Auckland 2/6-7 New Zealand

We have begun our week in New Zealand.  The first impression is that this is one beautiful country.  

Auckland is a very modern and busy city.  This is the first time in several weeks where there are more people on shore than on our ship.  The population wasn’t very large on some of the islands we’ve been visiting.    We were here for two days and could have used another one.  There is a lot to do and see.

This is a view of Auckland from across the bay.  Note the Sky Tower in the center.  More on that later.

We enjoyed walking around the city and seeing the sites.  There are a number of shopping areas, restaurants, pubs and specialty shops around the port.  We spent some time at the local aquarium and Antarctica Center, 

Here are some of the penguins.  Look close in the center and you’ll see a chick.

Remember the Sky Tower in the earlier picture.  One thing I did was take the Skywalk.  You can walk around the outside at 192 meters (600+ feet) for the fun of it.  Here I am leaning back from the walkway.

Looking down over my shoulder.  That is a long way down.

This picture shows the width of the track we walked on.  It is 1.3 meters.  No handrails.  You can get more information at Skywalk Auckland .  No, Noreen didn’t go with me.

Another view of Auckland from my perch.

And inland, the large building is the War Memorial and museum.

Auckland is known as the “City of Sails” due to the large number of sailboats in the harbor.  That may be but we found this rubber duck there also.

Don’t think it is very big?  Here is some perspective.  We couldn’t find anyone who knew what the purpose was for the duck.

We came across a celebration for the return of six Auckland Rescue volunteers who had gone around NZ in 30 days in those small Zodiac boats for charity.

We had a great time in Auckland and hope to get back some day.  While there we saw a Moai tribal show on the ship.  The dance where the warriors stick out their tongues and make aggressive faces is called the Haka,  It was used to build courage and frighten the enemy.  It is still used in high school at games and there is a high school competition for Haka dancing.  Sorry I don’t have a good picture of it.  Maybe at a future stop.

Niue and Tonga February 1st and 3rd. No February 2nd

We continued our journey across the South Pacific with a stop at Alofi, the capital of Niue.  Niue is one of the smallest countries in the world covering just 100 square miles.  The population runs ~1000 people descendants from Samoan, Tongan and Cook Islanders.  While we found the natives friendly when Captain Cook happened upon the island he was driven off and not allowed to land.  He named the place “Savage Island.”

Unlike the previous volcanic islands, Niue is formed by solid coral limestone.  Thus there are none of the high cliffs we saw on other islands.

You can see how flat it is.

While small, it does have a yacht club.

The island coast line is very sheer and rocky.

One of the interesting pass times is to wander over the tidal pools left behind by the receding tide.  They are like small aquariums full of sea life and coral.  In this picture you can see an expanse of tidal pools and some folks wandering over them.   They can also be very deadly and a slip will result in a number of cuts and bruises.  You also have to watch the tide as it changes very quickly. 

  

I haven’t shown you that we are working with a number of different languages and currencies.  Here is a sign in Alofi.   Niue uses the New Zealand dollar.

Couldn’t resist a south pacific paradise shot of our ship.

We set sail on Feb 1st and arrived the next day, February  3rd, at Nuku’Alofa, Tonga.   An explanation…we crossed the International Date Line that evening and lost February 2nd.   I’m not going to try to explain that here.  If you are interested in why there is plenty of info on the net.

Tonga (known locally as Tongatapu) was our last island in the Pacific.  The currency is the Tonga pa’anga (1.85 p to 1 USD).  I’d love to show you pictures of Tonga but it isn’t going to happen.  I went on an early morning SCUBA dive with a local company and it lasted all day.  In the Caribbean we’d be back by noon.  Here we got back at 3:45, 30 minutes to sailing.  I forgot about Island time.  Anyway, I dove with a fellow shipmate.  Just the two of us.  This is the dive boat we used.

Their small boat was in the shop so we set off in this.  It was a very nice boat, roomy for the two of us.  It went about as fast as the African Queen (if you are a movie buff).  Yes, that is a thatched roof.  This is a picture of our divemaster/Captain (center) and crew.  It was a very interesting diving.  I was very impressed with the visibility, under seas life, and colorful coral at all the islands.  The average water temp of 82f was not bad either.  Our next dive is the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.

Since I have no pictures, a couple of interesting items.  Faka Tonga (the Tongan way) permeates the island.  They don’t like to brag so will generally not tell you about the history or the sites of the island.  You have to ask so they can answer with the story.  Tongan society is based on the extended family.  Children are often shared with relatives and there is no notion of a child belonging to a parent.  There is no language distinction between brother, sister and cousin.

They had a cyclone in 2004 that did a lot of damage.  Many of the homes and businesses have not been rebuilt yet.  This is a picture of an island freighter blown ashore by the cyclone.

That is all for this issue.  It is a two day sail from Tonga to Auckland, NZ, our next port of call.  I’m writing this on the evening before we arrive.  I’ll go ashore and use an internet café to send it and catch-up with all our electronic stuff.  Much less expensive and faster than the ship.  This ends for a while our extended sea days.  We’ll be stopping at seven ports in NZ in the next eight days.  We’ll write again when we catch our breath.

Our best to everyone.    Ken & Noreen

Rarotonga January 30th

Welcome to the Island of Rarotonga, Cook Islands.  By this time in our journey west, the islands are affiliated with New Zealand.  This is a small but very beautiful island.

This is the entire island as taken from our ship.

The town of Avarua where we tendered into to.

The island has one road that runs the 20 Mile circumference.  There are two buses; one runs clockwise and one runs counter-clockwise.  No street names.  Can you guess which bus this is?

Car license plates are still easy to number.   They just count what number car it is registered on the island.

Municipal building.

It really is a beautiful island and very popular with tourists from New Zealand and Australia.  There is world class fishing and diving.  The picture below shows charter boats lined up.  Note the flags.  Our ship is in the background.

This is a picture of the reef surf line protecting the harbor and island.

The island has a lot of agriculture and grows a wide variety of crops for consumption and export.  An interesting item is the currency.  They have their own currency but it has no international value.  It can only be used on the island but it is very collectable.

Hope you enjoyed our quick visit to Rarotonga.  Two more South Pacific islands to go and then onto New Zealand.  Come-on along.

Ken & Noreen

Tahiti & Bora Bora January 26-28

Our visits to these two islands were vey interesting.  Both are part of French Polynesia but are as different as night and day.  Tahiti appears to us to be over developed and entirely tourist orientated.  Bora Bora still has all the charm and atmosphere you expect from a “tropical south Sea paradise.”  In talking with our ship mates the consensus is a preference for Bora Bora over Tahiti.  So if you are planning a vacation in this area, head for Bora Bora.

In Tahiti we docked in an industrial area and visited the town of Papeete.  As we pulled in we passed what I can only call one of the island tramp steamers that we read so much about and saw in all those old Clark Gable and John Wayne movies.

And that is all the pictures we have of Tahiti.  Really.  The town was very similar to the port towns we see in the Caribbean except for some additional local businesses and every one spoke French.  It was hard to find what we considered a natural Tahitian experience.

I guess the cruise line agreed with us because we spent 10 hours in Tahiti and 2 days in Bora Bora.

This is our view of Bora Bora from our anchorage in the lagoon.  Note that cloud covered escarpment raising into the sky.  That is the  home of King Kong and the land of dinosaurs.  We plan an expedition on day two.

We have to tender to shore.  I’ve said that before but haven’t explained what it means for those don’t cruise often.   We have two options in port.  To dock and walk off or to tender from an anchorage.  When we tender we either use the ships lifeboats or local commercial boats.  Below is a picture of one of our boats tendering us to shore.

A local sport we hadn’t seen before was, for lack of a better term, tender surfing.  The locals paddle their canoes or outriggers behind our tenders until they can ride the stern wave and then surf along.  This is a picture of one surfing behind out tender.  Note he is not paddling but still moving at a speed equal to our tender.

This picture is of a tender going back to the ship.  Note all the “tender surfers” trying to catch the stern wave.  We thought this was a tourist ploy and they would ask us for money for the show.  But no, they dropped off when we slowed down and waited for the next tender to come by at speed.  It really is just a fun sport they do to pass the time.  The ship you see is not ours so don’t get confused by the different color hull.

On day one I spent the morning SCUBA diving.  The water is crystal clear and 82⁰.  The first dive was outside the reef and the second was inside the lagoon in the basin that was formed by the volcano.  This is the second site.  You can see how clear the water is.  Our ship is in the background.  They were great dives with Lemon and Black Tip sharks, huge schools of fish, and multi-colored clams embedded in the coral.  I have an  underwater camera but it shoots prints and I won’t have any developed until our return.  You’ll just have to take my word for it. 

In the afternoon we went to a Pearl Factory.  This was amazing and nothing like we had understood how pearls were made.  Briefly the oyster goes through three pearl making cycles over eight years each time producing a bigger pearl as it matures.  The picture below is Noreen watching as oysters are cleaned of growth which has to be done every few days.

Here we are holding a string of oysters as they are placed when they mature.

Here a worker is opening an oyster to take a pearl out, placing it in Noreen’s hand and the result..  The oyster is given a day to rest and then a new starter is placed inside.

Talk about localize weather, here it is raining at the bow of the ship and not at the stern.  These pictures were taken within a few seconds of each other.

   

On day 2 we went ashore to Vaitape to tour Bora Bora.

There is a very famous restaurant named Bloody Mary’s that has sand floors.  You can see what you check at the door.

A carving outside Bloody Mary’s.

The island hotels have rooms that go out over the water.  The further out you are, the higher the rate.  End rooms can cost up to $10K per night.

 

Or private island for a few days rest.

A couple different views of Bora Bora.

As we left Bora Bora this picture shows the surf line at the reef which protects the lagoon.

We hope you enjoyed our quick visits.    We look forward to your comments.  Onward to Rarotonga, Cook Islands