Saturday 27th February We woke up this morning as the ship was anchoring in the Bay of Islands & the tenders were being lowered to ferry the passengers to shore. After breakfast we were on the 2nd tender across the bay to Waitangi Pier just near where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed between the British & the Maori people. As it was pretty grey & threatened rain we took the shuttle bus into Paihia the nearby small town around the bay. Here we wen...

Friday 26th February This morning we arrived in Auckland at about 6.30 & walked off at 8.45. We decided to take a ferry to & a tour of Devonport, is a suburb across the harbour from the city. The ferry took about 20 minutes & the bus tour was around the area including a climb up 2 extinct volcanoes which had housed gun batteries to protect the harbour mouth. A highlight for d*** was seeing an 8 inch disappearing gun from the UK, installed in the 188...

Saturday 20th February Still pretty windy with showers but the seas are easing as we move south west towards New Zealand. Did very little today except attend a couple of talks on antiques & crimes at sea, both well presented & joined our quiz syndicate after lunch for another moderately successful run. The other members are a group of friends from South Australia & it are a lively & knowledgeable bunch. Dinner was another "Black Tie" affair but ...