Wellington

We had a nice day at sea (I'll post ship pictures later) and then stopped at Wellington- the southernmost capital city in the world! We got to connect with our friend Wendy (who we sailed with on our previous Med. Cruise). We did a walking food tour & a ride up the cable car in Wellington.

We loved this statue by the harbor in Wellington,such suffering and surrender...

Some of us had to see if it was anatomically correct.....ahem...

Mocha cappuccino to start our walking food tour

The harbor has bean bag chairs- very nice

Jim's chocolate chip & PB gelato

Bakery at the local market

Does she have utters?

I can't leave them alone for a minute!

New Zealand is voting on a new flag- here are the choices~

Padiddle- called it. (See the VW bug?)

We went to a very hipster cocoa factory and learned how responsible chocolate is made. And it was wonderful.

Then we hooked up with our friend Wendy and went up the hill on the cable car.

The view was beautiful- see our ship in the background?

Nice cable system

You could see people playing cricket in the field below

It was great to see Wendy. She lives in a beautiful city.

Celebrity Solstice, Bay of Islands & Tauranga New Zealand

We boarded the Celebrity Solstice in Auckland and sailed north to the Bay of Islands

As it was for most of the trip, it was raining off and on but pleasant

Lemon pop and vinegar chips for a snack

I thought I saw a kiwi but it was a different bird. Very rare sighting apparently

Cute town, Russell Island

Too cold to swim though

Great Pyrenees relaxing at a shop

Aussies say "Feesh and Cheeps" for lunch, whereas Kiwis say "Fush and Chups"

Nice to have the place to ourselves. Some of our friends went to the Hole in the Rock.

The next day we went to Tauranga to visit the geothermal areas. Of course this was our sunniest day!

It actually didn't smell as bad as other geothermal areas we've visited (like St. Lucia)

The black swans were beautiful

We had the option of doing a full mud bath but we were so hot the thought of getting hotter wasn't appealing. Our friends did it while we wadded in the foot bath and said it was very refreshing.

Cruise 1/19/2016 from New Zealand to Sydney Auckland Pre-cruise

We flew from Dayton Ohio to Minnesota (airport only- 2 hour layover) to San Francisco (5 hour lay over) to Auckland Via Air New Zealand. A 13 hour flight- arriving in Auckland at 6 am.

Watching "Whale Rider" and "Flight of the Conchords" to get us in a New Zealand frame of mind.

We tried the skybed but I would not recommend them. Once the person in front of you reclines there is no getting out of the flat position and really only room for 1 person. Just upgrade to premium economy! Look at the photo and pretend that you are the guy behind the reclined seat....yeah.

We stayed at Sky City our room was not ready until 1 pm (we had requested an early check in). A ship was leaving and it was summer peak season.

We rode the Hop On, Hop Off bus, shopped for souvenirs & toiletries . We were hesitant to commit to too much this day.

Jim enjoying special time with his parents. And look a kiwi!

The gardens overlooking the city of Auckland were beautiful.

 We got to see a Maori show in the natural History Museum

 As we returned we could see the people walking around the Skywalk.

We had a breakfast at Denny's but this one has the fern so you know it's New Zealand~

We left on an all day tour to the Waitomo Caves and Hobbiton down the middle of the north island

Since I was a child,seeing the glow worm caves on my view master, it's been on my bucket list.

We boarded the boats and no cameras allowed. I think we went in a circle but what a beautiful circle it was!

Every now and then you'd feel a drip.....I loved it.

We stood in front of a green screen and they added photos behind us.

Some of us bought elf ears....

Hobbiton

Bette was the shortest in our group and got to be our honorary hobbit.

Even though it was raining, it was beautiful

Keelie,our guide, served us beer or ginger beer at the bar after the tour.

The fire was nice and warm after the cool summer rain

For only 32 seconds of film in all of the movies, they did a great job here!

And a quick stop for Dan to buy a fan

We did the Sky Walk the following morning. I was terrified.

Jim was not!

Our group was brave....'cept me.

Our video of the walk- see our ship in the background? We hoped on the ship and began our ocean journey~