By this Author: wilson.lim61

Thoughts on the Cruise

This is a new type of cruising for me. With Viking in Norway, the journey had an aim - chasing the Northern Lights. With Alaska, it was chasing wildlife. This cruise? Chasing Kangaroos and Kiwis? Please!

I was surprised by the formality of the dress code. In the end, I worked it out that it was formal dress on the first night. What a wank. Have to pack a jacket just for that! I gave away the jacket after that except for the restaurant La Dame, the uber fine dining French place. Every restaurant other than 2 requires prior bookings. Another bullshit idea. You have to pay extra for the uber fine dining places - La Dame and the Kaiseki (Japanese degustation).

The food has been very good. Like all buffets and unlike the climate, unchanging. I reckon it would still be the same when we kill ourselves with net zero by 2050. The fine dining is fine (ha ha) but it should come with hazard warnings. For those long cruises (30 days and beyond) you would be a walking heart attack. Forget just getting an appendicectomy for Antartica, get a pre cruise coronary stent. Still I get to have things that I would never have at home or even think about ordering!

Being light drinkers, the premium wine and spirits did nothing for us. The house wines and whiskey (Glen Morangie) are very good. There are a few people waxing lyrical about this wine and that, I bet they couldn't tell the difference. Wine tossers!

The service is overwhelming. Hordes of people running around getting you this and that. We felt a bit uncomfortable with that. Look mate, I can reach across the counter and get that fruit myself. We were used to filipino wait staff on the other cruises. Here there is a substantial number of africans. Some good and some not so good. Quite a few of the crew are also fairly chunky but that is to be expected if they are eating like us! Who am I to be shooting barbs..

The cabin is great. Plenty of room. Being a mid tier cabin, we did not get the free laundry service. There are laundrettes on each deck. At least that forced Debbie to interact with the other wives (including our LGBTQ wives) doing the washing. The bathroom is great. You can have new towels 3 times a day which is a bit wasteful so we try to confine it to twice a day! The toilets are like the aircraft loos - they operate with a big suction action. Also remember to keep the lid down as there could be some regurgitation with the motion of the ocean.

The Enrichment lectures are a bit hit and miss. The rock and Roll lectures were great - delivered with a sense of humour. The Defence lectures were interesting and current. The environment lecture were mediocre. The pyshologist lectures were shite which is not surprising as psychologists have ruined our kids by medicalising normal human emotions., Psychiatrist prescribe happy pills and psychologist prescribe stress leave.

The shore excursions were ordinary. Maybe that is because we were in Adelaide, Kangaroo Island and NZ. That's our backyard! That's like me walking around my block and said that I have been on a hike! I am sure it would be a lot different if we were actually overseas. I am really looking forward to our river cruise in May/June

This is best boat for smokers. They have a dedicated lounge on deck 9. Leather chairs. There is a whiskey bar and you can buy cigars - not cheap but you can buy them! Normally, smokers are quite social and fun but it has been different. The Americans are just insular and conversations end up like interrogations. There is a crazy Indian woman which is the spitting image of Preeti minus 50 kilos. Says a lot when the friendliest couple was a Dutch couple. They actually have a sense of humour.

As for the rest of the punters, half of them are the walking dead and the other half the talking dead. Most of them seem to be travelling in groups. I reckon the cruise would be more fun with friends. Next time, some of you bastards better come along!

This is supposed to be an all inclusive cruise. I thought that it was ALL inclusive but not quite. The Wi Fi is pathetic - the standard free package is very slow, does not work with VPNs and only allows one device go connect at any one time. I have worked around the one device bullshit by hot spotting from my phone but to get decent speed fast enough for streaming, you need to updrage to the premium package for an astronomical price.
There is also a bit of up selling going on but that has fallen on deaf ears with us. At least we won't have to worry about gratuities. The Wi Fi, extra payments for the 2 premium restaurants and

Debbie's Thoughts

Where to start! I was knackered when I got on this boat and my fingers were fat and swollen and my feet ached! All that gardening, so I thought a few days rest would be a good thing for me. Our cabin was very nice and I love the balcony so I can observe the wild life from our room. I have been very happy in this space having completed 2 big books, knitted a jumper and watched several movies that I missed first time round.

After a few days of R and R my fingers and feet feel much better and I was ready to go again but the daily circuit around deck 11 can get a bit boring and on rainy days the gym equipment was closed due to rough seas.

Our first night in the posh dining room left me cold. Aging oldies in ball gowns and tux, definitely not my gig. From then on we were a bit more selective and chose elegant casual which I can do! But after several days of elegant casual I was back to my roots wanting tracky dacs, sweats and a cheese sarny. I am not a massive foodie. Don't get me wrong I love a good stir fry and piece of cake but that is not the vibe here. Its elegant dining wine, 3 course meals and so much waste. I have been pretty selective and only tried to eat when I am hungry.

As Wilson has pointed out, the enrichment lectures and entertainment has been a mixed bag. Some really good and some awful. I could list so many things that they could of done but chose to talk about Burken bags or how to look 10 years younger (lectures I did not attend due to their upselling policy- dangerous times) I think they missed an opportunity to provide much more.

The shore excursions were OK and our guides were great but the level of difficulty was very much aimed at the walking dead.

So to the clientele aboard this ship. So much Barbie and Ken plastic, in fact I have kept a diary of some of the conversations I have overheard which I will share with anyone who is interested. I think I am over rich Americans, I need a good laugh with an Aussie (or Kiwi)

So to conclude. The coastal scenery in New Zealand is stunning, I definitely want to come back and spend time here. I would rather do it on land and in a much more casual setting. I'm glad to say I have tried this type of holiday but I think for me, I need it to be more active and much more casual. Its a lot of money to spend on a few days of R and R especially when you have to do your own laundry.

Wasn't going to blog but the last day was interesting.

Woke uo to pouring rain. It was blowing a gale all night. We had planned to stay in Auckland for 2 nights but as Deb had an early flight to Melbourne and the weather was Kiwi shitty, we changed plans. We booked a night at the Pullman at the airport so that Deb can just walk to the terminal. I fly out at 1450 hrs so I can lounge around until check out and walk across to the terminal as well.

We had to check out the Hilton by 1100 hrs. That is a much more reasonable time compared to hotels in other countries where you are kicked out by 1000 hrs. Out by 1000 hrs and you can't check into your next place untilk 1500 hrs which means there is a bit of waiting around. Very inconvenient!

We took a wander around the waterfront (in the fucking mizzle). From all the boats in the marina, there is money in Auckland. The cars are pretty new which is another indicator of the economy of the city. Found a cafe run by Koreans - great coffee. Then we had lunch at the White and Wong. Bloody racist name - making fun of the Chinese! Xi Jing Ping should boycott their exports just for that. Half a peking duck, Kung po chicken. Bloody delicious but not cheap. Always a bit suss and dodgy when all the staff in a Chinese restaurant are white of Indian. It DOES detract from the ambience.

Plenty of money right there on the water

The odd one out - wedged between the money

The NZ Navy - no nuclear subs there. Wait - they are the world's first nuclear free nation, probably the first one to have to learn mandarin too

After lunch we grabbed an uber to the Pullman at the airport. Very nice hotel right next to the terminal. The Novotel is actually closer by 100 m but there are free trolleys available. I hate the way they charge for trolleys at some airports - just looks cheap. Deb spent the afternoon watching the tennis while I had a snooze. to get the super fast WiFi, all you have to do is to sign up as a member of the Accor group and its free. Why wouldn't you! Glad to have decent internet speed after 16 days of the shitty slownet of the ship.

Then it was time for dinner. We thought we would go to the Pullman's restaurant on the top floor (floor 9). Sta down and looked at the menu and left. It was the shittiest menu I have ever seen. Very expensive. $42 for a beetroot salad - to be fair they will char the beetroot. The rest of the menu is undecipherable. There is a steak for $50. I have had steak for 14 days on board the ship so that was not an option.

The Pullman at Auckland Airport - posh.

You will not believe this but in the end we walked to the terminal for dinner. The eateries upostairs were awesome. There is a bistro, a ramen place and an Asian fusion place. To top it off, they also have Maccas and KFC! Just what the doctor ordered. 3 Piece feed and was happy as a pig in it. There is no way Debbie would have KFC - she had a quiche and salad. Real men don't eat quiche!

These things are supposed to be outside on the tarmac

Always brings a shudder to a Wallaby fan - truly a devils den

That's me for sure. Make way, coming through

NZ version of a high speed train

View from our room - so much for security

Deb and her quiche

Check out the product placement - I should be paid by the Colonel

Back in the room for more tennis and psyching ourselves for the journey home.

This is the end of the blog, for sure!

Set the alarm to be up at 0600 hrs. Last minute packing and down to breakfast for the last time. You guy guessed it, the breakfast buffet is exactly the same. I wonder if they actually pack it away each day?

Arriving at Auckland

Auckland in the sunrise

The Hilton glistening in the sunrise

Princes Wharf - Cruise ship terminal

Little tug pulling and pushing us into place

The entire NZ navy - they had 3 ships but they ran one aground

Wharfies - same same everywhere. Doing sweet FA

The hidden office - where the wharfies can't be seen

Obviously a bridge

Crude graphic

Disembarking was staggered according to your luggage tag. Makes sense as this avoids the bunfight to jump off the ship - not that many of the walking dead can jump at all. Security checks seem to be very slack. Passport checks were slack too. Jesus, I could have been Osama's twin with a suspicious bulky jacket and I would have been waved through! Very friendly though unlike the dickhead TSAs in the US.

Debbie had booked us a night at the Hilton which unfortuately was at the next pier. Very inconsiderate of the captain as that meant we had to drag our cases out of the dock and into the next pier. Quite a workout. It was cool but humid. The forecast was for 5 mm of rain but I doubt that. there you go, $100 million for he new BOM site and they can't predict a few hours. What chance, predicting 100 years! Come on guys, we are being scammed!

Even though it was only 0930 hrs, our room was ready. Not the best room as it overlooks the balcony and windows of the next building. Its only for 1 night and we will make do.

Auckland Waterfront

I think this is at the Post Office (the name is in Maori - I am not fluent in Maori)

These things are hanging under the pier - Deb and I think that they are to provide surfaces for shellfish who will act as filters and try and clean up the water quality

They look like oysters - with the poor water quality, they will be full of shit

Signs warning people - In Victoria, the warning would be about the mushrooms

Interesting screen

Statue of some Maori hero

Botswana Butchery - a meat restaurant. Vegans run away

Nice buildings

The main pedestrian mall

Walking along the pier - its like Barangaroo in Sydney

Art deco building

Happy camper with her curry

Pho and a beer, what more do you wantt!

Amazing street circus performer

The Hilton - they have built it to look like a cruise ship

Maori ambulance

Maori gate (copied from the Chinese)

He is filming a youtube video - probably a travel blog. Seems like hard work and you look like a complete muppet standing in the middle of the road talking to yourself.

MAritime museum. That is the hull of one their winning yachts of the America cup. The Aussies broke the yanks spirit, winning despite the cheating yanks and I believe the Kiwis have hammered the nails in a couple of times.

Swedish yacht - nice wooden decking but where are the cabins?

The unfortunate experience of a big city - aggressive homeless at a bus stop

I think that is called the Sky Tower

Fastest monohull in its time - lost the cup through lawfare and American cheating

The Wharf

White and Wong (racist bastards! Clever though)

The Ferry building

Nice sculpture. People like twisting huge hunks of metals

Nice

Princes Wharf

Cup of coffee and we went for a walk. Good to be on terra firma after 16 days rocking and rolling with the motion of the ocean. Walking along the waterfront, I noticed that there are many asians in Auckland if not NZ. I believe that they are number 3 in the immigration tables after Australia. Makes for great food as I believe that Maori cuisine is not exceptional. Can't be good burying and cooking food in a hole. Earthy taste.

We found a great foodcourt - Commercial Bay shopping mall. It even had a pub in it and the beer was fantastic. Come on Australia, get the pubs into the food courts. Deb had Indian and I went straight for the Vietnamese pho. Delicious.

Back to the Hilton for Deb to watch the Aussie Open.

I am going to end the blog here. We are translocating to the Pullman at the Airport as Deb flies out to Melbourne at 0800 hrs and I fly to Perth at 1450 hrs. All in all it has been a great trip. It has been a different sort of cruise for us - more about luxury and being pampered. As for the walking dead, we will be joining them as the years roll on!

Docked Port Tauranga 0800 hrs. The wether is the worst of the cruise and doesn't promise better.

Arrival at Tauranga

Statue of a Maori fisherman

NZ is very green as it should be with all the rain

I think she is ovrerloaded

Crappy graphics of our position

Tauranga is a major port and pine timber is a major export. It is plantation pine - pinus radiata

Hobbiton

We are booked on an excursion to Hobbiton. Might as well seeing that we are her in Tauranga where they filmed the movies. After 1 hr coach trip, we arrived at the carpark of the Hobbiton Movie set. It was crazy with people. They were very well organised. Xi Jin Ping should emply them to organise his troops for the invasion of Taiwan.

We had to board their bus with their guide. A bus departs every 10 mins and they were going non-stop. There is a method to their madness. By staggering the groups, it allowed an orderly flow through of people which meant that there were more opportunities for photography without too much photo-bombing.

Hobbiton (or Hobbit Town) is the actual set where they filmed the movies. The guide had numerous stories of the expense Peter Jackson incur trying to get a very short (often just seconds) length of film. One of the actors could not come to Tauranga as he was unwell, so PJ just flew the props and set to London to film 15 seconds with him! No wonder the movie cost blew out. Good thing the movies were popular and they made money. The attention to detail was amazing. Anyway, I'll let the photos speak for themselves...

Welcome to Hobbiton - Shire's Rest (the Reception, Cafe and Shop)

Hobbiton movie set is built on a working sheep and cattle farm. The farmer has certainly capitalized on it! He would be making much more on the tourism than the farming. It is a very beautiful place with green rolling hills.

The Americans going crazy foir the merch. They love merch. Their homes must be chock full of shit

Got to the cafe before the yanks who were preoccupied with the merch

Sheep wandering on the road - bloody stupid things

This cheeky sparrow is waiting for crumbs

A conga line of sheep heading into the hills

Lots of rules

Pictures of hobbit Holes (houses) - must have got the idea from the tele tubbies. Come to think of it, the architect who designed the Parliament house in Canberra must be mega fan of the Tele tubbies. My favourite is thinky whinky

Useful road signs

The place is one giant garden - not all the plants and stuff is real though

Paul our French Guide. Very french accent - like watching episodes of 'allo 'allo

You can imagine yourself in Middle Earth

Random tourist

That big tree on the hill is artificial. Apparently they had to glue thousands of leaves. It is so real that there are acrtually bird's nests in it

These are props - look so real!

Our group (except me) listening intently to the French guide. It was drizzling on and off

The competitors - Bet they are from the Amazara Pursuit - look at the matching umbrellas

Hobbit hives

I have a thing for rustic farm gates - black and white for arty shots

hobbit holes from a far

Beautiful green rolling hills - I am going to watch the movies again to see the scenes

Hobbit Smoke House

Fishmonger

Lots of apple trees laiden with fruit

Beautiful flowers everywhere

Hobbit windows

What a beautiful scene

The Mill in the distance

Thistle

Same random tourist

Rustic fencing

Weird trees

This Chinese woman had her English husband by the balls. She selects his food and tells him what to do all the time. Might as well have a collar and a lead

Hobbit sprinklers

woodwork shop

Pear tree - full of fruit

hobbit lamp - should be LED

They have also recreated a hobbit hole (house) for visitors to experience. Low ceilings, everything inside made for midgets. The tall timbers risk serious head injuries. With the duty of care, bike helmets should have been provided. It was quaint and cute and would delight kids and hardcore LOTR fans.

I think this is a family home - 2 adults and 2 kids

Living room

Walk in pantry

Bathroom with an antique bath

Kitchen with wood stove

Bedroom

Very nice window seat

Testing out the chairs - need to shrink your butt or you will never get off the chair

Beer supply

Open fire place in the front room

Master bedroom where hobbits do what hobbits do

Bunk beds for the little hobbits (or are they called hibbits?)

Another window crook for an office desk

Hobbit loo

Pickled veggies

That washing machine looks like hard work

Trying out the beds - pretty comfy but most people will have their heels hanging off the end

That looks like a durian - I didn't think that there were any Asian hobbits. We are already short!

Random tourist via the window

Recipe book

Then we ended up in the Green Dragon pub as in the movies. They give you a drink - alcoholic cider, stout and beer, non alco ginger beer. Very beautiful grounds. Americans going crazy about the merch.

Small lake outside the pub

The Mill - with water wheel

The supply wagon

The Green Dragon

The Town of Matamata

Then it was a short drive to the town of Matamata for lunch at an Italian restaurant - Ostera. It was a buffet of pasta and salads and it was actually very good. It was the best tour bus lunch we have had. Neat town but doesn't seem to have too many people. The region is agricultural with sheep and cattle. There is also quite a few stud farms with a strong horse racing background.

Empty streets of Matamata

Just like Bunbury, they like to have monuments on their roundabouts.

Fabulous statue of horse and jockey. I think NZ horses have won the Melbourne Cup on quite a few occasions

Nice building - law office I think

Pulling off the Azamara

We were docked next to the Azamara Pursuit. This is a smaller and older cruise ship. I was up on deck just in time to watch the tugs pull the Pursuit off the dock and get it on its way. Very interesting process. Those tugs sure has some horsepower!

joystick controls - the kids would be naturals at it

Last view of the harbour from the dock

Then it was back to the boat. They have laid out our suitcases. It is a not so subtle hint to start packing as we had to place the packed cases outside our cabin by 2300 hrs. We have to vacate the cabin by 0800 hrs tomorrow. I think that that is a bit rushed but they have to get the cabins ready for the next lot of passengers who will board by 1400 hrs.

Had our last fine dining. Back to cheese on toast next week! We will have a whole day in Auckland tomorrow. More then...

Silver Moon Smoking Lounge

Just some shots of the very luxurious smoking lounge.

Humidor for the cigars - certainly not cheap but you can be a poser and buy them. They should be cheap as they are duty free

The outside area - sheltered with overhead heaters

Leather lounges - old worldy vibe

The whiskey cabinet stocked with premium to p of the Wazza stuff

This is our last day at sea. 14 knots in 2 m swells but still a pretty comfortable ride. fingers crossed, haven't been sick yet. Slept in and decided to miss out on breakfast.

Great to have a balcony. Saw this lone albatross swooping over the ocean surface. Apparently some of them don't land for 5 years. Mysterious how they have a shag - on the fly? Is that the original mile high club? Magnificent big birds.

The Albatross

Before you know it, it was lunch. The ship has laid on a special brunch which is just the same everyday buffet lunch with a couple of special additions. The decorations were ingenious and beautiful. It's a bit odd having the crew in full uniform lining up the corridor wishing everyone a good lunch. At least there are no mainland Chinese here as they would lose their minds with the sea food on display. Chinese tourists are like sea gulls around a chip when it comes to sea food buffets. Believe me they can pick a platter clean quicker than piranhas at a carcass in the Amazon. By now, we are pretty jaded with the buffets - I had a bit and Debbie had a cup of tea! Just can't take the Pom out of the girl!

Silver Sea Special Brunch

Cocktails on arrival - too early for me but for the walking dead, they can drink

The veggie stand at the entrance

Start at the caviar station - I wonder who is the muppet who thought that it was good idea to catch a big fish, grab the eggs and throw out the rest!

follow with the antipasto

More claws than you can throw a stick at. Sorry Jenny Mac, no oysters. I was prepared to have a couple for you

Silver Seas Laksa - complete fail. Just get a proper Chinese chef. Indians and Filipinos do not do laksa

wish the Chinese would boycott our crayfish again, then we can to have them

For the Herbivore - they are certainly getting short changed with the food.

Pretend to be healthy and go for the sushi and sashimi

Dessert station - my favourite

The cheese board

After lunch I went to the Enrichment lecture about Motown music. For me, it was the best lecture series of the cruise. The defence analyst was pretty good too as he was speaking about current issues. The rock and roll just brought back memories of my youth. Great music but 100% shitty fashion. All that shiny rayon, flares and long collared shirts exposing the 2 chest hairs I had studiously cultivated. All the hard work chasing the girls , not like today where the girls chase the blokes and buy them drinks! They don't even bother, they just click their mice flirtatiously when on line!

Rock and Roll Legends - Motown

Who remember the Marvelettes - hit with Please Mister Postman

Stevie Wonder

The drifters (now the old drifters) - they called themselves the Drifters because their line up was always changing with 11 lead singers

Motown group photo

The Supremes - Diana Ross on the right, shagged the label owner and became a star. also helos that she's got talent. Nowadays you just have to lip sync

Marvin Gaye - the Prince of Motown

The Jackson 5 - outrageous outfits

Smokie Robinson and the Miracles - so called because he thought it would be a miracle if they make it

The Temptations - man, they were cool! Nothing like 5 black fellas in matching suits doo wopping with synchronised dance moves.

The everyday crude graphic showing our global position

Time to dinner. We have a table for 1930 hrs at the Italian La Terazza. Looks like a dress up thing so I am going to give the jacket a last outing. Fabulous meal. The lasagna was awesome. House wine was very good to my uneducated palate. Started chatting to this older couple from the Mornington Peninsula. He's a retired vet - multiple coronary stents nd still going. There is hope for me yet. I have already refered myself to Alison for my future stents.

We finished off with a whiskey in the Panorama lounge before bed.

We are off to Hobbiton, Tauranga tomorrow. We can see land off our portside as we are hugging the coast. The weather looks grim but here's hoping for some sunshine tomorrow.

Furiously knitting. I thought that it was crop top jumper but it just wasn't finished

One last time dolled up for dinner

Grim looking weather

Stowaway - just happy to be out of the wind