Sounds great. Have to plan for 2009! Thanks, Ngaire.

Just to chime in again, last year we did the overnight land trip to Queenstown, because both Linda and Ngaire recommended it highly. And, indeed, it was one of the highlights of the cruise. It's a great way to see part of the country and literally (we were told) about a million sheep. The excursion must be arranged with your TA or Regent long before boarding, and it cost about $1000 per person, but we thought it was worth it. Less than 40 participants were on the trip, and there was considerable excess demand. (We were also told you really don't miss anything on that part of the voyage.)

-------------

Eugene

Ditto Eugene & Ngaire....Queenstown was a wonderful side trip!!

Ngaire, now I understand why you could never run for Congress-you are too ethical! Are you tired of eating lamb yet?

Ngaire sick of lamb??? :eek: Nah, never! :D

We're sailing in and out of the South New Zealand fjords today. Some of the passengers got off this morning in a driving rainstorm to go to Queenstown. We decided to stay on the ship so we have a good excuse to come back here. The weather has turned pretty nasty---wind, rain and rocky seas. It's nice to actually feel the ship moving around, I've been sleeping like a baby. We had dinner in Signatures last night and Ngaire and I both had lamb. Since it's Thanksgiving today, they're planning the whole turkey dinner thing in all the ships restaurants tonight. They're creating a dance floor in the Compass Rose so tonight will be a dinner dance. Tomorrow we will be in Dunedin and we're planning a trip to see the Blue Penguins. One more penguin variety in my quest to see all seventeen types of penguins. Hopefully we'll get to see nearly all the types when we're in Antarctica in January. Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone on KIWI...although, at about 16 hours difference, it may be over by now. :)

Ditto here, wishing you all aboard Kiwi Happy Thanksgiving.

Just a quick post before dinner. Not much to report while we were at sea through the fjords. Unfortunately the normal weather pattern for the fjords was in place, rain and wind and clouds. Even then it is beautiful but on a sunny day it is glorious. The rain stopped for those that were doing the Queenstown extension once they came though the Homer Tunnel which is just about an hour after leaving Milford. They got to do all the things, jetboat, watching bungy jumping, going to the top of Coronet Peak and came back to Dunedin via train. My daughter and son in law really enjoyed it all.

We baby sat our Granddaughter and kept busy watching movies and doing some reading, arts and crafts and trivia. Eating of course!!

Today was Dunedin and Gerry, Peggy, Ron, Linda, Ken, Taylor and I went out for about 5 hours in a taxi. Did a tour of Dunedin, and I do love the old Victorian buildings in this town. Then we went out to the Royal Albatros Center and to see the Penguins. This time we did a different penguin excursion on four wheel all terrain vehicles.

These were amazing little machines with eight wheel drive. All the wheels turned independently when turning. He would drive this thing where you thought you were going through the fence and then it would turn on a dime. It was as much a "thrill ride" as anything else. I am not a fan of these types of rides at amusment park but I did enjoy this trip. Pretty bumpy though. I was holding on to Taylor for dear life, she had a ball and loved it. The vehicle went over a sheet station to an area where we saw two huge male fur seals, one female and a pup. We were very close. Then we continued on to the Penguin area. A deserted beach with a few sightings of the rare yellow eyed penguin but not close viewing. We also saw two blue penguins (smallest variety of penguin) in a nest. At the end of the driver the vehicle did a complete 360 degree turn. Pretty cool little device.

Next day was Christchurch. What a busy day. We arrived to a bright sunshine day - such a nice thing to see in the morning. Linda, Ron, Ken and I set off to do a site inspection of a hotel then headed for the Antarctica exhibit.

This is very close to the airport and quite well done. Along with the many exhibits with the history of Antarctica they had a WIND CHILL ROOM. They give you parkas and rubber things for your feet. Into the room you go. There is real snow on the ground and it is quite cold. Then they turn on the wind machines. It gets REALLY cold in here. They leave it on for about 3 minutes. Chilling to the bone. Very well done.

They have a few injured blue penguins but they do need to get a few more.

At the end of the trip we did a ride on another "thrill" machine. I thought this was just a ride around the exhibit area. WRONG. This is the machine they use to get around in Antarctica. The one we were on had done service in Antarctica. It looks like a tank. It can go straight up or down, go over cracks in the ice, operate on a steep angle and even continue as a boat with steering in deep water. Quite an amazing invention. A course has been built to demonstrate the abilities of this mode of transport. Yes, it was a thrill ride deluxe. The most amazing part was when we went into water that was twice as deep as the machine and he was able to steer in this water as the machine stayed afloat. The water came up to the bottom of the windows so we were about half submerged.

Made it back to the ship just in time for a quick lunch--- they had rack of lamb for lunch. Never seen this at lunch before and it was great.

Then the ship hosted an Edwardian picnic. This was the same event I am sure they did on the World Cruise. It was excellent. Beautiful grounds with an old mansion, a Moari concert party, singers, entertainment, free flowing wine, and afternoon tea. All under a giant white tent with gorgeous flowers on the tables. People were in costume all over the place having "tea" on the lawns. Each lady received a bouquet of flowers on departure. It was an excellent excursion.

Long day though. I was whipped when I got back.

Today we are in Picton. Partially sunny with the clouds blocking the sun from time to time. I hope the weather holds. Ken is off renting a car and the family are going "exploring" by our own rent car today. Hope he manages to get one this was a last minute plan.

Hard to believe we only have four nights left. I do like these fourteen day trips - it is just so much nicer than a seven night cruise you really settle in. I can understand why everyone starts leaning to a longer voyage.

Ngaire, Thanks for your very descriptive seamail. Very pleasurable to read & see the great pictures. NZ is like no other place. sounds like you had a wonderful cruise.

Jackie

Have enjoyed your mail Ngaire - YES YES 14 days or longer!!!

This definitely sounds like another trip to put on the list. Ngaire and Peggy, thanks for your updates.

If I ever take another 7 day, I think I am going to piggy-back with another if I can. I think that's what Joanna and Tony did first cruise on Diamond.

Your reports have been so informative and enjoyable, Ngaire. Thanks!

Australia and NZ are very high on our travel wishlist.

Yes we did Olivia - it was our first cruise and so happy we did - 7 days in Europe too short for us - our other 7 days trips have been, Carib, Mexico and Alaska - you no sooner unpack and it is over - WC was 34 days I thought it was too long but would go tomorrow if I could - most others have been 14 days plus - all about time and money

We do a lot of 7 day cruises because of our limited vacation time. The first few times I was ready to get off the ship after 7 days. The last cruise we were on was 9 days on the Seabourn Legend in Europe and I did NOT want to leave. We have two fourteen cruises booked for '07. I think it's going to be the perfect length for us.

Julie: I think 14 days is great too! In my "ideal" cruise world it would be 21 days - but as you said many of us have time issues - those 7 dayers fly by in a heartbeat!!! Editing to say I'll take any cruise for any length of time!!!

Oh I loved the Edwardian picnic that we did. The food was actually extremely good and, as Ngaire said, the wine was free flowing. It didn't hurt that we had beautiful weather too!

This is all making me think that I need to do a repeat of that exact cruise! :)

We keep on having a great time. Ngaire is keeping everyone pretty well informed on the activities so I won't go into a lot of detail. We're in Wellington today--the weather was beautiful this morning, then the rain came in a few minutes ago, but now it's sunny again. We met up with Ngaire and everyone in the Botanic Garden this morning and rode back to the ship with them. I think we're going to chill this afternoon--at least until trivia time. I'm starting to think about having to get off the ship in a couple days. We'll have been on the ship for 30 days and I'm still not tired of it. No doubt about it--we need to sign up for one of the full circle trips or the world cruise--but maybe then getting off would be even worse. We have dinner tonight with the hotel director--looking forward to that--he's an an ex-Austrian olympic skier and very good looking!! We'll be in Napier tomorrow. We don't have specific plans but it looks like a great little town to just wander around in (lots of Art Deco buildings and nice shops).

Oops--guess Ngaire forgot to log out. That last post is really from me. Ngaire--I'll log both of us out...

We'll have been on the ship for 30 days and I'm still not tired of it

Above from Peggy still cannot quote - I relate Peggy!!!!

Peggy, sounds like a wonderful cruise for everyone! Now you have to come home so we can plan for PANDA (well, you will be getting on a bit earlier than the rest of us)! Safe travels home to you, Jerry, Ngaire and others!

Peggy, thanks for the tidbit about the Hotel Director. Glad to hear that our Hotel Director on MUSH is no longer onboard.

Glad everyone is having a wonderful time. Can't wait to get back onboard Mariner for PANDA.

Ngaire...you make the most of your adventures!

Those vehicles sound amazing. Thanks for giving us such wonderful descriptions of your cruise.

I am way behind on my posting.. just been so busy.

WELLINGTON. We arrived on a beautiful day, sun was shining and no wind. Surprising for Wellington it is not named Windy Wellington for no reason. We went to a lookout point on Mount Victoria while the weather was nice and then headed out to visit the house I grew up in, a town called Petone. I had expected it to be pretty run down now but surprisingly the house looked great as did the neighborhood. We were taking pictures outside the house and the local post lady came along on her bicycle. She was quite surprised to see seven Americans taking pictures of a house and making a lot of noise. She looked a little shocked. Then we went to my local "dairy". Kind of like a local Seven Eleven store. Here we all bought Tip Top ice cream a local N.Z. brand. This is the kind of store that would never see tourists so the sight of seven people buying ice cream, chocolate fish, jaffas, flakes (all local sweets) was quite a shock to the shop owners. Then the post lady came in to discover us all over again. It was quite an amusing situation, she did not know what to make of all these crazy Americans. I visited my old schools to find my beautiful high school of red brick and green ivy painted an ugly blue. Things sure do change. On the way back we went up the cable car to the Botanical gardens where we found to strays, namely Gerry and Peggy and we went back to the ship for lunch.

In the afternoon we went to the local museum called Te Papa. It is not like any other museum in the world. Very inactive and imaginative. A great place.

That afternoon the weather turned bad and we had rain and hail, then as we left the sun came out again. N.Z. can see four seasons in one day some times.

NAPIER
Another sunny day with some clouds. We took the shuttle into town and decided to head for the Aquarium as we heard they had kiwis and Taylor (my grand daughter) was anxious to see Kiwis. We had an incredible experience here. Kiwis are hard to see. They are nocturnal and very shy and dont normally move around that much. When you see them in their exhibits it is dark and they are normally in the back corners. This time the Kiwi was right at the glass and very active. We were the only people there. It was the best Kiwi experience I have ever had and I have been to see Kiwis many times.

TAURANGA
We hit a cool but mostly sunny day. The drive to Rotorua took about an hour. This was a long excursion almost nine hours. It was well worth the trip and one of the best excursions I have done with Regent. It started with a great tour of the Mount Maunganui/Tauranga area, then we went to see the rainbow trout, the Agradome (all about sheep touristy but always fun). The show is great and then Taylor and I got to hold baby sheep and see a sheep dog demonstration. Then off to LUNCH. Oh did I like this. All the basic N.Z. goodies, such as lamb roast, cauliflower in cheese sauce, minted carrots - it was great. I wont tell how many times I went back. This also included a Maori concert. My daughter borrowed the Pois from one of the dancers and was able to work them in one hand as I had taught her as a child. I could not believe she could still do that. Then we went to the Thermal area and that was also fun to see again. It was a great tour I recommend this trip to everyone. Long day but wonderful.

AUCKLAND -- ah what an terrible day. It was rainy, cold and windy. No place is nice on a day like this and Auckland is such a great city. Any tours would have been dreadful as you could not see anything. We had some business to take care of during the day but that night the rain let up and eight of us went to the revolving restaurant on the sky tower for dinner. It was great. The clouds were beautiful and although there was not bright sunlight it was still a great sight. The harbor in Auckland is so pretty with the harbor bridge and all the green areas. We did not want to leave and dragged the meal on until dark when the lights brightened up the city. A great final evening.

Our hotel was the Hilton which is actually right on the same dock area as the ship. You walk from ship to hotel in a few feet. Word had it that one of the passengers opened his curtains to look straight into a guest room in the Hilton and a guy was walking around naked, oblivious to the ship that had pulled up alongside.

We returned to our hotel just before the Mariner sailed at 11.00 pm. I have never been eyeball to eyeball with the ship at this height before. We were level with the La Verandah restaurant. We watched her pull away from the dock and back out to see --- wishing we were still on board.

ON TOUR
We are now on a 7 day tour and flew back down to Queenstown in the South Island. I am currently sitting in the nicest hotel in Queenstown, Eichardts, a luxury boutique hotel with only five rooms. It is right on the waterfront. The day is PERFECT. No wind, warm and brilliant sunshine. We visited about five hotels today so my feet are pretty tired and the sun is just starting to set. This is as an idylic setting. Wish I never had to leave.

Tomorrow we drive up the West Coast of New Zealand. A rugged area that is normally raining. Looks like we might get a good day tomorrow but it will be getting rainy again late in the day. This is the coldest Spring N.Z. has had for years. Very unsettled weather. Considering that we probably really lucked out on the cruise except for Auckland.

Be back later.

Love reading about your trip, Ngaire, especially the visit to your hometown. Thanks for the sea and land mail.

So wonderful reading about your trip and funny experiences with the post lady. Did you get to see June & Brian in Auckland? Keep enjoying!

Saw June and Brian briefly when they picked up my daughters family for the day. We will see them again for one day and night before we leave for home.

Ngaire,

Please send them our regards. I can't believe that PIP was 18 months ago. I was just yesterday looking at pictures of them at the party and I had in my OWB followed by dinner with them at the IC Beachcomber in Papeete.

I don't post a lot, but I promised Ngaire at least one, so here I go. Hi Ngaire and Ken, and also all the other lovely people we met on KIWI--Peggy and Gerry, Mark and Cindy, Linda and Ron, Judy and Dave, Sue and Rusty, Annemarie and Franz and many others. We had a fabulous time, and are looking forward to seeing some of you again on PUBS. Our tour from Tauranga to Auckland with Mt Classic Tours was great. We got to see some lovely countryside. (We had to leave the ship one day early because of our flight arrangements :( ) Unfortunately our trip home was a major hassle with cancelled flights, delayed flights, missed connections, you name it. We arrived at our front door 33 hours from the time we woke up at the hotel in Auckland Susan

Oh Susan sorry to hear that about flights and luggage - you had to be exhausted!!! but better those problems on the return trip!! Joanna

Thanks Joanna. Yes, definitely better on the trip home! Hate to start out a cruise exhausted and cranky. I fell into bed and slept for 10 hours last night!

Susan

Ngaire,

Please tell Brian and June hello for me! I would have loved to have been there to see them again. You have such a nice family!! Please tell your daughter hello too. She may or may not remember me from the PG.

What a fantastic vacation you all have had!! Thanks for sharing your adventures with us! :)

Sheri

Ngaire - Wonderful report! The name of your hotel in Queenstown rang a bell - Eichardts! That couldn't possibly be the name of the THC hotel you organised me to work in all those years ago could it? Lee

Ken and I are in a small town called Greymouth in a McDonalds where there is a "cyber cafe". Never thought I would find that in a McDonalds. We have about an hour before our train leaves.

The drive up from Queenstown - Wanaka - Haast Pass was nothing less than spectacular. Probably some of the most fantastic scenery I have ever seen. Past Haast to Franz Josef it was nice but not as spectacular. This is a long drive, about 6 hours and on fairly windy roads but very little traffic. I have always wanted to do this so glad we have done it. Today we left Franz Josef to come to Greymouth to meet the train that will take us back across the island via Arthurs Pass. Another first for me. We get off about halfway and stay in a luxury lodge situated on a farm called Grassmere Lodge. Amazingly in the two hour drive we never had a car in front of us until about 15 minutes outside of Greymouth. So few cars on the road.

In Wanaka I saw a delightful little lodge set on a farm with great scenery. Only five rooms I like these quaint little places. Unless you really like to drive it may be best to stay in Wanaka and just drive part of the road up to Haast and see the scenery than come all the way up the West Coast.

Lee it was the old THC Eichardts which has been turned into a luxury 5 room hotel. Our room was right on the front of the hotel with a balcony overlooking the waterfront and very very nice. The entire room was well thought out with everything you could need. Two TV's, fireplace, huge bathtub, great toiletries, and double sinks. Also a real fur throw on the bed and in room internet access. We did not want to leave. When we can get some internet access in our room we will post some pictures. From our room about 25 parasailers jumped from Coronet Peak and landed on the narrow strip of sand in front of the lake almost directly in front of our window. They looked like a flock of birds as they came down. It was a great sight. There was no wind, sun was shining, the lake was glistening - really incredible. Queenstown is such a special place.

Susan -- sorry your trip home was so rough. That just happens sometimes. It was great to meet you both and so look forward to sailing with you again on PUBS.

I love reading these reviews, Ngaire. Wish we could have done this one with you. Another to put "on the list." Thanks for taking the time.

Okay I am in absolute heaven.

I am spending the night at Paratiho Farms in Nelson. I just finished the most incredible meal that I have ever experienced. Each course was served with a different exquisite wine, my favorite being the Seifreid Chardonnay 1994. Mushroom soup, Seared breast of duck, Filet of Angus beef, and Strawberry and Cointreau Soufflé.

I am in total AWE of this incredible lodge. I am sitting here wanting to bring everyone on LCT down to N.Z. to experience this. The room is out of this world. Every possible aspect of this room will blow your mind. Ken said even the toilet paper and tissues are extra SOFT. He is laughing at me but that is exactly what he told me to say. The entire property is filled with the most exquisite art. I keep looking around in complete awe of my surroundings. We did not get here until around 6.00 pm and leave at 9.15 am tomorrow. I hope to be able to post some pictures soon. Right now although we have fast wireless internet in the room we are exhausted and have to leave early in the morning, we have to sleep.

We wish we never had to leave!!!

All this is very close to the Abel Tasman National Park where we met the most delightful girl who has a luxury charter yacht to explore the Abel Tasman Park.

So can you tell my enthusiasm after this incredible dinner, fine wines, and incredible luxurious surroundings.

Ngaire, it sounds heavenly! I can't wait to see the pictures.

Hey gal:

Valerie, Chuck, Penny and I are watching your every step in anticipation of our New Zealand adventure with you in Dec. 07.

We're already getting antsy.

Cheers! Ray

About to leave my new heaven called Paratiho Farms. So enthralled with this place I did not mention where we stayed the night before last.

Grasmere Lodge was also a great place. This is in the high sheep country and the setting is idyllic. Huge mountains all around and rugged country. Great country walks, horseback riding, a tour of the farm is included. Quite different from where we are now with the rolling green hills.

We toured some smaller places in the area of Paratiho Farms that offer nice accommodation. This area is close to the Abel Tasman Park that offers boating, beaches, hiking, and great scenery. Eden House was just three rooms and included everything, breakfast, lunch dinner, wines etc. Almost like a homestay but with privacy, delightful couple that run the farm. The gardens are a sight to behold, with ducks, birds everywhere.

N.Z. has changed so much and now has so much more to offer in the way of comfortable and also absolute luxury accommodation. Of course it all comes with a high price tag for the best places.

The food has taken me by surprise. N.Z. has great produce, meats and fish but the ability to turn those fine ingredients into spectacular meals has improved drastically. All my "foodies" out there would love these lodges with their elegant and creative menus.

Okay I HAVE to leave now---- wish I could stay here longer, we are off to Taupo/Rotorua to see Huka Lodge and stay at Treetops.

Be back later. Perhaps some pictures tonight.