Sunday 12th March The ship arrived, in Auckland, on another grey & rainy day. We were met at the gate by Jill, a second cousin of Dick, & Stephen, her husband who picked us up in their very grand Mercedes. They drove us over to Devenport, one of the oldest areas of Auckland, on a hill opposite Auckland & is the home of the New Zealand Navy. Stephen joined the NZ Navy after leaving the Royal Navy 10 years ago & they both love their life in New Ze...

Saturday 11th March This morning we arrived in Tauranga on the Bay of Plenty right in the top, centre of the North Island, on a very grey day in pouring rain. As the port is about 7k from the main town we took a shuttle bus into the town at about 10am. After a coffee we went into the library for the internet but couldn't get a connection. We crossed over to the Art Gallery, a fine building but with a fairly uninspiring collection & then wandered along a few ...

Thursday 9th March We arrived in Wellington this morning at about 8am & after breakfast waited to be bussed into the city as work is ongoing, on the wharf, to repair last year's earthquake. Luckily it was warmer than yesterday but we were still glad of our puff jackets. We caught up with our electronic chores & waited for Rosie, Jane’s former primary school friend, who lives about 50km north of the city. Rosie took us for a walk around, starting ...

Wednesday 8th March The ship had moved north to Akaroa in the night & was in the passage by about 7.30am. We had breakfast & plenty of time to catch up, as there were only 2 tenders to ferry passengers the 2 km to shore. We landed at the jetty in Akaroa at about 10.30 & as is our wont, set off to find a cafe for the compulsory coffee & wi-fi. As yesterday, it was quite cold & overcast although the wind was much less troublesome. We had rugged...

Tuesday 7th March The ship crept towards Dunedin which is on the south east coast of the South Island & eventually docked at Port Chalmers several km up the inlet. The countryside looks very English with rolling hills on either side of a long but not too deep inlet with small settlements at intervals along it. We tied up on a wharf opposite the Dawn Princess overlooking stacks of pine logs & containers. It was freezing at 12°C with a very sharp bre...