World cruise 16

February 6

Still in Auckland. I slept late this morning while Margaret went ashore for the day. I was still a bit tired from yesterday, and would have slowed down her ramblings. Evidently it rained really hard early this morning which will help the local drought situation. But Margaret didn't get rained on at all during her walking, museum, and shopping excursion.

We sailed at 6:00 p.m., and I must agree with those who say this is one of the world's most beautiful sail aways. The skyline of Auckland is spectacular, and because much of the land around the city is rather low, you can see the skyline all the way out of the harbor and for a good ways as you travel up the coast. While I could enjoy it all from where I was up in the spa, I didn't have my camera with me.

February 7

This morning we joined the Celebrity Solstice which was already anchored in the Bay of Islands on the northeast coast of New Zealand. Bay of Islands is also called Waitangi. It is a huge bay dotted with so-called 1,000 islands, and the count just might be correct. Weather today was calling for rain, but the only rain I saw was a few minutes while I was inside my tour vehicle.

We tendered ashore here, and while I didn't really want to do it, in the end, I managed to get down the steep gangway and onto the tender which, thankfully, wasn't bobbing too much. At the dock, I simply stepped across about 10 feet and boarded a catamaran for a tour of the bay. We saw many boats ranging from something the size of a dinghy to a big sailing yacht.

Most of the land around the bay is national park and strictly controlled, although there are a few cottages grandfathered in from the pre-park days. The lovely beaches can be used during daylight hours, but there are only 3 where overnight camping is allowed.

We went through a hole in one island out at the edge of the ocean that makes a huge tunnel from one side to the other ... all naturally eroded.

Just on the other side of the Hole in the Rock (unique name, huh?), we came across a school of fish feeding at the surface making the water look like it was boiling.

Then we crossed the entire mouth of the bay to an area where a large group of common dolphins, some with babies, was herding fish to the surface to feed. This attracted lots of birds including some rare gannets. I didn't get any dolphin photos because a) they were too quick and b) I was too busy watching for them. But I saw lots of them including several that jumped clear out of the water.

Next it was off to another area of the bay where there were a few bottle-nosed dolphins. Then there were even three little blue penguins (aka fairy penguins in Australia). I didn't see the penguins as they were, naturally, on the other side of the boat.

Margaret and Mike took completely different tours. She will have to write up something about hers.

Back in time to get cleaned up before the ship sailed out to the Tasman Sea which is one of the roughest ones. Last time I was there was in 1988, and it was smooth enough then.

Just at the end of dinner we moved into the left overs of the storm front that pounded the west side of New Zealand for the past few days. Now we're galloping along at 18+ knots with 9 or 10 foot swells. Since we are at the very back of the ship, we are getting wagged in every direction at once. Hopefully, we'll be past the storm remnants tomorrow.