Day 50
This morning we headed to the train station in route to Wellington. The storm from yesterday that canceled the afternoon whale watching had left snow on the mountain tops. Across from the snow covered mountains, the locals were surfing.
Another interesting thing we observed on our train ride was the Saltworks, which is natural salt production created through seawater, fresh from the Pacific Ocean, being pumped into the evaporation ponds at Lake Grassmere.
Our train ride ended in Picton, where we grabbed a quick lunch and then boarded the Interislander Ferry for our 3.5 hour ride across Cook Strait to Wellington.
We checked into the quirky Museum Apartments Hotel with fun artwork everywhere. We lucked out again and received an upgrade for a 2 bedroom apartment. It was rather spacious with a family room, galley kitchen, and an extra half bath!
We decided to have pizza for dinner and headed out to Napoli Restaurant. It was very busy, and they had a singer in the dining room entertaining the crowd. Once again we struck up a conversation with a Swiss gentleman who, was dining with his young son. He was a regular, and he gave us several recommendations for the city including Logan Brown, a fine dining restaurant which we booked for the following night.
Day 51
In the morning we went to the Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa Tongarewa. We spent a great deal of time in the exhibit that tells the story of the eight month Gallipoli campaign in World War l through the eyes and words of 8 ordinary New Zealanders. In total, 2,779 Kiwis lost their lives on Gallipoli, and many others were scarred both mentally and physically forever. At the end of the campaign, they retreated and left Gallipoli, all of the death and destruction accomplished nothing. It also cost Winston Churchill his post as First Lord of the Admiralty, as his decisions and leadership were blamed for the debacle. The models below are built to 2.5x scale.
We also spent some time in the nature section of the museum seeing the birds and wildlife of the Northern Island.
They also had an interesting earthquake exhibit, where you could stand in the kitchen of this little house while a video played of the mother and son interacting before, during, and after the simulated quake strikes. The room we were in also shook. While not particularly terrifying as a “ride”, it would definitely be disconcerting if your house actually shook that much.
We only had a short visit to this extraordinary museum because we had booked a tour of Wellington in the afternoon. We had a small group tour, including a couple from Sydney and one from Switzerland. Our tour guide, Natalie, drove the van and narrated throughout the 3.5 hour tour. We headed out of downtown Wellington and around the bustling harbor to the “Wellington” sign (like the Hollywood sign, as New Zealand has quite a large film-making industry), which was our first stop.
Then we headed to Lyall Bay beach to see the rugged coast line and views of the South Island. We passed Weta Studios where the Lord of the Rings series was produced, including some of the filming sites, and stopped at Weta Cave for those who wanted to shop for Lord of the Rings figures and other memorabilia. Then we were off to the top of Mount Victoria to see spectacular views of Wellington’s city and harbor.
Continuing around the coastline we ventured through the different parts of the inner city ending up at the bottom of the iconic Wellington cable car, which first carried passengers in 1902. After our ride to the top in the cable car, we visited the quaint cable car museum and enjoyed more panoramic views of the city. We then drove back into the city, passing the Botanic Garden and Parliament Buildings.
After a brief rest at the hotel, we went to Logan Brown for dinner. It turned out to be a nice recommendation. The restaurant does a prix fixe style menu with a few choices for each course. We really enjoyed the meal and appreciated the recommendation.
Day 52
We headed back to the train station this morning to board our train to Ohakune (“O-hay-coo-nee”), a small town at the southern end of Tongariro National Park. We once again traveled through beautiful countryside. We were greeted at the train station by 2 beautiful Samoyeds, Opus and Ivan. They reminded us of Stella, Megan’s beautiful Samoyed. Ohakune is a small town that caters to hikers and bicyclist in the summer, providing many trails, and to skiers in the winter. We stayed at the Powderhorn Chateau, which looked like a lodge in Montana.
After lunch, we took advantage of the hiking trails and headed out to enjoy a scenic walk by the river. We returned to the hotel and decided to check out their pool. It was supposed to be heated to 100oF, but it was probably 82oF at best so we didn’t last too long. We had a quiet evening after dinner at our hotel.
Day 53
Pat got up early and went on a long walk to the other end of town. He discovered that there were electric bikes that could be rented, and there was a shuttle that you could take up to the “Old Coach Road” path and ride back down into town.
The electric bikes were a new experience for both of us, and we really appreciated the boost you got from them when biking up hills! The Old Coach Road was 17 km and was originally used by horse-drawn coaches as a connecting route between the two rail heads of the unfinished North Island trunk line. The scenery was beautiful as we passed through the different sections of the trail.
After our ride, we decided to have a drink and dinner at a local restaurant. We were joined on the outside patio by “Gordon” who might have been the town drunk. He asked if he could sit with us, despite all other tables being empty. Gordon was originally from Northern Ireland, and Pat pointed out that his countryman (Rory McIlroy) had a very good day today, moving into contention at The Masters. He made Pat laugh when he responded to the question “What brought you to New Zealand?” with “That was an airplane.” It reminded Pat of something his Dad might say to such a question. Irish humor!
After our early dinner, we went to the 5:30 pm Mass at St Joseph’s Church. This was a very small parish (there were only 20 parishioners in attendance, including us) with only one Mass per weekend because the priest covers 3 churches which are 2 hours apart. We were greeted by Father Trung, a priest originally from Vietnam, who covers the 3 parishes. He also introduced us to several of the parishioners. The beginning of Mass included the Blessing of Palms for Palm Sunday. These were the most unique “palms” we’d ever encountered. Rather than ship in palm fronds, they used branches from a local evergreen tree. Unfortunately, we knew we couldn’t keep them due to our international travel (especially back into Hawai’i, which is very protective of its ecology). During Mass, Father referenced “Patrick & Cheryl”, and an intention was made later for the continued “safe travels of Patrick and Cheryl” as well. The other interesting thing about this Mass was the significant use of the Māori language in several prayers, intercessions, and songs. What an amazing experience!
We were escorted on our way back to our hotel by one of the parishioners, Martin. He was a bit quirky, but very nice. He seemed enamored with having a chance to chat with a couple of Americans. He had visited the US once before, going skiing in Colorado several year ago. After a long day of biking and walking, we were happy to make it an early night.
Day 54
This was another travel day today, as we headed to our final stop in New Zealand, Auckland on the tip of the North Island. Before catching the train, we had breakfast at a little restaurant called “Frank’s” a few doors down from our hotel. Back on the train, we again saw beautiful scenery along the way. Unfortunately for us, the tracks on the last leg between a town called Hamilton and Auckland were under repair. We knew about this in advance and bought a connecting bus ticket. The ride was fine, but a bus is no competition for a nice train car.
We chose the Auckland Hilton for our last three nights, which is right on the harbor near the Ferry Terminal. We had an awesome room on the 6th floor at the end of the wharf. It provided a great view of Auckland’s Harbor Bridge (especially when lit up at night), plus endless activity from all the ferry and other boat traffic in the area. There was a great wrap-around balcony that we would end up using each night of our stay. Upon arrival, the Celebrity Edge was docked right next to our hotel, where the Royal Princess would be docked in a few days!
Despite the late arrival, we had made a reservation for dinner, selecting Wynyard Grill Steakhouse. We were both in the mood for steak, so we shared a chateaubriand. We had good starters and sides, and the meat was prepared nicely at mid-rare.
Day 55
We had a slow start to our day since the final day of The Masters was on and Pat wanted to enjoy one of his favorite golf tournaments. Cheryl enjoyed watching the sun rise on the balcony, all of the activity in the wharf and chatting with various family members.
After the tournament, we decided to take a ferry to Waiheke (“Why-hee-kee”) Island and visit a winery. Although New Zealand is best known for its white wines (especially Sauvignon Blanc) with a litte bit of Pinot Noir in some places, the winery we selected is known for Bordeaux grapes. Stoneyridge Winery produces small amounts of a red blend (“Larose”) that combines Cabernet Sauvingon, Merlot, Malbec, Petit Verdot, and Cabernet Franc. We started with lunch in their restaurant, then proceeded to an upstairs tasting room for the Larose tasting.
We were hosted by the sommelier, Mathis (“Ma-tees”), who is originally from Tours, France. We enjoyed several years of the Larose wine. Despite thinking our wine purchases on this trip were complete, we decided to buy a couple of cases for shipment home to add to the cellar. On our travels, we don’t buy too many souvenirs, but we do like to remember our adventures with wine when we visit vineyards.
We had pre-arranged a pickup from our taxi driver, so we had some time left. We got another glass of wine and proceeded to sit under some olive trees near the edge of the vineyard. After a few minutes, Mathis came walking toward us with another gentlemen, who turned out to be Marty, the winemaker. We chatted with him for about 10 minutes, discussing his wines, New Zealand wineries, and the wine industry in general. He was quite humble and friendly, and we asked him to sign one of the bottles that is being shipped to us.
We enjoyed the beauty of Auckland on our ferry ride home.
Day 56
Today was “grooming” day. Pat got a haircut at a barber shop near the hotel (“high and tight”), while Cheryl visited a salon in an area a little further away. Pat also made a trip to a local mall to pick up an internet order from an outdoor clothing store. We ordered water shoes, as several of the descriptions for excursions at our stops in French Polynesia recommended them. In search of some “All Blacks” logo wear, Pat stayed at the mall checking out some of the stores. Although he didn’t find anything for New Zealand’s rugby equivalent of the New York Yankees, he did find some new long-sleeve casual shirts that should make an appearance before the end of our journey.
Cheryl also decided to do some shopping, in search of some merino wool sweaters. She found a little shop not far from our hotel in the central business district. She was able to find a couple of nice sweaters, and now can’t wait for Fall to bring them out! We went to a little French bistro for lunch, and we both had Croque Monsieur. As Pat is a globally recognized connoisseur of Croque Monsieur, he gave it high marks for presentation and flavor. The key, according to Pat, is a nice bechamel, but not too much, and not too little. This one was perfect.
For dinner tonight, we decided to keep it casual and just went to the hotel restaurant, FISH. It was OK, nothing spectacular.
Day 57
Today, we will board our cruise. No surprise, we started to run into people in the hotel who were also going to be boarding. We learned from a couple of them that the departure time had been moved up from 7pm to 4pm in an attempt to beat some bad weather coming in. A tropical storm was north of Auckland several hundred miles but bearing down with high winds expected, along with heavy rains. No problem for us, as we planned to board around noon, which was mostly uneventful.
While we could have explored the city more, the less than stellar weather made that less appealing, so we decided to remain on the ship to check it out while many passengers we’re onshore. Well, it turned out that 4pm wasn’t soon enough, as the weather did indeed deteriorate. The captain and the harbor pilot concluded it was not safe for us to leave, so the plan was to remain in port another day. The captain hoped to leave the following day if conditions improve.
Our plan for blog updates at this point is to do one after we visit the scheduled ports prior to disembarking in Honolulu, and then post a final wrap-up post after we return home in early May.
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