Trip taken – February 2024
Cruising Day Seven – Wellington, New Zealand:
For Wellington, our daughter pre-booked the Weta Cave Tour.
What’s a Weta?
This small company was hired by Peter Jackson, Director of Lord of the Rings, to create special effects, props, creatures, costumes and weapons. Weta Cave also worked with King Kong and The Chronicles of Narnia movies.
As we waited for the 90-minute tour to begin, our group photo-ed with a large hairy troll guarding the gift shop entrance. Our tour featured props, weapons, models and costumes from the films and a video of the application of creature make-up. Weapons and costumes were within touching distance and left some of the guests awe-struck.
Next stop, the ‘Wellington Cable Car’; a funicular with three stops. The shiny red vintage cable car had varnished wooden bench seats, and train cars the width of four seats plus a small aisle, glistening metal exterior with huge windows and lots of jostling as it ascended the tracks. At the top and the final stop was a hecka- of- a view of the harbor, homes, schools, tall office buildings, lush green parks, and a full-on mountain top look out into gorgeous blue skies. Click click click!
Cruising Day Eight @ Sea – Super Bowl Sunday:
On giant screens, at the pool, and in the casino, fans were cheering to the televised Super Bowl LVIII at Allegiant Stadium. How cool was it to be able to watch live in the South Pacific, from Las Vegas, NV via ESPN and the ships’ satellite, the San Francisco 49ers. We are cruising, boozing, glued, and holding our breaths supporting ‘our boys’!
Their opponents, the Kansas City Chiefs with tight end Travis Kelce, fought a good fight. The camera caught several Taylor Swift sightings as she routed for her guy Travis.
Cruising Day Nine – Tauranga, New Zealand:
While our Daughter and her Husband had signed up for the hot springs and kayaking excursion, Hubby and I boarded the tour bus to TEPA TU, the native village experience of the Maori, the Indigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand. They settled in New Zealand over 700 years ago, coming by canoe.
To get the full New Zealand experience, we wanted to learn of the native people’s history and their way of life. The tribes people were generous to share with us weapon demonstrations and songs, and were dressed in their grass skirted tribal dress welcoming our visit to their village encampments. The men did a dance of long extended tongues, bulging eyes, loud guttural screams, and sticks as defensive weapons.
Cruise Day Ten – Auckland, New Zealand:
Heading out, the four of us boarded the bus from our ship into town. Briskly and in step with our fearless guide, our Daughter, who was supplied with extensive notes and a GPS, we began our march toward the Sky Tower.
In mid-March, we arrived at Emily Place Reserve on Shortland Street. As I ascended the stairs I was confronted by a large tree limb blocking the walkway, another to the left, another a yard farther. As if from a science fiction movie of nature gone wild, I was mesmerized that this grove of sprawling Pohutukaw trees was let go to grow willy nilly. Metal rods were positioned to hold up the massive branches; some branches were one to two feet wide. Nature ruled this park!
Arriving at the entrance of Sky City, we passed a man in climbing attire with SkyJump on the front of the jumpsuit. What? Into the Sky Tower elevators, we were whisked upwards.
The doors opened to floor-to-ceiling windows in every direction and a 360-degree see-through skywalk. I was afraid to breathe. In front of us was a panoramic vista, on this clear day, of bridges, the harbor, boats, piers, short buildings, tall buildings, clouds, mountains, and a view as far as your eyes could see.
Did you know:
SkyJump is a wire-dropping experience from the Sky Tower = 11 seconds adrenaline rush dropping 53 floors down at a speed of 85kph.
We summed up our day of tourism in Auckland with lunch at Dr Dudi’s Rooftop Brewing Company. The description in our guidebook reads, “Good views of the harbor, with good food, and tasty beer brewed on site.” Both my Husband and Son-in-Law were thumbs-up for the beer tasting.
Upon receiving our menus, my Daughter’s credit card was exchanged for their metal card that read TAB# 306 and also, in much smaller print, was engraved, “If you just woke up & found this card, your TAB’s still open at Dr Rudi’s Rooftop Brewing Co. Must’ve been a hell of a night.” Below are listed the name and address of the restaurant. How funny, or maybe not!
Cruise Day Eleven – Bay of Islands, Paihia, North Island,NZ:
Bay of Islands was the last port day of our cruise until disembarkation in Sydney, Australia. Excitedly the two couples clad in shorts, swimsuits and strap-on sandals exited the Princess’s water taxi onto the shore to join a kayaking excursion, destination Haruru Falls.
Our group , approximately thirty people, rushed to slather on sunblock and snag fit-able life vests as we were given a water safety lecture. The safety talk ended with “Don’t worry. If you fall or flip the kayak, just stand up. The river is only 3 feet deep at this time of year. “ The group chuckled and I smiled with relief. I won’t drown today. Little did I know what was yet to come!
The two-person kayaks glided along the Waitangi River. My husband and I were divided so each could be seated with experienced kayakers, our family members. It was great! I got in sync with my Son-in-Law paddle to paddle side to side. We navigated through creek-rooted trees with long extending serpent-like branches. It was a calm slow row, relaxing and picturesque. Around the last bend, we glided within full view of Haruru Falls, stories high, perfectly sheer drop against a solid rock wall.
Did you know:
The word haruru means continuous noise or roar, and Haruru Falls is a short (5m) but wide (15m) waterfall.
To heighten our kayaking experience, the guide encouraged the kayakers to follow him under the waterfall. Excited about the prospect, my son-in-law responded Yes and directed our kayak to the falls. I thought my son-in-law was a good kayaker; it was only water on a hot day, and that which did not kill me gave me a story; therefore, I said nothing to dissuade his enthusiasm.
As we navigated to the fall’s entrance, I pulled in my paddles and took the ‘ready for a plane crash’ position.
My screams from the slamming icy sheets of water against my neck and back, not to mention my panic of possible drowning, was heard by every member of the kayaking tour. My husband and Daughter drifting in the distance watched in disbelief. It was memorable for all, especially my son-in-law and me.
Cruise Day 12th and Cruise Day 13th – Our Last Days @ Sea:
Despite the soreness of my shoulders from kayaking, I slept pretty good the night before. The ship swayed as we snuggled into our pillowy bed. It was funny that we had to tie the closet hangers together so not to sway in movement with the ship.
The following day, the ship offered a Culinary Demonstration and Galley Tour. The logistics and food required to feed a ship full of passengers and crew daily was astounding. It was a mix of choreography and the efficiency of a fine-tuned machine.
Exercise classes, trivia games, knitting groups, scavenger hunts, and so many activities, if you choose, were available. My son-in-law and I participated in the “Battle of the Sexes’ challenge. The two teams were asked trivia questions and ended with a race across the floor on a towel. His team won!
That evening, my Daughter volunteered for the game ’ Yes or No’! The host would ask the game guest questions. They were eliminated if the contestant responded with a Yes or No answer in any language or even shook their head in agreement or disagreement. My Daughter shook her head Yes within 11 seconds of the game. It is so much harder than you’d think!
My Husband took a nap and my family headed off to the gym and after, the spa. I strolled the common areas and sat near a porthole in the lounge bar. I settled in and ordered a Nutty Irishman; strong coffee, Irish cream liqueur, and hazelnut liqueur and opened my book to relax.
The last Sea Day on the Royal Princess, we played two games of shuffleboard with our Daughter and her Husband, and my aim had not improved at all. They were flying back home the following day.
Later, we strolled down to level six to the WheelHouse bar, we nabbed a deck of playing cards from the Library. Our Son-in-Law taught us how to play Hearts as we fondly reminisced of our trip and enjoyed wine and cocktails.
Cruise Day Thirteen- Disembark Royal Princess:
We off-boarded the cruise ship, our home for the past thirteen days. My Daughter and her Husband hopped a cab to the airport, and we checked back into the Little National Hotel for two more nights. Hubby and I were tired but happy to remain in Sydney a bit longer.
One of our two last few tourist must-sees was ‘The Rocks Discovery Museum’. I had been intrigued with the stories of the origin of the Australian people.
Did you know:
The British government believed Australia would be an ideal place to send their convicts due to the long distance from Britain. They also thought that the climate would be better for their health. The First Fleet was a group of eleven ships that set sail from Portsmouth, England, in May 1787. Australian convicts were Irish and English, and today, approximately twenty percent of the Australian population are descended from people originally transported as convicts.
Our second and last must-see day he took a city bus to the highly recommended Bondi Beach. As we strolled the beach promenade, the skies quickly darkened, and clouds moved in toward the crowded beach. Cracking lighting, resounding thunder, and buckets of rain began to slam everyone and everything.
“Lightning danger! Get out of the water immediately,” blared the safety patrol’s megaphone.
We and others scurried like wet rats to the closest restaurants. Hungry and damp, we decided to watch the pour and wait. The rain worsened, the lightning worsened! Making the best of it, we ordered lunch and Rose’. An hour later, we wondered where we would board the bus back to our hotel. Ughh!
February 20th:-’Traveling Day’-Homeward Bound!!
Tuesday in Australia and Monday in San Francisco. As we waited to board our flight the rain returned, not bad I thought, but then it was! I jumped from another thunderclap. Our flight departed late, but within fifteen hours, we were home with hundreds of pictures and much to replay in our memories of our once-in-a-lifetime trip.
Karen Ho
Karen Ho is a Travel Writer.
