Christchurch, Saturday 1/14

Today was a long day ride. Left the ship at 8:30 am. Almost 3 hours and a little over 105 miles each way. The trip was to see the absolutely beautiful valley where the three Lord of the Rings movies were shot. Only Joanne and I took this optional.

The trip began with a short bus tour of Christchurch. On 2/22/2011 on earthquake of 6.2 magnitude hit directly under the city causing 185 deaths and virtually leveling the city.

Much of what we see today is new. Ordinances were passed restricting the height and construct of all new buildings. Many new structures show the steel and diagonal bracing with pride. This entire country is on the southern end of the pacific “ring of fire”.

Here are some of the city pictures.

We left Christchurch and headed into the countryside. We made a few stops along the way.

Not being an aficionado of the movies the ride was informative, full of wonderful anecdotes and beautiful scenery.

All 3 movies were shot at the same time. This was the first time that had been attempted. Initial funding was from Harvey Weinstein in the amount of $75M dollars.

Ultimately an additional $200M was procured.

Sean Connery turned down the lead role. They had even offered him 15% equity. Claimed he didn’t get the story and after seeing the movies said he still didn’t get it. Boy… did he miss out.

Here are some pictures of where it was shot. All structures etc. have been removed so all we see today is the beautiful landscape.

Some pics from the ride as well…

While we were out, Connie and Vicky remained and took the included tour of the city this afternoon. They returned back just before we returned at 4:30.

BTW, it’s currently 5:33 pm here on Saturday while it’s 11:33 pm on Friday in Florida… International date line…

Tomorrow, Wellington.

Ciao for now.

Dunedin, Friday 1/13

Today we arrived in New Zealand. If you’ve been following along, Dunedin is our first port.

I went on deck to watch them dock it. Had to spin it around first then ease it into the dock.

As our tour wasn’t until after lunch we all decided to take the shuttle into town where the ladies did some shopping, I got a SIM card for my phone and stopped at the ATM to get some NZ cash.

We returned, rushed lunch and boarded our bus.

Quaint city. Here are some pics.

Look how steep the streets can be

Train station

Train station-note stained glass window-see next pic

Floor in train station. Guide mentioned number of small tiles. Like 17,000 or so.

Japanese archway to garden

Unicorn above entryway

We depart tonight at 5 for Christchurch where we have a long tour day tomorrow.

Sushi for me for dinner tonight.

Ciao for now…

At Sea, Thursday 1/12 Meals

Yesterday and today have both been in the Tasman Sea traversing from Australia to New Zealand (approximately1,500 miles).

I felt it was a good time to show the meals as served in the dining room.

Note: this is the basic meal center. For dinner we mostly eat in the restaurants on board but breakfast and lunch are normally here.

Here are pictures of the room with seating on the left and service on the right. Note: this dining room wraps around the back to the other side where service is identical.

I’ll break it into breakfast, lunch and dinner sections. As always, if you tap or click on an image, you should get a full screen which also should permit you to enlarge images to get a better look.

BREAKFAST

LUNCH

DINNER

So… needless to say, another diet is in order upon return…

Ciao for now…

Hobart Tasmania, Tuesday 1/10

Day got a little jumbled today.  We were supposed to take our city tour at 9:30 but found that it was changed to 11:30.

Since the ship departs at 4, all aboard by 3, that meant no lunch and with a 3 hour tour, no time to walk into town.  So I improvised.

We had breakfast at 9 (didn’t tell us they were closing the dining room early so we had limited time to eat).  We left there and at 9:30 I began a very brisk walk into town.

Fortunately, being alone, I was able to move quickly and probably covered 3-4 miles in a little over an hour.

Nice town of about 240,000.

We got on the bus at 11:30 and visited the oldest brewery in Australia.

We know its the oldest because it’s carved in stone

From there we drove to the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens. Some beautiful flowers. Many we’ve never seen before.

Some other pics from the drive…

And from there we went to a lookout which looks over the city.

That’s our ship the Orion.

As I’m sitting here writing this they just announced that they are extending our stay till 6:00. Like I mentioned, a jumbled up day…

The Australian money is plastic. Here is a $10 Aus note (today worth $6.63 US).

Connie and Vicky just went shopping… oh boy…

Next 2 days at sea. A little less than 1,500 miles and 2 time zones.

Ciao for now…

At Sea, Monday 1/9 Chef’s Table

Tonight we ate at the Chef’s Table restaurant.

Here is the menu. The meal was Asian.

The items on the menu all had wine pairings (and they poured them all!).

The back of the menu explained the cuisine.

This is how the first course of chilled king crab was served.

Followed by the lobster & chicken shu mai (oops. Almost forgot the picture).

Followed by lemongrass & red chili.

And then peking duck main course.

The dessert course consisted of (from left to right) spring roll, creme brulee & cheesecake.

A most delightful meal.

Something which I haven’t done before is to post a movie which I will try here.

Joanne shot this during her outing yesterday (see prior post) of a man playing a didgeridoo. Give it a listen…

Until tomorrow, ciao.

At Sea, Monday 1/9

Yesterday Connie and Joanne went to the Healesville Wildlife Sanctuary.

Joanne got these wonderful pictures.

Koala Bear

Kangaroo

Dingo

Tree Kangaroo (I didn’t know that there was such a thing)

Parrot

Today we have been at sea. Most of the time without moving as they continue to perform hull maintenance. As I understand it, aquatic robots perform the work and take images to send to the harbor master for permission to enter.

We are expecting to be in Hobart at 7 am tomorrow.

While on ship today, this morning, the girls attended a lecture on “The First Nation’s Aboriginal Australia” while I attended a seminar on a beautiful gemstone, Csarite. Not only beautiful but expensive. Some nice pieces for sale on board.

We had lunch poolside then enjoyed both the sun and the pool.

This afternoon Vicky, Connie and I attended a lecture titled “Port Arthur Convict Settlement – Australia’s Harsh Past” and what a past it was. Tasmania was essentially a prison and harsh doesn’t begin to describe life in prison here.

Following that lecture was a Port Talk on Hobart which we visit tomorrow.

Ciao for now…

Melbourne, Sunday 1/8

Today we arrived in Melbourne around 7:30 am. It’s a beautiful day.

For our excursions we split up.

Connie and Joanne went on a tour of the Healesville Wildlife Sanctuary (and not back till later).

Vicky and I took the Melbourne Highlights tour which lasted about 4 hours.

We drove around the city and our guide pointed out many highlights along the way.

Our tour included 3 half hour stops.

One of the facts he gave us is how lucky we are with today’s weather. He indicated that Melbourne has approximately 45 sunny days a year and today is one of them. 85 degrees and bright sun. EXCELLENT!

Check out the metal band on this tree. They were on all the trees in the park we stopped at. They keep the possums from climbing them.

Here are a few of today’s photos.

Chinatown

Large tram system in the city and you ride FREE!

She is dancing outside the arboretum.

On our way back to the ship I got a spot where I could capture most of it. What a beautiful machine and a delightful way to travel. Viking really does it up!

I captured these photos yesterday from our balcony…

We depart tonight at 6 for Tasmania. Not sure when we arrive. For those following, here are our trip stops.

So next stop we’ll be in Hobart Tasmania.

Ciao for now…

At Sea, Saturday 1/7

We are at sea today sailing from Sydney to Melbourne.  Left at 6 during a storm last night which made the ride interesting.  I was asleep by 9:30. Best way to handle rough seas.

Took this shot off the stern this morning after breakfast.

Connie and Vicky went to the game room and played mahjong with two other women. Said it was crazy. One of the women could never make up her mind. Games took forever.

Joanne battled the washers and dryers.

I attended a presentation on the southern night sky in the planetarium. Yes. There is a planetarium on board. Only one of two in operation on a ship today. Anxious to have a clear night sky.

We just had lunch. I’m planning to attend a presentation on the Australian land mass and geography at 3. Connie is competing for washers and dryers.

Tonight we have a specialty dinner reservation in the onboard Italian restaurant.

We should arrive in Melbourne by 8 tonight. It will be great to be tied up at a dock!

Ciao for now.

Sydney, Friday 1/6

Last night I went to the bow of the ship, which faces the harbor, and got a few shots that I can share.

Sydney Harbor Bridge with the infinity pool below.

Yup… it looks the same from here!

Today we had a bus tour of the city with several stops along the way. Unfortunately it poured for most of the tour and winds were greater than 20 mph steady.

Some pics are taken through the windows which were spotted with rain.

Aircraft carrier docked at naval base.

Along the way we passed gas stations. Here is what fuel costs here.

That’s $185.9/liter which is 1/4 (roughly) a gallon so approximately $7.40 Aus per gallon and converted to USD its $4.91/gallon.

Diesel works out (using same formula) is $5.76/gallon USD.

So… it could be worse.

Tonight we head out of Sydney to Melbourne. At sea tomorrow. Don’t know if I will post but if anything interesting happens, I will.

Ciao for now…

Sydney Thursday 1/5

What a wonderful time we had last night with friends Glenys and David who we met on a tour in 2014 and who are local.

We had to take a 25 minute ferry ride to Manley just north of the city where they were waiting for us. Really nice to see them again. They treated us to dinner at their club. We spent 3 nice hours with them and had a wonderful dinner too.

Dinner at the club

Today we had our luggage outside the door at 8:00 am and then had breakfast followed by a covid test for all (and we all passed!).

We left the hotel at 11:00 am and were bussed to the ship.

Big – could only get little bit in.

After boarding we had lunch, waited a bit (I wandered the ship and snuck into our room and took the pics).

Here are the outdoor infinity pool and indoor heated pool.

Ciao for now…