Where We Have A Day On Land, See Some Lovely Roses, And Find Out A Neighboring Ship Also Has Cooties
We had originally hoped to book an excursion for Zealandia – a wildlife reserve/zoo, but back on October 16, 2022 when the excursions for this cruise opened up, that excursion sold out within minutes. The only thing I can think of is that people started booking excursions at 12:01 a.m. on October 16.
So instead, we had the included bus tour of Wellington, the capital of New Zealand.
Our bus driver/tour guide was quite the comedian – he cracked jokes the entire time. Which was great – I’m sure it helps to keep the crowd laughing as we’re driving along.
Our first stop was Mount Victoria – a high point in an already hilly city, there were spectacular views of the whole area.
We drove through assorted city streets and some high end neighborhoods. Our next stop was at the Lady Norwood Rose Garden. Marvelous glorious roses everywhere!
Our next stop was a quick visit to the New Zealand Parliament building, nicknamed, The Beehive.
Our last (and quick) stop was at the old St Paul’s church – 100% made of wood, and incredibly beautiful.
So now it was time to head back to the ship. As we were driving along, the topic of the ship’s “marine life” situation came up. As it turns out, a Princess cruise ship has a similar problem! Turns out the Coral Princess (which was our neighbor in the Wellington harbor) has sea snails in its out take pipes. Apparently, the ship had to go out to sea, 50 miles from land, and hang out there while divers cleaned out the pipes. The passengers are complaining that their compensation is a bit paltry – 15% discount and 100 NZD (about $60 US). OTOH, they only lost one port. I guess this makes us feel better (?) that another ship has the cooties? At least we’re getting a 50% coupon. But we’re losing 3 ports.
Amazingly enough, I’m going to be able to post this blog before we leave port. And before dinner! (See Cruise Rule #2). We have a reservation for the Italian restaurant this evening at 6:00. No idea what we’ll do after that.
Tomorrow: Sailing, sailing, sailing…..At least the weather has been atypically FANTASTIC….looking for the bright side here….
Maryland Meshugas 