onlyslightlymad

This is from a bit further away but Star Breeze was in today. Only 312 guests.

I really like the Auckland Art Gallery. It's just a lovely peaceful space. The design of the building is fabulous, it incorporates an old historic building with a new space seamlessly and real thought has gone into the building's relationship with Albert Park where it is sited. I particularly love the stone paving which I believe was imported from Germany (I think). It is so quiet to walk on and if you look closely you can see little fossils embedded in the stone. The art is a bit of a bonus too. https://www.aucklandartgallery.com/about/building

I'm afraid I'm a very dull person because I like vanilla

It's worth trying the ice cream at Mount Made. It's a little further down Maunganui Road. Lovely handmade ice cream and very nice people too

The old people who have lived there since birth still think of it as a separate town which is fair enough. We have had an influx of rich Aucklanders in the last few years though who refuse to say that they live in Tauranga but instead live at 'the Mount". I always want to pop their balloon.

I know this is pedantic but Mt Maunganui is not a town, it's a suburb of Tauranga. I live in Otumoetai and work in Mt Maunganui. It takes me 15 mins to get to work. They are both suburbs of Tauranga. That said, the Tauranga CBD is just dreadful at present. Roadworks everywhere, shops empty. I, too, would stay in the Mount and just have a wander if I was to pull in on a cruise ship.

I hope your evening went well. A wet one here in NZ, which literally put a dampener on things but a beautiful morning. Here's to looking forward to 2024!

This is a little odd. A 15 year old missing off a cruise ship is lost in Dunedin. How do you get lost in Dunedin? It's just not that big https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/search-underway-15-year-old-missing-afte-becoming-separated-from-parent-during-cruise-ship-visit-to-dunedin/TLFKGFE6V5FF5LC3M6PFVQJSEA/

I've always liked the Pullman. It's near the university and it's an easy walk to the CBD. The rooms are comfortable, the staff are friendly. The included breakfast is a buffet and is quite good. Restaurant is not great otherwise but there are some good restaurants nearby. The Langham is a nice hotel too but not very central.

Viking Orion is in today. I was supposed to be on her next September but it looks like it's not going to work out (leave issues). She is pretty though.

Hi Becky I think you are applying for the wrong visa. Please refer to this link https://www.newzealand.com/int/visas-and-immigration/ In particular, the following passage If you plan to visit New Zealand for a short period, you need to request a New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority(opens in new window) (NZeTA) before you travel if you are: A citizen of a country which has a visa waiver(opens in new window) agreement with New Zealand (you can stay up to three months) If you don’t meet the above, then you’ll need a visitor visa. The fastest and easiest way to apply for a visitor visa(opens in new window) is online. As you are from the USA, and this is included in the list of visa waiver countries, and you are planning to stay for less than three months, you should apply for the ETA. The visitor visa application that you are working through is for those planning to stay for more than three months, or those from countries not approved for a visa waiver. I hasten to add, that I am not an expert in these matters, and you should read through the information in the link yourself.

Weather is one off events, climate change is long term trends. One cyclone is weather but an increase in frequency or intensity over time is climate change.

Celebrity Edge arrives in Tauranga. I will be on her in 73 short days....

https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018919427/cruise-ship-chaos-port-boss-makes-promise-to-ferry-commuters

Around 600 at full capacity. We were looking at a relocation cruise with her which is very good value but can't get the time off, unfortunately

And here's the pic to prove it

Well, I did a particularly bad job of photographing Grand Princess, in that I forgot. But here is Coral Princess in yesterday. I have noticed what a lot of Princess ships we get in here, Grand, Majestic, Coral.

The problems at the airport are more to do with the airport authority than Air NZ. Air NZ are very short staffed, as is everyone else in NZ at the moment and for the first time ever have outsourced some of their call centres to overseas. As to the Lounge, I do know the lounge is pretty overcrowded at the best of times. They've been way too generous with letting whole families in on one member pass, which has not made other members too happy. It may well be that the lounge was full.

It does depend on the day and the time of day, but when a whole lot of flights come in at once it just all falls over. Not enough staff, poor systems. My daughter was flying from Dunedin to Melbourne via Auckland, allowed a couple of hours transit time and got stuck in a queue. She just managed to make her Melbourne flight by running. There's lots of incidents in the press with annoyed customers https://www.odt.co.nz/star-news/star-national/huge-crowds-and-delays-cause-chaos-auckland-airport

The immigration and customs procedures in Auckland are an absolute nightmare at the moment. i strongly recommend that anyone making a domestic to international connection through AKL allows three hours.

Just remember that if there is an accident or slip on the Kaimais, you are stuck on the other side. There is only the one road that way. You would have to go the Rotorua way which would add a lot of extra time to your journey. That most probably won't happen but it does happen very occasionally.

I live in Tauranga. You should be okay, as you are not hitting peak traffic at that time. The traffic on the Kaimais (the range between Tauranga and Waikato) can really back up during peak times. But if you finish your tour at 1740, get straight to your car, leave at 1800, an hour's drive if the traffic is good, back at 1900-ish. You will probably be fine, assuming no accidents, or mishaps blocking the Kaimai road. Otherwise, where's the next port?

Look who was coming into the harbour when I was heading to work this morning - Royal Princess

Yes, my daughter was exposed to chicken pox when she was a new born. A mother in the hospital caught it from her visiting toddler. My daughter was breast fed so never had any symptoms but she plainly had caught the virus as she developed shingles at five months. Then from the shingles, she gave her brother chicken pox. About six years later we moved countries and shortly after that my son developed shingles. I think the move must have caused him stress as that can make one more susceptible to a recurrence of the virus.

Not always late in life. My daughter had shingles at five months of age (which is unusually young). A couple of years later my son had shingles at 8 years old. When you have shingles, you can give people chicken pox if they haven't had it before.