Kai Ora (hello in Maori)

Kai Ora, welcome to February! It is Day 8 or 9 of our New Zealand cruise (we’re not really counting, but it’s somewhere over the halfway point), and we are currently in Tauranga, NZ- home of the kiwi fruit, kiwi bird, and Maori people (who consider themselves Kiwis ;))

Two days ago we ported in Wellington, the country’s capital city. We had a city/Middle Earth tour scheduled, which ended up once again being a private tour since no one else had signed up! We walked some nature paths through the wooded areas surrounding the city that were used in scenes in the LOTR movies, and our tour guide made me be a hobbit to get reenactment photos. I don’t think I did the best job, despite my natural shortness. Turns out our tour guide and her husband helped start the movie industry in Wellington and they both work for Peter Jackson now (or Peter or Pete as she called him all day). I didn’t realize how big of a movie industry Wellington actually had until the tour; Miramar is based there, and Peter Jackson has made all of his movies here. Weta, a big company that does a lot of costume design and digital effects, is also based here (Peter Jackson was one of the people that helped create it). Avatar was completed here through them. We had the opportunity to go by it’s showroom and see some of the things they’ve done, and we ran into one of the owners (Richard something-or-other… you can tell he made an impression…). They’re very obsessed with their movie industry, or at least our tour guide was. We also saw all of their parliament buildings, such as the Beehive… a building that took the place of the second half of the original parliament building that never got finished being built because funds ran out, and rather than completing the original, the beehive was instead designed by one of their drunken governors back in the day. We also saw Te Papa, the national museum. And I had lamb for dinner, mm.

Yesterday we were supposed to port in Napier; however, there were bad storms that got worse throughout the day, so they chose not to dock. Although it was disappointing, it was our shortest port of the trip, only a half day, and we have had absolutely gorgeous weather other than this one day. Considering my grandparents went on this cruise last year and missed 3 of their ports and got rained out at one port during their trip, I’m not going to complain too loudly. It was supposed to be our souvenir shopping day, so in some ways, it saved me money, though still disappointing. We did, however, win trivia once again with our trivia buddies. This time, we won a bottle of champagne, so we all sat around and celebrated with champagne and sandwiches. I then continued celebrating with an afternoon nap, which was even better. And then I ate duck and lamb for dinner, mmm.

Which brings us to today- Tauranga. We had another tour, though this one did not end up being as private. No complaints though, there were only 4 other people who were all together, and they were about as picky about things as we are, which is very little. First we stopped at a kiwi orchard, where we learned kiwis grow on vines and tried various gold and green kiwi wines and juices. We then went to Rotorua, a geothermal area that the Maori inhabited. It STUNK. You could smell the sulfur from miles away. However, you quickly adapt, and by the end of the day, you couldn’t smell it at all. I have a feelng my clothes smell like sulfur and I just can’t tell any longer. The entire region had underground geothermal springs, and every house had it’s own thermal well in it’s front yard. We walked Te Puia, an area with geysers and hot springs, and saw a cultural performance by the Maoris. We also saw Hell’s Gate, another area of sulfur hot springs that was slowly killing everything around them. And we saw sheep (and lambs mmm… and cows, and horses, oh my!).

Tomorrow is our last port we stop at in New Zealand, Auckland. My last chance to illegally immigrate over here, maybe I’ll get lost on our ride to the worm grotto ;) We can only hope. Cheers mates!