cursed.

In 1860, the United States, France and England became involved because the location of the islands was considered valuable for international trade and strategic as a defensive position.   The abundance of guano was valuable and marketable.  Despite pressure, Ecuador did not give up control of the islands.

In 1925, the islands were marketed in Norway as a tropical paradise.  That didn’t work out well and many immigrants died in the arid environment.

In 1929, two German couples emigrated (not together) to Floreana, a mostly habitable area.

Austrian Baroness Eloise Wehrborn de Wagner-Bosquet, and her two German lovers, also came to the island to build a hotel. She declared herself Empress of Isla Floreana. In March 1934, the Baroness and one of  her lovers disappeared under mysterious circumstances while all of their belongings remained.  The drama continued with the disappearance of her other lover and the death of one of the original German men.  His wife returned to Germany.  In the end, only one of the two original couples stayed on.

The mystery has never been solved, but a  movie was made about the events in 2014.  It was called “The Galapagos Affair: Satan Comes to Eden.”

In 1942, the Americans established a base in the islands to protect the Panama Canal as it was considered a likely target for the Japanese.

In 1946, a penal colony was established in the islands.  For thirteen years terror was inflicted on those sent there . The penal colony was closed after an inmate uprising.

In 1959, Galapagos National Park and the Charles Darwin Research Station were created.

Tourism began in the islands in 1969.  Keeping an appropriate balance is still the challenge.

In 1984, The Galapagos Islands were declared the first Natural World Heritage Site.

What a history that we knew nothing about!  I think I thought the animals had always been there, developing in their own way, and people found them and behaved responsibly.  Not so much! Hopefully, care and preservation will always be a priority going forward.  Ecuador seems to be doing credible work.

We returned to Phoenix after some minor travel issues. Our reaction to the trip for at least a week after we returned was that “it was exhausting.”  We did so much in 20 days!  Of course, once we recovered we appreciate so much the opportunity to see what we saw and do what we did.

It is hard for either of us to pick a favorite event! Was it fishing for piranha or snorkeling with penguins? Was it walking in Machu Picchu or flying above the Nazca Lines? Was it learning about the Inca and how artificial intelligence says they couldn’t have built what they built? Was it walking with the tortoises or boating with dolphins? So much to choose from!

When we returned we were able to “scratch off” Peru and Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands.

Our thanks to Avalon for great planning and wonderful execution.  Also thanks to our fun, kind and considerate travel companions.  I hope we meet again!

We visited South America, including the Nazca Lines, Machu Picchu, Peruvian Amazon and the Galapagos Islands in September, 2024!