Our Last Experience in Auckland

Taco- the same guide we had yesterday met us at 11:30 on Saturday morning the 26th. He was terrific!

 

First we went to the Sky Tower- a structure you see in photos from yesterday. The views from the restaurant were just stunning. Gave us a great different perspective on the city. The Tower  is 1076 feet tall and contains restaurants, a hotel, and shops. We saw the Harbor Bridge and the War Memorial Museum where we were headed after lunch.  There is a Westin Hotel in the harbor where you can even bring the dingy from your yacht through some locks into the center of the hotel and go right to your hotel room. We had seen it from the water, but the view from the Sky Tower let you see how it really worked. Pretty cool!

There are also two exciting options for brave or crazy people. You can pay to walk around the building on a platform or experience a controlled descent from a platform that is 630 feet high above the street. People are wearing a harness to do both of these. We saw one person jump and two walk around. Not us, however!

The elevator we rode had a glass floor so you could watch yourself go up. Interesting but scary!

The War Memorial Museum was a huge building with Natural History, Maori Culture, and items from the various wars. We saw a games, dance and weapons demonstration by some Maori. The games are designed to improve hand-eye coordination by quickly passing and tossing sticks to each other. They moved so quickly that it was hard to get a good photo.

   

The Maori language was banned until 1952. But in the beginning the language was not written down- it was an oral culture. The history and stories of the people were told by the elders in a tribe and by the beautiful carvings. When the English came they had the Maori write down everything in an attempt to bring order and control. There are only 15 letters in the Maori alphabet and most words are long and have many, many double vowels.  The carvings also often contain the Paua shell-like our abalone shell- as a highlight or accent. Can't imagine how much work goes into these carvings, but it did serve the dual purpose of keeping the story alive.

We left the War Memorial Museum and headed to the airport- arriving at about 4:00 PM on Saturday the 26th. Our plane took off on time at 7:15 PM. We flew New Zealand Air and had one of those cool flat beds with on demand movies and many "comforts." The seats were strangely at an angle and Jim and I were across the plane from each other. A lady changed her seat so we could be closer- although with these seats and beds it didn't matter much. We could even take-off and land with our seats in a reclined position- strange to me! Service was excellent and we arrived 45 minutes early into Los Angeles at 9:25AM on the same day we left- Saturday January 26.

Got our luggage and even were lucky enough to get a friendly and smiling customs man who helped us figure out how to avoid paying duty on the $1000 we spent over the $1600 limit. He suggested we consider the money we spent on opal be considered our first allowance and since the other stuff was non dutiable we would only owe in duty $10 and they'd write that off rather than do the paper work. I was thrilled!

We then learned we had to get our luggage to a different terminal and recheck it in with Delta. That was a struggle and not fun...but we made it.

Then we learned that our Delta flight to Atlanta had been cancelled but the good news was we had been rebooked on a flight leaving in 40 minutes. We checked our bags and raced through security just in time to board the plane at 11:40 AM. 

We arrived in Atlanta at 7:00PM- it is still Saturday by the clock in Atlanta- Atlanta time. Our flight to Sarasota was to leave at 9:15 PM....but it actually left at 10:15PM after having to off-load some fuel. We landed in Sarasota at 11:25 PM- still January 26. We flew 17 hours and spent about 8 hours in airports and it still was the same day!

We got to see the sunset in Auckland at 7:15 as we flew away on the evening of Saturday, January 26 and we got to see that same sun set as we flew into Atlanta on the evening of January 26. Really strange how this time thing works.

BUT we had a wonderful time and home and our bed looked good to us. Travel is such a wonderful experience- even when you get weary, and things don't work out the way you planned. Learning about the history of the world, seeing how other people live, viewing different wild life, meeting new friends, and experiencing life in a different way is wonderful fun!  

January 25- The Ultimate Auckland

We had a glorious day today. Slept like logs, ate a great breakfast and met our guide who will "take care of us" for these two days. His name is Taco, and he knows lots and lots about the area. 

First we drove in the city. We saw the harbor, the downtown, the lovely buildings, and then we drove up on Mt Eden where we had been yesterday. There is the crater of a volcano that erupted thousands of years ago. Signs are everywhere saying stay off the crater because it is fragile. Yesterday at the bottom of the crater someone had used rocks to write BOLO- whatever that means. Today that word was gone and someone else had written 2 words but we could not quite read them. Obviously people don't pay attention to the signs.

We went into the fancy neighborhoods and looked at magnificent houses with million dollar views. We stopped at The Fish Pot Cafe and had a delicious lunch of Fish and Chips. The beach at Mission Bay across from the restaurant was so beautiful.

 Lots of families were enjoying the beautiful day.

We again drove to the harbor and visited the Maritime Museum. We saw lots of canoes used by the Maori people in their journeys, ship models of historic ships, and other stuff connected with sailing.

We saw the replica of the trophy for the Americas Cup. 

We boarded a 49 foot yacht called "The Pride of Auckland" and sailed away. We sailed near historic ships, modern yachts, and even some of the New Zealand Navy.

From the water we saw a wonderful view of The Sky Tower between The Hilton Hotel and some of those fancy condos. The view from the water was very different.

Along with a couple of bridges where bungee jumping is permitted in Auckland, a person can do a controlled descent from The Sky Tower. We saw two people do that and it looked terribly scary. They were feet first in a harness, and they hung in the air and had their photo made. Next they disappeared from sight in about 11 seconds. We also saw people dressed in orange jumpsuits walk around the outside edge of the tower. This is the 2nd tallest tower in the southern hemisphere. People do the strangest things for entertainment. We are going to have lunch in that tower tomorrow so we'll let you know how it feels to eat while people go by outside the windows screaming. 

Our sailing and our total day was just wonderful. 

And the evening ended with terrific fireworks over the harbor and viewable from our room. It was the kick-off for a week-end Anniversary Celebration...not sure what anniversary it was but the fireworks were great. Wonderful ending to a great and interesting day.

January 24- Auckland

Last evening as we sailed toward Auckland we saw this beautiful moon from our balcony. We knew today had to come....all good things do end!  We packed last evening and had our luggage outside our door by 10:00PM. We got up early this morning and ate breakfast in the Grand Dining Room. 

The only other option was The Terraces- which is a buffet- and we don't do those unless we have to.

The disembarkation was a seamless as it could possibly be. We were in Nautica Lounge and our color and number ticket was called at about 8:45. We walked through the terminal building, found our luggage, immediately got some help and walked to the bus. The luggage was loaded and we got aboard. Couldn't have been easier!!!!!

We began with only about 20 people on our bus with a driver/guide Kevin who gave us lots of information about Auckland.

We first drove in the harbor area to see the Harbor Bridge. Auckland is called "The City of Sails" because it has the largest number of yachts in the world. He talked about The

 Americas Cup which operated with a gentlemen's agreement for years involving the size and construction of the yachts for this famous race. New Zealand had won it for many years. In the 1980's the New Zealanders

decided to build a different kind of boat and it was larger and carried more sail. The American Team said that was unfair....wasn't breaking a rule just not very gentlemanly. And the New Zealand team won again. The Americans then decided to build a catamaran and of course the Kiwi team said that was unfair. The race was won by the Americans. So the New Zealanders went to the US Supreme Court and won a decision that the catamaran had been unfair. So the Americans got a reversal of the decision on that basis that judges are to rule on the law and there was no law in this- just bad sportsmanship. 

Auckland has a population of 1.4 million people. One third of the people in New Zealand live in Auckland. Currently the wages are low here and each year 25% of the people leave to live in Australia. Our guide said the moral fabric of the country is disappearing because the government is a coalition government and politicians are making compromises and trade-offs to get their things done. The examples he gave certainly indicated that his political persuasion is different than ours. The same sort of tension when you have a diverse population exists here. Nativity Scenes and Christmas Carols cannot be done in public schools.

Wages are low and housing is expensive. We learned from Erica and Sig in Dunedin and had reinforced today that there were no animals native to New Zealand. Sig's idea was this area was underwater and only came out after animals were located or situated..... and then the great land masses separated.  There are lots of native birds.

We stopped at a beautiful piece of land- "The Best in Land" which was the first land given back to a Maori  tribe. We could see their Marae and the connecting buildings. There are some plans to develop a tourist attraction focusing on Maori tradition. Maori language was forbidden to be used until 1952.

We saw the crater of an extinct volcano that has erupted about 15,000 years ago. This area is build on 48 volcanos.

We saw a strange hill called "One Tree Hill" that showed a monument but no tree. There was a Scots man who was so grateful to the community of Auckland for his financial success that he gave the land and planted a tree there. In the 1990's a Maori man came to believe the tree was a statement about European oppression and he took a chain saw to the tree and cut it down. So the monument and the almost bare hill stands as a reminder.

At about 1:00 we arrived at our hotel- The Stamford Plaza- and went right to our room. We will be here for 2 nights and then begin the journey home. 

Tomorrow we will learn more about Auckland. BUT in the meantime we are off to dinner. 

January 23- Tauranga, New Zealand

We had such a wonderful time today exploring Maori culture and heritage. 

We boarded the bus and were immediately welcomed by Stev our guide. He is a journalist and speech writer but works as a guide part-time just to share his knowledge and excitement about this culture. He is a Maori and leading figure in a tribe. 

Our first stop was at a performance hall where members of his family did some dances and singing for us. 

The men demonstrated the dance- The Haka- demonstrating fighting between warriors from two villages. The young men made great faces and sounds. They had tattooed arms and looked very fierce.

He first told us about Tauranga with its population of 109,100- as of the 2006 census. During the Christmas holiday the population triples because this place is such a wonderful resort- great beaches, fishing and food. 

The Kiwi fruit came from China and its first name was Chinese Gooseberry. It's little round shape and rough skin is sort of like the Kiwi bird to me. 

The first settlers of Tauranga arrived from Takitimu and Mataatua waka in the 12th century. Traders in flax were active in the Bay of Plenty during the 1830's. The first permanent trader was James Farrow, who traveled to Tauranga in 1829, obtaining flax fiber for Australian merchants in exchange for muskets and gunpowder.

We traveled on from the hall to the Paranuia (Big) house of his tribe. We learned about the traditional welcoming ceremony. The visitors approach the house and wait until a warrior comes out and with great fierceness  to ask if we come in peace. He placed a peace offering on the ground.  By accepting this offering, our leader assured the warrior that we came in peace. The voice of a woman  sang to welcome and to invite us onto the sacred ground. The women walked in first with the men behind to protect us. We took off our shoes. We entered through a gateway that was carved with the names of the three tribes that came together and arrived in canoes. One side carving was of a man from one tribe and the other side was of a woman from another tribe.  We were welcomed into the family  of Paparoa  Maraewith symbolism all around of the human body.

Entering the building the women went first and sat at the back- then the men came in and occupied the front rows. The welcoming speeches began. Maori's are very spiritual people and in the speech he acknowledged God and "Those who have passed on."

The roof had one single center beam- like a spine- and the side pieces were rib like. At the end of the room was a wall of photos of ancestors who have died. 

When we were all seated. The elder of the family gave a speech welcoming us to their family in the name of the creator and their ancestors. Because the Maori originally had no written language it was important for the tribal leaders be great storytellers to keep the family legends alive. As it is the Maori language only has 15 letters- and lots of double vowels are used to create different sounds.  Would be a hard one to learn!

A man spoke for us assuring the leaders that we came in peace. We then sang a song- a Waiata-  in Maori that Stev taught us as we traveled. The name was E toru nga mea and they translate to say..."There are three important things that are most important...It is stated in the Bible- Faith- Hope- The most important is love. 

After this we participated in the traditional greeting called the Hongi- the touching of noses and foreheads was a very spiritual experience. When you touch noses with your host your breathe mingles together and you become one. When you touch foreheads you exchange and share knowledge.

They described the process when someone dies...no matter where they have moved away from the tribe the body is returned to the village and lies in state for 3 days. All the relatives gather in the big house, weeping and wailing. They wear black but have a spring of greenery in their hair. After three days they believe the spirit has now left the body and returned to the island where they came from and the body is taken to the family cemetery and buried. Then they all return to the house and the feasting and celebration begins.

A year after someone dies they gather again and remember the life. A photo is hung on the wall. It looks like a pictorial family tree. 

As we approached our ship Stev gave us a blessing "May the good Lord touch your heart and take you home to your loved ones."  Was a perfect ending!

Our last evening was spent in Horizons Lounge with our friends Inge, Lawrence, Chris and Guy. We watched the beautiful sail- away from Tauranga. There was a triathalon going on on the beach. We watched the swimmers get in the water, swim, get out and mount bikes for the next part of their journey. We saw a lovely mountain with a walking path. Turns out our buddies spent the day walking that mountain as their spiritual experience. We all loved this little resort- saw some great condos to rent.

We ate dinner together in the Grand Dining Room and said our good-byes. 

January 22-Cruising by White Island

We awoke on Tuesday the 22nd to rain, fog and mist. We could hardly see outside the door to our cabin. 

The captain told us last evening that we are in the close proximity to a cyclone and that accounts for the waves and the sky. 

At breakfast the sea looked gray and rolling.

We ate a late lunch and as we settled into our cabin, our friends the Lewis's called to say the volcano was coming up on their side of the ship. We raced over and spent time watching this amazing sight come into view.

White Island is an active andesite stratovolcano and currently is the most active volcano in New Zealand. 

The island is roughly 2 kilometers in diameter and rises only 321 meters above the level of the sea. However from the ocean floor it is about 1600 meters tall. There are many vents giving off warm water near the underwater base of the volcano. There are colorful fish and coral because of the warm water.

 The full name in Maori of the volcano is "Te Puia o Whakaari" meaning " The Dramatic Volcano" by Captain Cook on October 1, 1769 because it always appeared to him to be in a cloud of white steam. 

The fog began to life as we sailed and circled by the volcano. We could see the steam rising from the crater and we could also smell the sulfur.  Strange to think of the crater being just above the water's surface but it lets you know how much of the volcano is below the water.

There was a huge colony of the large white birds with a yellow streak on their head- gannetts they are named. The places where the birds lived were so thickly populated with birds that it looked like batches of snow. 

We played Trivia for the last time with our team from this cruise. Team members were Inge and Lawrence, from Vancouver, Washington; Charles and Mary Lou from Sapphire, North Carolina; and Chris and Guy from Brighton, England. We had great fun together.

We went to a fun lecture by Roger Cartwright about the history of cruising and cruise ships. He is very entertaining. The newest Oceania ship will carry 1200 passengers but offer much larger staterooms. But we really like this 650-700 passenger ship. 

Hard to believe this time is almost gone. We are so lucky to be able to see such amazing things!

Napier- January 21

We arrived into the part of Napier to find a foggy, misty morning. The pier featured stacks and stacks of 4x4s. and more logs than I could believe.

We were greeted by 30's music and people garbed in 30's style clothing. As the day went along a terrific display of antique cars appeared. 

This is a town that recreated itself after a terrible earthquake in 1921. The earthquake brought up 10,000 acres and raised the land about 16 feet. The major river through the town was rerouted and most of the buildings were destroyed. We saw The Public Trust which was the only building to survive. It had just been built with reinforced concrete as are all the buildings are now. It seemed strange to be in a place where all the people we talked with date the earthquake as an important landmark in the town's development.

We drove beside beaches that featured high waves- all too dangerous for people to swim. But the town has constructed a long promenade terrific for walking through the town.

Many of the new buildings were rebuilt using the current art deco design style. This included even a McDonalds. We saw such lovely art deco houses and commercial buildings.

We first drove the The Mission Winery established in 1851 built for the wine production of a French order of priests. These men came carrying their grape vines from France and began wine production in this area where the much of the soil is made from volcanic rocks that were also part of a river bed. The rocks remain warm and so the soil is best for growing grapes.

The approach to the vineyard was beautiful with Plane Trees. They have really funny, spotty bark and are trimmed back to a stump each year and quickly regrow to a leafy tree. We learned that all the vines have rose bushes at the end. Rose bushes are likely to catch the virus and other diseases that vines catch. So these bushes serve as a warning that disease is around.

The building, built in a cross shape, was lovely and the grounds were terrific. They got new electricity in 1919 and then had a terrible fire because of faulty wiring and the large amount of alcohol stored in the cellars. The structure was rebuilt, stood for 4 days, and then the earthquake came and destroyed it all. Our guide laughed and said the average New Zealander cellars wine for 72 hours and then drinks it. Sounds like the procedure in our house too.

There are about 40 wineries in this area. We also saw fruit orchards of peaches, apples and pears plus vines of Kiwi fruit. Beautiful countryside.

We drove to the top of Te Mata Peak. It was a steep and curvy road with a great view at the top. We had a motercycle guide to clear the way ahead of us. Quite an experience. We have found New Zealand to be a lovely and mostly green place.

Our time in port ended with a terrific antique car show and a 6 piece band playing more 30's music. People were in wonderful costumes. Great setting.

Windy Wellington-January 20

This morning we awoke as we were docking in Wellington, the Capital of New Zealand. It is on the southmost point of the North Island. The capital was moved from Auckland after the gold rush in the 1850's. The population shifted so drastically that people worried that the south island might become a separate colony. The population of greater Wellington is 450,000 and the city itself only has 180,000 people. He said they also have 40,000 sheep and 70,000 possums. The possums are really a problem for the area.

After breakfast we went to the Parliament and saw the building lovingly called The Beehive. It is the office building for the politicians. We also saw the former chamber for the Upper House when this parliament had two "houses." The wood carvings and the remembrances from visits by the Queen were interesting.

We visited the room decorated with Maori carvings and weavings and designed for meetings concerning the Maori people. It was a spectacular place for a meeting. The description showed how careful- NOW- all sides are to be certain the Maori are represented.

We went to a wonderful museum Te Papa meaning "Our Place." It was a marvelous blend of New Zealand wild life and Maori customs. The earliest name of Wellington, from Maori legend, is "Te Upoko o te Ika a Maui." This means "the head of Mari's fish." The legend says Maui hooked a fish and brought it to the surface of the water pulling up the North Island.

This area is prone to earthquakes and at the museum we saw a large globe with the fault lines marked. Didn't realize how many there are. Alan, our guide and driver, said they average about 200 earthquakes a year but most are not large enough to be felt but only register on the ricter scale. New building codes have been put into effect to prepare "for the big one" which people believe will come. Downstairs in the Parliament building you could see the suspension system that helps the building move in an earthquake.

We also went to a Welcome Center-(Wharenai) which had a beautiful carvings depicting the many Maori tribes. The top of the meeting house has a carving depicting Maui and his 4 brothers holding back the sun so the day could be longer and they could catch more fish.

The welcome ceremony has several steps- people gather outside, a song is sung by a young woman to invite people to enter, men are seated in the front and women in the back, speeches of welcome and situation are given, people press their noses to each other, people shake hands, and then they eat.

We saw a replica of the treaty signed in 1840 between the English and the Maori. After the Englsh had been here for a while, the French navy began to gather. England and the Maori feared the French so in exchange for royal protection for the Maori, a treat was drawn-up. Some of the Maori refused to sign because the document didn't translate directly. Other chose to sign because they believed they would receive royal protection. Actually the British began taking the Maori land without any compensation.  In 1960 many Maori tribes who had received no compensation made claim and received either back their land or some financial compensation. Sounds just like the way we treated the Native Americans to me.

We rode up Mt Victoria and had a beautiful view of the city. We also went by a heavily forested area where the opening scenes in the Fellowship of the Rings was filmed- where the Hobbits were hiding from the dark horses. The trees naturally didn't have those huge tree roots- those were created by styrofoam. The director agreed to return the ground to its natural state. All through the area several towns advertised a day long "Lord of the Rings Tour."

Downtown Wellington has a beautiful beach. The early ships used sand for ballast when they came to get wood. The sand was just dumped so it was decided to use it to build a beach. Since today is Sunday many, many folks were enjoying the water and the sun.

The day went from being a bit chilly to being really warm.

Christchurch, New Zealand-January 19

Today we sailed into the harbor of Lyttelton-the port city for Christchurch. The landscape was different from Dunedin in that it isn't that lush green we saw. This port is very sheltered and is a natural harbor created by the crater of an extinct volcano. The port is the busiest port on the South Island shipping mostly lumber.

Christchurch is the most English city in New Zealand. The familiar English names on the astreets attested to that. The lovely Avon River runs through the town.

On the top of a hill is The Ball House. An 80 year old man is responsible for working the mechanism that raises and lowers the ball at 1:00PM. Been going on for a long time for people to set their watches. 

 The area was settled by the English in 1850. The Maori native citizens had been here for centuries. At first all seemed to go well between the English and the Maori . The Mao bird- standing about 5 feet tall- was very docile and so the English almost wiped them out for food. This naturally led to serious conflict between the two people. The Canterbury Museum in Christchurch describes some of that conflict.

We found a wonderful gallery and purchased a neat Maori carving with images about storytelling and the importance of people keeping their stories alive. We did have the piece shipped.

Christchurch is the 2nd largest city in New Zealand with 335,000 people. It has been named the "Garden City of New Zealand" and we did see some beautiful flowers. The first settlers first stopped in Lyttelton and then made their way across the mountains to settle Christchurch. We made a journey up steep and curvy roads to "Sign of the Takahe" which is Maori for "sign of home." The view was beautiful, the sky was blue and the air was crisp. Our bus driver did a great job on the narrow roads which were made more difficult by the bikers going up and down the hills. I saw one moterbike- and about 100 regular pedaling bikes. Looked like hard and risky work to me.

New Zealand is known for its native birds and the kiwi is one of them. The kiwi is the official bird and the unofficial name for folks from this area.

We have seen a large evidence of Presbyterian mission work in both of the cities we have visited so far in New Zealand.

In Christchurch for this week-end is the World Buskers Festival. Buskers wasn't a word I knew- refers to a musician or other artist who sets up to perform and has a container to collect donations. We saw a most clever guy playing a violin and the bow operated a puppet also playing a violin. Heard some other musicians. We decided this is an English influence since the Canadians on our bus knew that term and the US folks didn't.

Beautiful,Beautiful Dunedin

We sailed in this morning- January 18 -into the beautiful Port Chamblers area near Dunedin. We learned that the name Dunedin comes from the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh- the capital of Scotland. The green, rolling hillsides did remind us of Scotland.

We took a taxi to the downtown area and were met by Sigurd Wilbanks and Erica Burky at the Train Station. The Train Stattion has a beautiful tile floor, stained glass windows. and lovely ceramic work all around. For us it was wonderful to have cousins who are "almost" natives who are willing and able to show us around.

The 3rd son of my cousin Rich teaches Chemistry at the University of Otago. The U of Otago is the 2nd oldest university in New Zealand and has more than 20,000 students. Sigurd teaches Chemistry.

We first drove to the campus and walked to see the mixture of beautiful. old university classical buildings and also admire the more modern buildings. Sig's office is in one of the more modern buildings so he gets to look out onto the more classical structures.

The campus is lovely and we admired many of the gargoils on one of the buildings. One especially reminded us of the lawyers in our family- and glad none of them wear those wigs.

We headed up the hill to the Dunedin Botanical Gardens. The area is beautiful. Some of the flowers were beyond their prime but the walk through the pathways was lovely. Erica is quite accomplished in the names and characteristics of plants and gave us a lesson abotu a plant that early settlers used to write on.

We went down to the bottom to the Rose Gardeon, the herb garden and the cactus garden. All was so very lovely. Never been in a public garden where you could walk on the grass. Sigurd reminded us that the Bristish Empire established Botanical Gardens in all their colonies to help people remember their connections and history. Never thought about that!

We went to the middle of town to the Octagon- complete with a statue of Robert Burns and a person sized chess board. There was also a fair of crafty things going on but nothing looked especially interesting in that department. We did shop in a wool store and learned about the extra warm combination of wool and possum ( not like our opossum) and bought a couple of pieces.

Had a yummy lunch and then drove out to their wonderful, light, airy, comfortable and spacious house on the Otega Penisula. The views on the drive up and back were just amazing.

How grateful we are to have family so willing to share their time and knowledge with us in the faraway place. Nothing like seeing the town through the eyes of someone who has lived here for a number of years.

They drove us all the way back to the ship- with a stop at the supermarket to get wine and see what a real Kiwi market looks like.

Dunedin was great- thanks to the special attention we got from Sigurd and Erica.