Judith, the only noticeable difference between segmenters and full Word Cruisers is the extra excursions and occassional "treats" they get that are exclusive to world cruisers. For example, on my leg, Marcie et. al were treated to a lovely afernoon party in Christchurch that she said was fantastic. I was so busy enjoying my day there that I didn't miss a thing, except for croquet!

Here is my first installment...an e-mail I sent to myself off-line that for some reason I couldn't pick up in the computer room so I didn't bother continuing this practise each day. My room was not wired for the internet, and the computer room was really crowded when I wanted to use it most. Anyway, this post will just be about my pre-cruise experience. After that, I won't go into details for anything Marcie has already written about.

Getting here was the hard part, after that it got really easy! I was able to upgrade (for no charge, due to my new Star Alliance Gold Preferred status) on the domestic flight to LA, and get an exit row for the really long jaunt from LAX to Auckland on Air New Zealand and even managed some sleep since the flight was delayed and I was really tired. Those little Ambiens sure do the trick!

Upon arrival in Auckland for my two night pre-cruise stay, I was met at the airport by a RSSC rep, and whisked over to another area to meet my travel companions, 3 delightful couples from Arizona, Virginia and Michigan. We were then taken to the Hyatt Residence Hotel, where I was assigned a one-bedroom apartment complete with kitchen. It was very modern, Scandinavian in design, and had views of both the Sky Tower on the city side and the Auckland Harbor. At 2 p.m., after lunch at the hotel with 2 of the 3 couples I was with, we were picked up and taken on a 3 hour tour of the city. First stop was the Auckland Museum, where the group decided to attend the Maori Cultural Show with singers and dancers, since none of us had planned ship excursions that had this type of event. I could have spent 3 hours at this Museum alone, as they had great exhibits of the history of the native tribes of New Zealand who had come here and other islands in the Pacific from areas of Asia to the West. After this, our driver took us to residential areas of the city with lovely homes high on the hill over the Harbour before taking us further up the hill to a monument to WWI vets. This area had views of the mud flats from a vantage point other than the Harbour. We then went on to One Tree hill rather than Mount Eden for wonderful views over the city, sea and harbour. When we arrived back at the hotel, I was so tired I didn't want to eat out, so room service pizza sounded perfect since we were getting on the road again the next day.
We met the next morning to start our journey to the Coramandel Peninsula and made a stop to take a narrow gauge train up a mountain to a beautiful overlook. At the bottom was a pottery and many shops selling different pieces by several artists. It was sort of a messy and cluttered place, but I enjoyed the train ride more than I expected. Along the way up the hill on the train that hugged the wall on one side, there were pieces of pottery sort of embedded in between the rocks, and on some portions, the retaining walls were beer and wine bottles set in mortar for support.
For lunch in Coramandel, we were on our own, and I joined one of the couples for a short walk down the street where we found a nice little restaurant and had a great chicken dish. After lunch, it was a long drive to Coramandel, but the views along the east side of the Firth of Thames (eastward from Auckland) were beautiful. Our hotel for the night was located in Pauanui, on the Pacific Coast, and was called the Mercure Grand Puka Park Resort, which had 50 suites in 2-suite cabins built on stilts nestled among the trees and dense foliage. Dinner was included here, and our group met spontaneously for cocktails on the outside deck before eating together. Dinner was a la cart, and there was something for everything, and wine included with dinner.

The next morning, we were not scheduled to leave until 10 a.m., so we had a leisurely breakfast at the hotel. First thing, I walked down the hill to see the beach, and it was a steep hike back up to the hotel. Shortly before boarding our van, I was up on the outside deck taking in the views, and got stung by something. Here we were headed out into the bush in a remote area to get back to the ship, and I didn't know if I might be allergic to whatever it was that stung me. However, knowing that I was with two retired doctors (one an ENT and the other a plastic surgeon), I felt I was in good hands if my throat closed up. One could give me a tracheotomy, and the other could sew me up right later so I wouldn't have a scar!
Thankfully, all was fine, except that thing itches even a week later.

The drive along the way back to Auckland was long (10 am-3 p.m.) and by now we were eager to board. The scenery along the other side of the Firth of Thames was not as rugged, but still pretty. Along our drive the day before, we had been told of the terrible 'possum problem in New Zealand. They are different from ours, and have a furry body and tails. I had never seen so much road kill in such a short distance (sorry, no way to make that reference more delicate). We stopped in Clevedon for lunch, and there was a shop next door to the restaurant that sold tons of woolly stuff, sweaters, scarves, gloves, and shearling slippers. There were many things I would love to have bought, but they were all made of merino wool and 'possum! I don't think I will ever be able to buy a piece with that fur for the rest of my days. Anyway, the problem with these animals is that they eat, eat, eat, and can destroy the vegetation in no time. Our driver told me that if you see one on the road, you don't slam on breaks or veer around them. Rather, you aim for them, he said!

We were all happy to board the ship, and get through muster shortly afterward. Fortunately, I was able to change my cabin from all the way forward in cabin 900, down to deck 7. As it turned out, there was only one room between Tom and Marcie and me!

I have to get dressed for dinner now, (formal night tonight) but will write more later. New Zealand is lovely, and I feel blessed to have the good fortune to be here!