Ahoy Mates!
All I can say about New Zealand is WOW! After viewing Priscilla’s fabulous photos, I was even more excited to visit here….and it certainly lives up to its reputation. Day before yesterday we were in Bay of Islands, New Zealand. We visited the small, charming beach town of Russell. The weather was perfect, probably in the high 70’s with beautiful, clear blue skies. We enjoyed waking up and down the streets seeing the small shops and numerous outdoor cafes. They have to die for “Tip-Top” ice cream! The town has a quaint, Cape Cod/New England feel to it. The locals are so friendly, prices were reasonable (so unlike French Polynesia!) and all the dogs were well cared for and on leashes with their owners. We visited Christ Church, the oldest chapel (1835) in New Zealand. The church sits amongst a cemetery which was also very interesting.

Yesterday (Monday here) we arrived in Auckland and what a great day we had! After breakfast I had gone to Cabin #900 to put Olivia’s door sign up. At 10:00am we met Ngaire’s sister June (we had asked Ngaire if this would be possible and as always, she pulled through for us). For those who have met Ngaire, there is no doubt that June is her sister. She is cute as a button! In fact, if you close your eyes you’d think you were talking to Ngaire. Their voices, their LAUGH, their mannerisms are so similar! From the dock the 3 of us walked around the downtown area and did a bit of shopping. Auckland is definitely the prettiest, cleanest large city I’ve ever seen. There are hundreds of sail boats in the harbor, the skies were crystal blue with no sign of any pollution. We then drove to the Sky Tower. This looks very much like the Seattle Space Needle and is the tallest structure in the Southern Hemisphere. It’s taller than the Eiffel Tower standing over 1,000 feet tall. We rode the elevator up to the circular observation deck and WOW…. a 360 degree panoramic view of all of Auckland and its bays. If you can imagine, they allow bungee jumping from this (called a “sky jump”). We actually watched someone do this and I took a great photo! After this we were off for lunch at a winery. We drove about 45 minutes, crossing a long bridge, through the luscious rolling green hills speckled with sheep everywhere as well as seeing the pristine beaches….Heaven! We had a wonderful lunch outside accompanied with a glass of their great wine. After lunch, we were off to “Sheepworld” located in Warkworth…the highlight of the afternoon. We watched 3 different dogs herding sheep…each with a different task to complete. This was so fascinating! The dogs are so intelligent….kind of put our 2 dogs to shame! After this we went indoors and watched a large sheep get sheared. She was not the happy camper about any of this shearing and required very careful handling by the shearer to avoid kicking and being cut. We learned about 4 different types of sheep and how to recognize the differences. This was all so interesting. Finally, the baby lambs were brought in and I volunteered to bottle feed one of these babies. It was so much fun! There were many other animals there including llamas, donkeys, pigs, rabbits, Shetland ponies and birds. Visiting a sheep farm is a MUST for anyone visiting New Zealand….so far this has been my favorite of any of our excursions. I was certainly in my element…Heaven!

We then drove to June’s home where we met Brian, Ngaire’s brother. We had invited them both to come aboard the ship and join us for dinner in the Compass Rose.. Upon arriving back at the Voyager about 6:15pm, June and Brian wandered the ship while Tom and I did a quick fix to get ready for dinner at 7:00.

I was so excited anticipating seeing Olivia as I knew she was boarding in Auckland (this begins Segment 2 of the World Cruise). Since she was originally booked in Cabin #900 you can imagine our surprise when we were walking down the hall on deck 7 and saw her door sign on Cabin #729….TWO DOORS FROM OUR #733CABIN. We rung her doorbell and upon opening her door there were hugs and happy squeals (well at least by Olivia and me!). We informed her of dinner plans in ½ hour. The 5 of us had such an excellent, fun dinner! Brian was so pleased with the food that he ordered 2 entrees and cleaned both plates. The good news is that I think Olivia and I have convinced Brian and June to join us on the 2006 Alaskan cruise (MUSH). Of course, this was a bit difficult considering we have no dates, itinerary, price etc.! They will both be on PIP in May so many of you will have the pleasure of meeting them both. They are both so fun and a real delight! Olivia was still jet lagged so she was the first one to turn in. After dessert, many more laughs, learning more things about the family (there are 7 siblings in Ngaire’s family) it was finally time for them to disembark as our ship was scheduled to leave Auckland at 11:00pm. We walked them to the gang way, hugged them good bye….feeling like we were saying good bye to friends we had known all our lives! :hug:

What a FANTASTIC day …..wonderful new friends, Olivia now on board with us, a gorgeous country, feeding a baby sheep….all of this in one day!

It just doesn’t get any better than this!! Heaven!