mysty

Myster and I are both big fans of wine! We're looking forward to Australia and Japan. 😁

Just to caution you @mchell810, the Included excursion that visited 2 wineries in Napier offered better wine than Okurukuru (in our opinion). This is not really a wine growing area. The Gardens were beautiful though.

The excursion has a charge. It was $169 pp USD. There was an Included excursion called New Plymouth Panoramas. There was also New Plymouth Historic Walk and I'm not sure whether or not it was Included.

Photos from the winery Okurukuru...... Tomorrow is a sea day en route to Sydney, Australia.

We did an excursion in New Plymouth called Pukeiti Gardens and Okurukuru Winery. The Gardens have many Rhododendrons. Photos from Pukeiti Gardens.....

Today we are in New Plymouth, New Zealand. Photo from the sail in and one from our greeting by a choir from a local school.....

Photos from today's Discover Nelson on Foot excursion..... Walk along the Maitai River..... Queen's Garden..... Beautiful tree on the walk... Melrose House.... Christchurch Cathedral... Tomorrow we are in New Plymouth, New Zealand.

Beautiful photos! And the head band is amazing! 😁

Today we are docked in Nelson, New Zealand. We have an excursion early afternoon called Discover Nelson on Foot. Photos to follow. Tonight we are scheduled to have our 4th special meal request in our suite. This is the crayfish dish I described in an earlier post. It may be lobster because the Chef does not have access to crayfish.

Thank you @highplanesdrifters! Just a minor side effect from the antibiotic. It's all okay! 😁

Today we are in Kaikoura, New Zealand. Myster went off solo for the Whale Watching cruise. Some photos ..... Orcas..... Tomorrow we are in Nelson, New Zealand.

Today we are in Akaroa, New Zealand. We did an excursion called Akaroa Harbour Cruise. It was a tad windy and chilly. The scenery was spectacular. Photos from the sail in this morning..... From the harbour cruise..... Tomorrow we are in Kaikoura, New Zealand.

Today we are in Wellington, New Zealand. Beautiful temperatures, bright sunshine, wicked wind. We took an excursion called Storm Coast which took us from the Aotea Quay along the coast to Pencarrow Lodge. Spectacular scenery along a rugged coast. Sail in to Wellington..... Welcome..... The drive along the coast......built in 1858 Pencarrow Lighthouse is the oldest lighthouse in New Zealand..... Photos from Pencarrow Lodge where we were served delicious coffee, sandwiches, lamb tartlet, cookies and cakes..... There was a farm dog demonstration of sheep herding. Tomorrow we are in Akaroa, New Zealand.

It was one of the best excursions so far! 😁

Our gift for this segment appeared in the suite this evening. Gorgeous scarfs for the cold weather ahead.......

Tonight we dined at the Grill. We had the great good fortune to meet @wristband and Ms. Wristband! It seems we were on the same excursion today. Using their super detective skills they were able to find Myster and me at the Grill tonight. Hopefully we can meet up for a meal at some point! 😁

Today we were docked in Napier, New Zealand. It was a spectacular weather day! Beautiful sunshine, wonderful temperatures. We did an excursion called Boutique Wineries: Abbey Cellars & Clearview Estates. It was an excellent excursion. First stop was Abbey Cellars. Awesome venue and great wines with cheese, crackers, pate, nuts. We tasted 6 wines. Next stop was Clearview Estate. More luscious wines. We tasted 7 here. Awesome platters of nibbles! The list of wines we tasted (except for the last one which was not on the printed material. 2022 Black Reef Blush 2023 Coastal Pinot Gris 2022 Reserve Chardonnay 2021 Reserve Syrah 2021 Old Olive Block 2021 Enigma Myster and I both thought the wines from Clearview were slightly better. Tomorrow we are in Wellington, New Zealand.

Thank you @Joc123! We were at Uluru many moons ago and I wore pale colours with no issues! As for rolling around in the dirt, that is definitely not on the agenda! 😁

Tender service began at noon. With excursions canceled there was not a pressing need to visit Gisborne. The tender ride would be at least 25 minutes and then a shuttle ride of about 5 minutes to the town. Neither Myster nor I opted to leave the ship. Tomorrow will be Napier.

We are currently at anchor in Gisborne. The swells are a problem for the tender operations so all the morning excursions are canceled. We are remaining here with the hope that the swells calm down this afternoon.

Today we were in Tauranga, New Zealand. We had a Gastronomic excursion booked which was canceled due to not enough folks booking. We were not enticed by the other excursions available. We spent the morning on the ship and headed out for an amble after lunch. I'm on a quest for an inexpensive option for attire for our trip to Uluru. We have been cautioned about wearing light coloured clothing due to the risk of staining by the red soil. Most of my summer wear is light coloured. The quest continues! 😁

Our favourite was the Albarino from the Hunting Lodge. It was delicious! 😋😋😋

Today was our second day in Auckland. We did an excursion called Auckland's Wine country. First stop was the Hunting Lodge where we sampled 2 whites and 2 reds with pairing nibbles. Here are the wines we sampled..... es The Albarino was served with cheese with bits of fig.... The Sauvignon Blanc was served with smoked salmon and a caper..... The Pinot Noir was served with pear, cheese and prosciutto..... The Lagrein was served with cheese, honey and coffee grounds..... Next stop was Soljans Estate Winery. It is family owned and operated since 1937. Here we tasted a sparkling, a chardonnay, a sauvignon blanc, a merlot/cabernet/malbec, a pinot and a tawny port. Tomorrow we are in Tauranga, New Zealand.

Thank you DW! 🥰 I'm sure your memories are fresh. It's always a joy to relive lovely places and experiences!

Today we are in Auckland. No excursion booked. We may just meander. Last night the Restaurant celebrated Chinese New Year. IMG_1886.mp4