Webbs Down Under

So our ship arrived in its final port of Auckland where we spent a couple of days.  Here it is waiting to take another load of hungry cruisers to Perth on its next journey (Celebrity Solstice on the left). First stop in Auckland was the Auckland zoo where I was determined to see kiwis before we left New Zealand. This was no easy task as they are nocturnal creatures and we had already failed in this quest in Rotorua where we had sat in the dark for ages in a kiwi enclosure to no avail. However, today we were lucky and finally found a couple in this zoo (very hard to photograph in a nocturnal enclosure!). In the evening we went up the Auckland tower with wonderful views and had dinner in the revolving restausrant.  A long way from home here and a long way down from the top (328m). They do bungee jumping from the top of the tower -definitely not for me!         On our 2nd day we did a long drive to Hobbiton- the film set for Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit. Apparently the set was built f

Rotorua is my idea of what NewZealand is like - geothermal parks, geysers, hot springs and mud pools.  We visited a couple of geothermal parks and the scenery is stunning.     This is one of the biggest geysers in the area. Also found some Mauri emojis - very expressive- think these might be useful back in my office       Back to ship and headed for our final stop - Auckland where we are headed for Hobbitland - some of the film set from Lord of the Rings.

A stop at the Bay of Islands in North Island - as the name suggests a collection of beautiful little islands.  This is where the treaty between the British and Mauri’s was signed in 1840 which, naturally, is now a tourist attraction. The boat on the right is the longest war canoe in the world at 35m. And this marks the spot where the treaty was signed. We then had to watch the cultural show and have our picture taken with some of the cast (we are the ones in the middle by the way!)     Then off to explore the islands - lots of beautiful waterfalls    H plus the oldest shop in New Zealand - called the Stone House. Finally, we found a chocolate factory and shop - what a good way to end the day 😊 Next stop Rotorua - mud pools and sulphur - lovely!!

Finally heading into nicer weather as we sail north and it was bright and sunny in Wellington. Quite windy but told that is natural for Wellington.  After the success of Lord of the Rings (filmed in NZ) Wellington decided to have its letters displayed on one of the hills Hollywood style but it is so windy that that the O and the N have already blown over! We went on a cycling tour around the headline - around 10 miles in total so we worked off a very small portion of all the food we have eaten on the ship! The scenery here is quite beautiful.        But, sadly, the sun got to both of us and we had to return to the ship for sustenance in the way of a pina colada and strawberry daiquiri! Now on our way to the top of North Island and the Bay of Islands.