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Noyelles Travels 2017
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Location Date Oceania 
1510963200 Europe 1495839600 South America 1491951600 North America 1490569200 -
Location Date New South Wales 1510963200 Samoa 1489708800 Fiji 1489536000 New Zealand
1489276800 Victoria 1488240000 South Australia 1488067200 Western Australia 1487635200 -
Location Date Auckland 1489276800 Tauranga 1489190400 Wellington 1489017600 Akaroa 1488931200 Milford Sound
1488844800 Dunedin 1488844800
Saturday 4th March
At sea with some movement due to wind & swell on a very grey day again.
After breakfast d*** went to a talk on the ocean between Australia & NZ, given by an interesting American who had migrated to New Zealand. He talked about a couple of devices used to collect sea temperature data all over the oceans & a little sea glider to collect scientific data. From these tiny craft the weather of the oceans is forecast particularly with regard to Hurricanes, Cyclones & Typhoons, 3 names for the same phenomenon. d*** then went on to Spanish for Beginners as a new series of lessons were starting from scratch. It wasn't a total waste although, for once, he knew a bit more than some of the others. Jane attended Bridge, again starting from scratch but was very frustrated as several people turned up 30mins late & this threw out the timetable etc.
In the afternoon we both went to a talk by Nick Bailey, the first DJ, announcer on Classic FM, Britain’s first national commercial FM radio station. Jane’s first task, when we hire a car in the UK, is to find it on the radio, as it keeps the driver happy. Apparently it has been a major success since it started in 1992 although its demise was confidently predicted by all the pundits. It plays Classical, Romantic & Baroque music but the introductions are very informal & the mood is very unstuffy in contrast to the ABC’s FM classical radio.
After dinner Jane went to a concert by a young Harpist/singer & then joined d*** for another recital by a pianist playing works of French composers. And so to bed!!
Sunday 5th March
Woke up latish to see the Dawn Princess about 1km off on the port side, also making for New Zealand. Apparently we shall be with them around much of NZ.
d*** went to Spanish & Jane attended the talk on Tsunamis etc. We met up again for a talk on how the Maoris migrated to NZ from the Cook Islands in the 1400s, having apparently originated long before, much to our surprise, in Formosa. All the navigation was by the stars & it was an interesting, if somewhat scrappy, presentation.
In the afternoon we went to Nick Bailey’s lecture on his time on 'Radio Caroline' which d*** remembered only too well from his time in London. To Dick’s surprise, before the talk, he heard Joe Tex’s ‘Hold on to what you have got’, a soul song he hadn’t heard in nearly 50 years.
After dinner we attended the Captain’s Welcome party in the Crows Nest & talked to an interesting English couple about their lives. There are about 400 people who are doing the complete cruise from & back to Southampton while the rest are hopping on & off as the ship goes to its many ports.
Monday 6th March
Woke this morning, at about 7am, to find us at the mouth of Milford Sound, on the south west coast of the South Island of New Zealand. Unfortunately it was foggy & 17°C so, although we were quite close to shore on either side, we could hardly see anything. Jane went up to try to see more while d*** settled for breakfast on Deck 12. It was rather sad as we had a local commentator describing what we would have seen in graphic terms. Apparently the fiord is extremely deep & the steep slopes are covered in evergreen forest with high waterfalls in parts. The area gets 27ft (8m+) of rain per year & it certainly was keen for us to see some of it live.
It was fascinating to see the range of clothing worn out on the deck, ranging from t shirt & shorts for some, presumably Brits, to puff jacket & heavy jeans for Jane & I. We really needed our coffees to lift our temperature & spirits.
At 11.15 we both went to hear Nick Bailey’s account of his migration as a £10 Pom & his activities mostly in broadcasting in Australia, Hong Kong & Germany. It was certainly a very amusing talk illustrated with clips from his time on radio.
Donning our puffs again we went out on deck as the clouds had lifted somewhat & the scenery was indeed spectacular. The ship had travelled south east along the extremely rugged coast & we were in yet another fiord.
After lunch we went to 3 more sessions, one a discussion on the life of a cruise director & the other 2 on aspects of New Zealand’s wildlife & coast. NZ has a fascinating range of native & feral animals & has invested heavily on trying to exterminate the introduced species with some success.
At sea with some movement due to wind & swell on a very grey day again.
After breakfast d*** went to a talk on the ocean between Australia & NZ, given by an interesting American who had migrated to New Zealand. He talked about a couple of devices used to collect sea temperature data all over the oceans & a little sea glider to collect scientific data. From these tiny craft the weather of the oceans is forecast particularly with regard to Hurricanes, Cyclones & Typhoons, 3 names for the same phenomenon. d*** then went on to Spanish for Beginners as a new series of lessons were starting from scratch. It wasn't a total waste although, for once, he knew a bit more than some of the others. Jane attended Bridge, again starting from scratch but was very frustrated as several people turned up 30mins late & this threw out the timetable etc.
In the afternoon we both went to a talk by Nick Bailey, the first DJ, announcer on Classic FM, Britain’s first national commercial FM radio station. Jane’s first task, when we hire a car in the UK, is to find it on the radio, as it keeps the driver happy. Apparently it has been a major success since it started in 1992 although its demise was confidently predicted by all the pundits. It plays Classical, Romantic & Baroque music but the introductions are very informal & the mood is very unstuffy in contrast to the ABC’s FM classical radio.
After dinner Jane went to a concert by a young Harpist/singer & then joined d*** for another recital by a pianist playing works of French composers. And so to bed!!
Sunday 5th March
Woke up latish to see the Dawn Princess about 1km off on the port side, also making for New Zealand. Apparently we shall be with them around much of NZ.
d*** went to Spanish & Jane attended the talk on Tsunamis etc. We met up again for a talk on how the Maoris migrated to NZ from the Cook Islands in the 1400s, having apparently originated long before, much to our surprise, in Formosa. All the navigation was by the stars & it was an interesting, if somewhat scrappy, presentation.
In the afternoon we went to Nick Bailey’s lecture on his time on 'Radio Caroline' which d*** remembered only too well from his time in London. To Dick’s surprise, before the talk, he heard Joe Tex’s ‘Hold on to what you have got’, a soul song he hadn’t heard in nearly 50 years.
After dinner we attended the Captain’s Welcome party in the Crows Nest & talked to an interesting English couple about their lives. There are about 400 people who are doing the complete cruise from & back to Southampton while the rest are hopping on & off as the ship goes to its many ports.
Monday 6th March
Woke this morning, at about 7am, to find us at the mouth of Milford Sound, on the south west coast of the South Island of New Zealand. Unfortunately it was foggy & 17°C so, although we were quite close to shore on either side, we could hardly see anything. Jane went up to try to see more while d*** settled for breakfast on Deck 12. It was rather sad as we had a local commentator describing what we would have seen in graphic terms. Apparently the fiord is extremely deep & the steep slopes are covered in evergreen forest with high waterfalls in parts. The area gets 27ft (8m+) of rain per year & it certainly was keen for us to see some of it live.
It was fascinating to see the range of clothing worn out on the deck, ranging from t shirt & shorts for some, presumably Brits, to puff jacket & heavy jeans for Jane & I. We really needed our coffees to lift our temperature & spirits.
At 11.15 we both went to hear Nick Bailey’s account of his migration as a £10 Pom & his activities mostly in broadcasting in Australia, Hong Kong & Germany. It was certainly a very amusing talk illustrated with clips from his time on radio.
Donning our puffs again we went out on deck as the clouds had lifted somewhat & the scenery was indeed spectacular. The ship had travelled south east along the extremely rugged coast & we were in yet another fiord.
After lunch we went to 3 more sessions, one a discussion on the life of a cruise director & the other 2 on aspects of New Zealand’s wildlife & coast. NZ has a fascinating range of native & feral animals & has invested heavily on trying to exterminate the introduced species with some success.
- comments
Judy Just caught up with the blog. Milford is impressive in all weathers. very impressed with all the lectures you are attending hope there isn't an exam to pass before you disembark. Love B.J. & Judy
Peter and Alison Hi - we are looking forward to reading in more detail your travel notes, but out first reaction was to the beautiful photos - how peaceful, yet dramatic. We think we saw the two best dressed tourists on deck... forget the shorts and t-shirts!!!! leave that to the Poms... nothing personal Richard. Alison & Peter xx
Alison Love reading your blogs, missed you at Bookclub. Keep up the Spanish Dick. If Jasper Jones is playing at cinema on ship it is excellent. x
Owen Transporting as usual. In our corner of the world we are also experiencing a cold spell, unseasonal as we are supposed to be heading into Spring/Summer heat and humidity.