New Zealand including Stan's Trip Report #4 with photos

We were till in a 50 % mode for our sea days (half rocking and rolling and half smooth sailing). We  seem to be handling the seas fine. A number of people in our Cruise Critic group and table mates have become ill - the dreaded cough. It would be nice if cruise lines would be a bit more proactive and not just leave it to individuals to share their illnesses as they want. We have left several venues due to people coughing all around us (or at least changed seats). Maybe having masks available would help - or at least to strongly recommend the use of them.

Arrival in Auckland was on a really nice day -  our first order of business was to find the yarn store in the Queen's Arcade. A purchase of a couple of skeins with a blend with possum was easily obtained and we were ready to meet our friends (from the 2015 World Cruise) at the ferry drop-off area. They live a ways north of Auckland - nice country but they've moved several times to stay ahead of the burgeoning suburbs. We enjoyed a nice light lunch at their home and then they toured us around the beach areas nearby where their family spent many happy times as they grew up. Several regional parks with camping, picnicking, and swimming - really nice. We finished our time together with a stop at a fun historic village pub (exploring the tiny town will have to wait for another time). We convinced them to take us to the bus for the less than 30 minute ride back into the city on designated bus roads (not just lanes, but separate roadways). Very efficient and with the Friday rush hour traffic it was a much better option than driving.After a meal in the Lido Buffet, we wandered along the quay for about an hour - very nice evening.

The next day was the Bay of Islands. Since we had a nice on-board credit from the travel agency, we chose to do the Maori Canoe Experience ship excursion. We had seen the double hulled canoes on our previous trip and thought it looked like fun. It twas a fun morning (and not as difficult as I thought it might be) with some story telling by the Maori chief as we paddled up the river in his canoe. We later visited with his sister at her natural soap tent in the town.. It was a great day.

We set sail that night and woke up to glassy seas for the day. However, the next day was typical Tasman crossing seas - very rocky. Fortunately we had done most of our packing on the first day of the crossing in preparation of leaving our formal clothing with the ship (I think this is only available on world cruises - and there's a fee - OBC covered that, too). This will make our our month long exploration of Australia much easier.

Now ti's time to give up our life on-board and begin caring for ourselves. Next stop, Australia.

Here is Stan's photo blog trip report #4


https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XUlAibvb4CJns5a71HDUhv1SfHieIxDb/view?usp=sharing

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