Tauranga, Bay of Islands and Auckland, New Zealand
Feb 1, 2017 17:49:26 GMT -5
Post by Huronna on Feb 1, 2017 17:49:26 GMT -5
After another rough day at sea, the weather cleared and we docked at Tauranga.
We had booked a tour on line but for some reason it was canceled so we decided to just go off wandering on our own.
Tauranga was an adorable beach town with three of four long streets of shops and food.
Always having sufficient food on the ship, we never needed to eat or we would explode. So we wandered around.
The first street nearest to the dock there was a police station.
I liked the design, the the white and blue colors.
The street were immaculate and people were very polite.
The birds were not afraid of people as you see how close I was to him (or her?)
We were surprised to see these signs on all the streets.
You forget that this area might at times be affected by tsunami.
As we walked down the streets a couple of advertisements caught my eye
And you know me and piggies
Had we seen this when we first got into shore we would have booked a ride
But we were on our way back to the ship....”All aboard”
Our next stop was The Bay of Islands where we anchored out and had to take tenders or life boats into shore.
Thankfully the water was quite calm as I surely had had enough of those BIG waves.
We visited a Glow Worm Cave which was really interesting.
I guess the rules had changed and we asked not to take any photos.
But I found a site that has some photos that people in the past took
www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g1747761-d2292287-Reviews-Kawiti_Caves-Northland_Region_North_Island.html#photos;geo=1747761&detail=2292287&ff=226358617&albumViewMode=hero&albumid=101&baseMediaId=226358617&thumbnailMinWidth=50&cnt=30&offset=-1&filter=7
We also went to the Pukeli Kauri Forest which reminded me of the rain forest in Puerto Rico.
but the trees were more like the great sequoia, only not so great.
Our next to the last stop was a well needed rest stop
where the public bathrooms were designed by a German artist
who visited the area and then moved there permanently
And our last stop was actually at the top of a golf course
where were were able to look out the bay and see our Cruise ship
which was dwarfed by a Celebrity Line Cruise ship.
We only carried 700 passengers while there other ship had about 4000.
A much bigger ship as you can see and the rooms or cabins are less than 1/2 the size of what were on our ship.
Next stop Auckland where were actually disembarked the ship.
We were to spend the night there, but it was only 9 am and we could not check into the rooms.
Leaving luggage at the hotel, Joe and I decided to investigate the area.
I don’t know about where you live, but where I come from, nobody really obeys the cross walk signals.
But it is different there because when the “walk” sign comes up, there are masses of people crossing. the streets.
I never saw anyone “jaywalking”
As we walked we came across this non-descript building but were amazed at the painting on the side of it.
We kept walking as our destination was The SkyTower
Closer we came
60 stories and if your saw the videos on Facebook, one level is used for “sky-walking” and also bungee jumping.
We were not that brave.
The lobby has this fantastic chandelier
I would not want to have to clean that one.
The glass in the observation tower is unbelievably thick, but the view are amazing.
Here you can see our ship which stayed in the harbor until around 7 PM.
I bet you can tell what is in this building
There are more views of the city that can be found in the PB album s398.photobucket.com/user/huronnatags/library/TaurangaBayIslesAuckland?sort=3&page=1
And so ended our visit to New Zealand. We had to get up at 3 AM to make our flight .
The skies were bright and I thought this one was a nice way to end
I hope you enjoyed going on vacation with me.
I'm sorry that my suitcase wasn't big enough to take you all
We had booked a tour on line but for some reason it was canceled so we decided to just go off wandering on our own.
Tauranga was an adorable beach town with three of four long streets of shops and food.
Always having sufficient food on the ship, we never needed to eat or we would explode. So we wandered around.
The first street nearest to the dock there was a police station.
I liked the design, the the white and blue colors.
The street were immaculate and people were very polite.
The birds were not afraid of people as you see how close I was to him (or her?)
We were surprised to see these signs on all the streets.
You forget that this area might at times be affected by tsunami.
As we walked down the streets a couple of advertisements caught my eye
And you know me and piggies
Had we seen this when we first got into shore we would have booked a ride
But we were on our way back to the ship....”All aboard”
Our next stop was The Bay of Islands where we anchored out and had to take tenders or life boats into shore.
Thankfully the water was quite calm as I surely had had enough of those BIG waves.
We visited a Glow Worm Cave which was really interesting.
I guess the rules had changed and we asked not to take any photos.
But I found a site that has some photos that people in the past took
www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g1747761-d2292287-Reviews-Kawiti_Caves-Northland_Region_North_Island.html#photos;geo=1747761&detail=2292287&ff=226358617&albumViewMode=hero&albumid=101&baseMediaId=226358617&thumbnailMinWidth=50&cnt=30&offset=-1&filter=7
We also went to the Pukeli Kauri Forest which reminded me of the rain forest in Puerto Rico.
but the trees were more like the great sequoia, only not so great.
Our next to the last stop was a well needed rest stop
where the public bathrooms were designed by a German artist
who visited the area and then moved there permanently
And our last stop was actually at the top of a golf course
where were were able to look out the bay and see our Cruise ship
which was dwarfed by a Celebrity Line Cruise ship.
We only carried 700 passengers while there other ship had about 4000.
A much bigger ship as you can see and the rooms or cabins are less than 1/2 the size of what were on our ship.
Next stop Auckland where were actually disembarked the ship.
We were to spend the night there, but it was only 9 am and we could not check into the rooms.
Leaving luggage at the hotel, Joe and I decided to investigate the area.
I don’t know about where you live, but where I come from, nobody really obeys the cross walk signals.
But it is different there because when the “walk” sign comes up, there are masses of people crossing. the streets.
I never saw anyone “jaywalking”
As we walked we came across this non-descript building but were amazed at the painting on the side of it.
We kept walking as our destination was The SkyTower
Closer we came
60 stories and if your saw the videos on Facebook, one level is used for “sky-walking” and also bungee jumping.
We were not that brave.
The lobby has this fantastic chandelier
I would not want to have to clean that one.
The glass in the observation tower is unbelievably thick, but the view are amazing.
Here you can see our ship which stayed in the harbor until around 7 PM.
I bet you can tell what is in this building
There are more views of the city that can be found in the PB album s398.photobucket.com/user/huronnatags/library/TaurangaBayIslesAuckland?sort=3&page=1
And so ended our visit to New Zealand. We had to get up at 3 AM to make our flight .
The skies were bright and I thought this one was a nice way to end
I hope you enjoyed going on vacation with me.
I'm sorry that my suitcase wasn't big enough to take you all
