Wellington 1/7/2012

There used to be a program on television called, “Dinner and a Movie”.  A couple would introduce the evening’s movie along with a dinner that would complement it. During the course of the movie, the couple would go through the steps of preparing the meal. Today in Wellington could have been titled, “Cuisine and the Movies”. I went on the Gourmet Walking Tour and Jon went on a tour titled, ”In the Footsteps of the Lord of the Rings”.

Ever since the first The Lord of the Rings movie was released in 2001, New Zealand has been known as the “Home of the Middle-earth”. New Zealand’s dramatic scenery plays the mythical world of Middle-earth in both The Lords of the Rings and The Hobbit Trilogy. More than 250 locations in New Zealand were used for the filming of the movies. Peter Jackson has brought much recognition and income to the city of Wellington with his  movies. 

Jon’s tour took him through Mirimar, the heart of New Zealand’s film industry, towards Mt. Victoria, where a stop was made to enjoy the panoramic view and have morning tea. This was followed by a stop to watch a documentary in which the technical team explained the process by which the movies’ special effects were created. A drive to see the statue of Gandalf  still standing above the marquee of the theatre where the movies premiered was next. Stops were made at various sights used when filming the movies, where photos showed comparisons of the sights with how they appeared in the films. The tour ended with a drive along the South Coast of Wellington. Jon returned to the ship having enjoyed this uniquely Wellington experience.

My tour began with a stop at the Old St. Paul’s Anglican church. It was a unique building,
made of only New Zealand timber. Repenting for an afternoon of gluttony seemed an appropriate beginning.

We then went to the Moore Wilson’s grocery store where we sampled three cheeses (Kapiti blue, Linkwater aged cheddar and Zingy chili feta, which promised to “zap your budz”) along with three jellies (tomato chilli, lemon saffron chutney and quince jelly). A sweet and a bitter apple juice accompanied this.
Our next stop was a gallery that sold authentic Maori artwork, where we tasted the purest, most delicious honey. 

Next it was time for coffee and a stop at the Mojo Coffee Roaster, where we met the owner, who was originally from Greece. He explained how the different coffee beans were roasted and served us a cup of “flat white” (coffee that is topped with a flat, not frothed layer of milk) and a biscuit made from his grandmother's recipe. 

Moving on, we walked through the pier to meet a chocolatier, whose home of origin was Prague. He explained why he moved to Wellington, what life was like for him and then invited us to taste his chocolates. We got to pick two pieces from the case and were given a bag with three additional pieces to take with  us. Many of the pieces were unique in that they contained a combination of herbs, but the bestseller and award winner remains the salted chocolate caramel.

Now we were ready for lunch. Making our way back through the pier we reached a restaurant and began our afternoon meal. First course was a pear and greens salad served with a sauvignon blanc from the Marlborough region, considered one of the finest wine growing regions in New Zealand. This was followed by the main course of tenderloin and mushroom, served with a New Zealand pinot noir. Dessert was a brownie with cinnamon ice cream and small nuggets of caramel on the side. With dessert came a sharper flavoured sauvignon blanc.

After lunch we had the choice of staying in town or returning to the ship. I returned to the ship. Although I do not usually have three large glasses of wine with lunch, it must have been all that walking that made me want to take a nap.

Akaroa 1/6/2013

The Port of Akaroa has replaced stops in Christchurch, which is still rebuilding from the recent earthquake and is not yet ready to receive tourists. As we dropped anchor in Akaroa it was a beautiful sunny day. We were to continue our train adventures with a ride through the mountains and countryside on the "Transalpine Express". We woke at 6 am to prepare for the earliest of the tours we will be taking.

As we filed into the theatre with our tickets, an announcement came from the Captain. The winds and swells were quite high. He did not know if it would be safe to take the tenders to shore and if sea conditions worsened, if we would be able to return to the ship. He said that he was in communication with the appropriate authorities and would get back to us in an hour. An hour past and we learned that the stop in Akaroa had been canceled and we would be on our way to Wellington. Thus we added another sea day to the trip, settled in for a quiet day and estimated that we had accumulated as many sea days as on a ship's "crossing". Little did we know that an adventure was to occur later in the day.

I quote from the ship's daily newsletter: "The Captain's Log at 17:51 on Sunday, January 6th 2013 on board Seven Seas Voyager recorded a Mayday call issued by the sailing yacht Sea Wanderer who had encountered damage to its sailing equipment and was in difficulty. Under the rules of the sea, the closest vessel is required to immediately alter course, maintain radio contact and offer assistance. Captain John McNeill put the necessary procedures into action and the various teams on board were placed on standby to launch the rescue boat upon arrival. Within 15 minutes, Seven Seas Voyager had reached the stranded yacht and established it was sailing with three male crew members who confirmed that they needed to abandon their vessel.

With swell and wind gusts up to 50 knots, the location of the incident was close enough to land for the option of a helicopter rescue and so the Wellington Coast Guard commenced its own operation to assist. This was considered a safer option than launching the Voyager's rescue boat and the obvious risks this could entail. While ready to do so if the situation worsened, the captain was requested to remain on the scene until the arrival of the helicopter some 40 minutes later. Having successfully shielded the Sea Wanderer from the full force of the elements, the three stranded yachtsmen were successfully rescued within 90 minutes of their Mayday call and flown to Wellington, New Zealand.

While thankfully rare, it was an unexpected blessng for the three sailors, that, unbeknown to them, our ship had earlier cancelled its call into Akaroa because of the adverse weather, and so found themselves nearer to the emergency than they otherwise would have been."

For the passengers the rescue meant that the ship changed course and the stabilizers were no longer in use. We went to the pool deck and could see the yacht as it was battered around in the swells of the water. With no steering capacity, they were at the mercy of the sea. We watched the helicopter arrive, circle twice and come low enough to drop a rope to the yacht. We saw one man lifted into the helicopter and then we returned out of the cold breezes to our room. When the operation was complete we heard the helicopter leave the vicinity. It had been anything but an ordinary sea day and quite a day for the captain.

Please note that my special thanks go to Werner Nysschen, a professional photographer associated with Regent Seven Seas who allowed me to use his pictures on this blog.

Dunedin 1/5/2013

We prepared for cool weather in New Zealand, only to find today’s temperature would be
82 degrees F. We may yet hit cool weather, but for now the sweaters remain in the suitcase.

Today we took the first of two train rides to explore parts of the South Island of New Zealand. In Dunedin, we embarked on the “Taieri Gorge Railway Experience”. We began our journey when we boarded the train, which waiting for us at the pier. We traveled alongside the Otago Harbor and turned inland to pass the city of Dunedin. From there we passed the fertile farmland of the Taieri plains and began climbing into the Taieri Gorge, which is only accessible by train. As we climbed higher we had beautiful views of sheer cliff faces and dramatic ravines that frame the tranquil Taieri River. We traveled through long tunnels and crossed the Wingatui Viaduct, one of the largest wrought iron structures in the southern hemisphere. As we neared the highest point of our climb, the mountains that we will be riding through tomorrow came into view.  I think that the pictures, rather than my words best describe the views from the train.

On the return trip we were served a light lunch and offered champagne, fruit juice, New Zealand’s Speight’s beer or bottled New Zealand artesian water. Our final stop before returning to the ship was at the Dunedin Railway Station, a destination in it’s own right because of its Victorian architecture and stunning waiting room.

Ticket booth

Every year Jon, and occasionally I have gone rafting down the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho. The final section of that trip is through a canyon, which is accessible only by water. As we have traveled through the canyon I have often wondered what the view would be, looking down onto the river instead of being upon it. I couldn’t help but think of this as we spent so much of today gazing down upon a river which was far below us.

Tasman Sea Continued 1/4/2013

Quoting from information in the daily onboard newsletter:

- The Tasman Sea is located in the South Pacific Ocean.

- It was named after Dutch explorer, Abel Tasman, who discovered the area in 1642.

- It is commonly referred to as “The Ditch” as in “crossing the ditch”, as we are doing, between Tasmania and New Zealand.

- Although crossing by sea became commonplace in the 1900’s, earlier attempts met with various degrees of success.

- The sea is located in a region of prevailing westerly winds known as “the roaring forties,” and is frequently stormy.

Today is the second of our two-day sojourn of the Tasman Sea. This morning the captain explained that conditions no longer reminded him of a nasty day in Scotland, but instead a day in the Highlands. 

The morning remained rather calm but the winds and the motion of the ship increased after lunch. We were told that this would continue for about two hours until we came upon the coast of New Zealand. As we headed down to dinner, with land in sight, the sea settled down and we completed our "crossing of the ditch". We ended the day on calm waters, watching the sunset as the ship sailed between Southern New Zealand and Stewart Island. 

At some point during this journey, the closest land mass was Antarctica. There is a great connection between this area and Antarctica, something of which we were not aware. To hear about this connection brought back wonderful memories of our trip there. We now have wonderful experiences to remember of this trip and we are not even half-way through. Tomorrow a new country to explore...New Zealand.

Tasman Sea 1/3/2013

Signs of progressing age appear in unexpected ways. First, the AARP card that arrives in the mail at the age of 55; the graying or in someone's case, the loss of one's hair; the approaching inclusion in Medicare and now we can gauge how long we have been on this trip by when our pillboxes are empty. Yesterday, with three boxes empty, we knew twenty-one days had passed since we left home.  We refilled the boxes and are looking forward to what the next three weeks will hold in store for us.

This morning the captain compared the day to a nasty day in Scotland. We had fog, rolling water and no one ventured on deck to find out the temperature. The wind had died down and although we could still feel the motion of the ship, it was very manageable.

We have settled into our routine for days at sea.  Jon goes to bridge lessons and has appointments with his trainer. I work on my journal/blog entries, download my pictures and read up on the places we will visit in the upcoming segments of the trip. We receive the newspaper each day and have been reading about all that is going on at home. We are happy to be avoiding the cold weather in Minneapolis but in many respects think we would be better off taking a “news break” and not following the continued saga of the political circus in Washington. It seems to be never-ending.

This evening we attended an event for passengers who have traveled on Regent Seven Seas cruises for a total of 75 days or more.  Of the 700 people on-board, over 170 qualify for this category. We are traveling with a group that is primarily older and obviously well traveled. We have also found this to be one of the friendliest groups of passengers with whom we have cruised. 

We had dinner with a wonderful couple from Los Angeles that Jon met at bridge. Then off to bed, with the crossing of the Tasman Sea ending tomorrow when we arrive in New Zealand.

Still in Hobart 1/2/2013

What a surprise to awake this morning and find that we were still docked in Hobart. The captain made an announcement that the Tasman Sea remained too rough for us to cross and that we would be in port until 4 pm. Unfortunately it was a long walk from the dock to the city center, no shuttles had been arranged and cabs were nowhere to be found near the ship. Some people did make the walk, but there was plenty to be seen from on-board. We had sunny skies and calm water in our “safe harbor”. There were boats of all shapes, sizes and sailboats with sails of all colors. We just added this to the number of days we would be on-board and enjoyed all that was happening around us.

At 3:30 pm as anticipated, the captain announced that at 4pm we were going to leave port, sail to the end of the channel and wait for a window of opportunity to enter the Tasman. At this point he thought we should not experience extreme forward and back motion, but we will “rock and roll” into the night. Weather conditions will improve throughout the night and into tomorrow.  He confirmed that we would miss sailing through Doubtful Sound but explained that even if we had left as scheduled, it would have made no difference as the waters of the Sound have also been quite unpleasant and mudslides have occurred.

As we entered the Tasman Sea the ship did indeed begin to “rock and roll”. When walking down the hall we would start on one side and by the time we took the step, we were on the other side. It was not terrible but it was enough to know that that the waters were no longer calm.

This did not stop us from going upstairs to have dinner. The Maitre’ D told us that the last time the ship went through this sea, it was bounced around with water hitting the windows of the restaurant on the fourth floor, deck chairs flew off the pool deck and the ship at times, tilted from side to side. He said that he is not someone who normally prays, but in this instance he was saying every prayer he could remember. 

When we returned to our room we could see the whitecaps on the water, hear the wind fiercely blowing and feel the ship’s movement. Drawing on lessons learned when we crossed the Drake Passage, we put all electronic equipment in drawers, made sure that all items were securely on the shelves and put the bud vase that sits on our table, into the trash can so that it would not fall over.

Mother Nature is determining our course and we have only to wait and see what comes next. We crawled into bed and decided that sleeping through all of this was our best plan.

Hobart 1/1/2013

The infamous Tasmanian Devil

The "Lonely Planet Travel Guide" advises to see Tasmania before others discover it. 

After the welcome we received last evening, we were eager to begin our discovery of this city which lies in the shadow of Mount Wellington. The highlight of the trip was to be a visit to the Bonorong Park Animal Centre, where we would meet the Tasmanian devil.

Our guide was a native “Hobartian”, who was more than eager to share the pride she felt for her home, a land rich in history, wildlife, flora and fauna. As we traveled through the countryside she explained how bees are taken into the rainforest and later collected with a very special honey, how farmers grow a wide variety of lettuce, pink-eyed potatoes, apricots, cherries and poppies that produce an opium that is legal and used by the pharmaceutical companies that are on the island. This is a place where sheep are prevalent and one can buy the very best Merino wool. She spoke of the large lavender farm on the northern coast and the unique native conifers on Mount Read, some estimated to be 10,000 years old. We knew that this was home to many mammals and the only place to see the Tasmanian devil in the wild. We did not know about the Theater Royal, the Sympathy Orchestra, the Royal Botanical Gardens and a synagogue, which is the oldest in Australia and a rare example of an Egyptian Revival synagogue. We also did not know that it is internationally famous for its clean air and pure water that Australian’s Olympic team sends it to wherever they are competing.

Our first stop was at the historic town of Richmond, a small town that has changed little since its beginnings over 120 years ago, and yes, Jon found the bakery and the candy shop. Then we were off to meet up with the waiting animals.

Look for the baby

After a brief introduction by a ranger, we entered the Wildlife Park and were met by a gorgeous peacock that was roaming freely. Many kangaroos were also roaming freely and we could feed, pet and pose for pictures with them.

After visiting the kangaroos we were asked to follow a path that took us by, among other things wallabies, which look like kangaroos but are smaller, emus, a large variety of birdcages and the final stop where we could see the koalas. 

These were also in cages, but in environments that resemble their homes in the wild. Some were sleeping and some were resting in the trees. A ranger was holding one and explained to us about their eating and sleeping habits. How much fun it was to see all of these animals up close. We returned to the bus and headed back to the ship, but not for long.

Hobart is internationally famous among the yachting community as the finish of the Sydney to HobartYacht Race, which starts in Sydney annually on December 26^th. The arrival of the yachts, three days earlier marked the beginning of the Hobart Summer Festival, the Taste of Hobart. We headed to the pier; saw the yachts, walked through part of the festival. Everywhere you looked, partying was the order of the day. We returned to ship feeling that we had experienced a unique New Year's Day.

But there was more to come. Later in the afternoon, it rained in the mountains and we could see the beginnings of a rainbow. Rainbows kept appearing and disappearing. Some of them were half, others whole, some weak in color and others strong. Some touched the land and some touched the water. We watched  this fireworks display, put on by Mother Nature for the longest time. It was a remarkable way to begin the year.