My main goal in Dunedin was to ride the Taieri Gorge Railroad. The narrow gauge line was built from Dunedin to the gold fields at Cromwell. It carried supplies to the gold fields an on the back haul brought agricultural … Continue reading Taieri Gorge Railroad.
Dunedin (Edinburgh in Gaelic) is a university city. We arrived on Waitangi Day, New Zealand’s National Day. The University of Otago would get underway seriously the next day. It was built as a “little Scotland” by immigrants but it grew … Continue reading A Railway Station and its city – Dunedin
Dunedin, on New Zealand’s south island, is Garlic for Edinburgh and when we sailed into Otago Bay, on which Dunedin and its seaport Port Chalmers are located we could see a similarity with Scotland. One of the main exports from … Continue reading Albatross, Penguins and Timber, Otago Bay, South Island.
Napier reminds me of what I imagine Los Angeles to have looked like in 1940, a mission style art deco with a pleasing climate near the sea. In an earlier post I talked about the earthquake that destroyed Napier New … Continue reading Art Deco Town – Napier, New Zealand.
A Tragic Solution, The Napier Earthquake Napier, New Zealand was in trouble. It was a growing port that was running out of land. It was losing out to Hastings, a bit inland because it did not have the land for … Continue reading A Tragic Solution, The Napier Earthquake
One of the saddest things we had to do to move to Alaska was sell our 1928 Model A Ford. We sold it in 1980 when we moved because we didn’t think we could drive it over the mountains to … Continue reading Cars older than Cuba’s – Napier, New Zealand.
The itinerary said our port of call was Tauranga but we really docked in Mount Maunganui and we had a plethora of options. We could visit the massive thermal area at Rotorua, do a canopy walk through the redwoods, visit … Continue reading Happy People — Mount Maunganui
We got an email from Suzi’s sister Nancy who told us that Pat and Paul Kaufman were in Auckland. We’ve known Pat and Paul for years. When I called Paul and he asked me what we had planned. I told … Continue reading Lunch in Devonport
On Saturday morning I woke up and my lags hurt. It was worth it. On Friday we got to do something that I had always wanted to do for a long time, (but I’m not sure Suzi was as enthusiastic), … Continue reading America’s Cup!
We went to bed on Sunday night and woke up on Tuesday morning. For us Monday, January 29, did not exist. We crossed the date line and are now through a quarter of the world’s time zones. On Niue a … Continue reading Lost Day at Sea
On Sunday in Niue THE thing to do is go to church. The island has lots of Sunday rules. The tourist brochure says: “Sundays are a day of worship and rest here in Niue. You can go swimming and sightseeing … Continue reading Niue on Sunday
I never thought I could feel sympathy for a bivalve mollusk. But consider this. To make a cultured pearl they capture larvae on a black column of bushy plastic, put a plastic net over the column to protect it from … Continue reading Pearl Jam
“Rarotonga is my nemesis,” Captain Mercer said when he came down to the tender platform to see how things were going. According to one of my cruise mates she could not book an independent diving tour in Rarotonga, the main … Continue reading “Half the fun is getting there.” — Rarotonga, Cook Islands
Bora Bora was a major U.S. logistics base during the Second World War. The military chose the site because there was only one entrance to the lagoon. It could be easily defended. The island is surrounded by motus, or flat … Continue reading The Footsteps of Michener — Bora Bora
On both Moorea and Bora Bora we took excursions to look at sharks and stingrays. In fact we got to swim with both sharks and sting rays as well as snorkel the coral reefs. The Moorea expedition was mostly a … Continue reading Shark Shark
When we went to bed in Tahiti we expected to wake up anchored in Cook’s Bay, Moorea. Instead we woke up to a PA announcement telling us that plans had changed and we were not quite anchored in Opunohu Bay. … Continue reading Surprise, Surprise, Surprise – Moorea.
“Why do cruise ships come in this season? It’s too hot! If I didn’t have to work I would be in France or New Zealand now.” That’s what the proprietor of the camera shop asked me. I think if there … Continue reading Urban Polynesia – Pape’ete
One of the preoccupations of people onboard is developing an internet strategy that works for them. (OK, you’re wondering about the title and the pictures on a post about cruising and Internet. Read on.) Internet on the ship is slow … Continue reading “Our Lady” and the Internet.
One of the things we did in Rangiroa was to take a glass bottomed boat ride out into the lagoon to look at fish. One of the boatmen saw that Suzi and I had waterproof cameras and took Suzi’s camera … Continue reading Octopuses Garden – No Octopus
Rangiroa is not a place where I would make a long term real estate investment. Suzi and got up at 6 this (Sunday) morning and turned on the TV to look at the bow channel. We wanted to be on … Continue reading Rangiroa — Shooting the Tiputa Pass.
We had a sea day yesterday. I am posting this while waiting for our tender to be called. Our cabin is very comfortable but it does has its pros and cons. Pro, it is 10 paces from our door to … Continue reading Busted — Another Sea Day.
Pae Pae Piki Vehine is an archaeological site on the waterfront that had become an open air cultural center. It includes tiki’s made by local sculptors and artists from Easter Island. A tiki is on the flag of the Marquesas … Continue reading Tikis on Nuka Hiva
The Notre Dame Cathedral is a remarkably cool building in which to shelter in the heat of the day, and if you go there you are rewarded with magnificent wooden sculptures including the stations of the cross, pulpits, alters, and … Continue reading Ukulele Playing Saint — In Nuka Hiva
The search for earthly paradise is one of the recurring themes of the lectures on Amsterdam. The Polynesian cultural center representatives and the Astronomy professor have given lectures and held discussions on this topic. They have reviewed literature, paintings, film … Continue reading Looking for Bali Hi — in the Marquesas