Day 11-12

New Zealand Extension

Our last night aboard our Viking Venus, there was a special show put on by a performing Maori women and men.  New Zealand was settled first by Polynesians about 800 years ago.  They are known today as the Maori, and their language, as well as English and sign language, make up the three official languages of NZ.

The group put on a standing ovation performance, and we were lucky enough to be there in the front row.  I don’t mean to scare you, but here is one of my many pictures.

Be sure to check out the faces.

The next day, we were taken by bus to the center of the north island.  It is amazing how much of the island is sparsely populated, yet used extensively for agriculture.  Among the rolling hills was ranch after ranch and lots of pastures for grazing of cattle or sheep.  We had lunch at one of the ranches.

All the food was either raised on the ranch or on other nearby ranches.  I forgot to ask where the ice cream came from, but the flavor was Hokey Pokey, a vanilla ice cream with tiny honey comb pieces.  Our group of 90 had a great lunch cooked and served by very hospitable ranch owners.

I even found a peacock up in a tree on the ranch.  We haven’t seen any live kiwis so far.

We then traveled to a cave famous for the discovery of glow worms.  When I think of worms, I think of gardening or fishing.

It is hard to imagine entering a dark cave and finding thousands of glowing worms on the cave ceiling.  When the guides didn’t use their flashlights, it gave the appearance of the stars in the sky on a very dark and clear night.

We returned to the road to get to the north shore of Lake Taupo, the largest lake in NZ that is located inside the caldera of a huge volcano.  We checked into the Hilton Lake Taupo where we were given a “suite” that is bigger and nicer than our house (minus the guest room) with a balcony and many windows facing the lake!   We are now near Tongariro National Park.  Tomorrow will bring more adventures!

 Day 9 and 10

Tauranga & Auckland

When we arrived at Tauranga, Shari came up with the idea to plan our trip ashore ourselves with a little help from the 7 am ship officer that lived at this port.  

We walked to the inactive volcano not far from our ship.  Trails were built around it and to the top of the dome.

There have been Norfolk Pines at every port we have stopped at in NZ.  This big one has a diameter around 4 feet 6 inches.  And they are markers for those coming to land from the sea.

All I could think of is this must be a joke but fate had me see it.

The ship officer also mentioned there being a place to lawn bowl.  It took a bit of hoofing, but I finally got to it.  There were three bowl areas (we have one at home in Sun River), and one of the three had an artificial grass base.  I asked to play but they had a corporate event and an even number of players.   However, they did give me a tour of their bar, restaurant, and all the facilities.

I did watch the corporate folks bowl for a while.  I wanted to coach but knew better.  The instructors weren’t as good as my friends Jack and Ross back home.  The bowlers I watched mostly bowled into the gutter.

I spotted a mast above their club.  You know you have made it when your club has a flag and a wind mast.

I failed to mention I got a chance to sail our Viking ship.

You always want your captain to look Calm, Cool, and Collected.

I was ready for the job until I realized I don’t know where the steering wheel is located.  I finally found it.  I was told there were others.

This is the joystick steerage unit, upper right of the pic, all of 3 inches tall and 1/4 inch diameter.  It is very hard to imagine steering a 60,000 ton vessel with a joystick.

When talking to the captain about the huge swells a week ago, he said we were in a cyclone with winds of 130 mph!!!

We survived!

 Day 8

Napier, New Zealand

We weren’t sure about this stop.  The primary highlight seemed to focus on New Zealand wines and wine tasting.  Tasting wine at 9 am seems unnatural.  But there was interesting food, and that won us over.

Napier, NZ, suffered a major earthquake in 1931.  It was decided that they would encourage Art Deco architecture during the rebuilding.  This is a relatively small city with a focus on the good old days. We liked this town so much that we both said, “We could live here”. 

I rode an electric bike shortly after the very short wine tasting and rode past this theater.  It seemed like the students exiting the theater were from a bygone era.

There were lots of signs that the past is still present.

I don’t think I mentioned that there is tree that the NZ population calls the NZ Christmas Tree.  It flowers around December 1, the first day of summer according to the Kiwi’s, and it has nice red flowers that last up to January 1.

Also, I don’t think I’ve mentioned much about our ship, crew, and food.    Mike, Pam, and we typically eat dinner together at one of the ship’s restaurants.  

The food is excellent with a great deal of variety.  Last night we had several fine foods including lobster and chicken wontons as well as Peking Duck.  

The desert was a sampler which I love because you get a taste of several deserts.

We both will try anything but want it to be good, or if lucky, excellent.  We have not been disappointed.

Our lecturers have been entertaining as well as informative, and their answers to our many questions were always helpful.  Top to bottom, the ship staff is very friendly and helpful.  

The only missing things from this cruise are visit(s) to the high mountains.  During a few of the talks, lecturers presented the high country of New Zealand.

Onward to Auckland, NZ tomorrow.

Cheers!

 Day 7

Wellington, NZ

Wellington is the capital of NZ in case you wanted to know.  It is the first city we visit on the North Island of NZ.  Not far from our ship was Mt. Victoria.  It is perched above Wellington for views of the city.

The premium attraction to me in Wellington was a museum - the Te Papa.  We had heard much about it, and the buildup was well deserved.  

First we explored the Nature exhibit.  The fauna of New Zealand is unique to NZ and not like Australia.  The only marsupials in NZ were introduced by humans in the 1800s.

Several centuries ago birds called Moa lived in NZ.  They were big 500 pound dumb birds who had no predators.  When the Polynesians migrated here, the Moa provided plenty of food.  Within 200 years, they were hunted to extinction.

This is a Haast Eagle.  Until it went extinct, it hunted the Moa.  It also hunted small children.  Once the Moa went extinct, this species of eagle went extinct as well.

We actually saw a Royal Albatross in the wild!  It is HUGE!   I was too slow with my camera but saw this one in Te Papa.  The wingspan is up to 12 feet and this bird breeds only in NZ.

Still alive and not going extinct is the National Bird, the Kiwi.  There are five species of this flightless bird.

NZ is located within the Ring of Fire, a string of volcanoes and sites of seismic activity, or earthquakes, around the edges of the Pacific Ocean. Roughly 90 percent of all earthquakes occur along the Ring of Fire, and the ring is dotted with 75 percent of all active volcanoes on Earth.  

We tried the museums earthquake simulator and who should we see but Rima Te Wiata, the social worker/cop in the New Zealand movie called “The Hunt for the Wilder People”.  She was in the earthquake film strip where she tells her ‘movie’ son what to do while they were ‘experiencing’ the same earthquake Shari and I were experiencing.  I highly recommend the movie I mentioned above.  

Another exhibition highly recommended is the Gallopoli war exhibit.  Too often, war is glorified.  Not here.

Peter Jackson’s Hobbit company created parts of this exhibit that made you really understand all the sacrifices men and women go through in war.  Gallopoli was a major battle fought by Aussies, Kiwis, the French, and English in the country we now call Turkey.  It is rarely taught in High School, perhaps because our allies lost this battle during WWI.  The little red crosses on the timeline indicate deaths each day.

 It tells the story of the many months in 1915-1916 our allies fought a very bloody land war to control access to Istanbul and the Black Sea - through the eyes of the Kiwi soldiers.  250,000 - 275,000 were killed or wounded in this disastrous campaign led by Winston Churchill.

WWI involved trench warfare which to me is a brutal system leading to horrific casualties for minimal gains.

We often forget the others who sacrificed and lost their lives and their love ones.

Lord of the Rings 

As a teenager, I remember reading all of J.R, Tolkiens The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings book series.  In my 30’s and 40’s, I reread all of them.  I loved the term ‘Shire’ that comes from his books.  As it turns out, there are no shires in New Zealand.  J.R. Tolkien never visited New Zealand.  Peter Jackson, who made all the films based on Tolkiens works, is from New Zealand. Through him there is connection, since the filming sites are now exhibitions for visitors.