Your Virtual Cruise ... The Final Chapter (A Tad Bit Late)

Ok, boys and girls, today (just play along) the Sapphire Princess arrived in Tauranga, New Zealand. I have no idea what the temperature was, so, what the heck... I'll say a balmy 85 degrees. (Fine. It was probably 60 degrees. Work with me here.) The shore excursion for today is called EZ Tauranga. (Wow, that's original. Wonder how they came up with that one.) This is a 4 hour tour (sing along... "a 4 hour tour"... Ok, I'll stop being silly).

We start off with a scenic drive around the bay. There are beautiful view of Mt. Maunganui and lots of Kiwifruit fields as we drive through the Te Papa Peninsula. We pass the Maori War Canoe, believed to be the world's largest with a capacity of 135.









First we visit Elms Mission Station, a restored Missionary house with impressive gardens. (Again with the gardens! Sorry, Mom & Dad!)








Next is Kiwifruit Country where we get an insight into the secrets of the furry little fruit formerly known as the Chinese Gooseberry. Here we will have morning tea. Make sure you poke your pinky finger out.








You will return to the ship at 12:45 pm. Just in time for a nap before you enter that shipboard talent contest. Later tonight, enjoy your last dinner onboard, for tomorrow we reach our destination, Auckland.












There my parents had 2 nights at the Rendezvous hotel. They were scheduled for a city tour, but by the evening of the day the ship got into port, they both had horrible colds and didn't feel like doing anything. The endured a very LONG flight back to Phoenix via Los Angeles, then collapsed for several days. Dad's cold ran it's course, but Mom had what I think was either bronchitis or walking pneumonia. (She wouldn't go to the doctor, so I don't know for sure.) It's been 3 weeks and she's just now starting to feel better. It was a glorious trip, but they've vowed to takes cruises closer to home in the future.

So there you have it. Late, but it's done.

It's beginning to look a lot like "spring" (??)

Does the calendar say Spring? I thought so. Doesn't that mean green grass, daffodils and birds singing? Then what's this?

New car!!

We bought a new car on Saturday.

We have a 2004 Chevy Venture minivan, which is pretty much "my" car, and my husband's ride was a 1995 Ford F-150 pickup. Well, when gas prices started going out of control 3 years ago, it wasn't practical for him to drive the pickup to work since it got 12mpg, so he started driving the van, which gets about 24mpg. Therefore, since I do childcare and can't take more than 2 kids at a time in the pickup, I was without a vehicle during the day. Most of the time it didn't bother me, but on a nice day, it would've been nice to be able to go to the park or library. So now Hubby drives the new car, which gets 31mpg, I have my van back, and we got rid of that gas-guzzling pickup.

The other issue is that Hubby builds and flies model airplanes and used the pickup to haul them to the field. In order to get a more economical vehicle, he thought about getting a small car that could tow a little trailer. You know... those little ones that U-Haul rents out. Well, then we went to a Chevy dealer and he showed us an HHR. It looks a lot like the PT-Cruiser, which is a Chrysler. Chevy's version is a little longer and a little wider. The great feature is that when you fold down the back seats, it has 5 ft of cargo space. If you fold down the front passenger seat as well, you get 8 ft (on that side, of course). So this seemed like the perfect solution to us.

At first we were looking at a used one, but GMC was offering 2.9% financing on new vehicles compared to the 6.25% loan we would have used on a used car. So for not very much more per month, we decided on the new car. I'll admit it's a little weird looking, but it grows on you. It is designed after the 1949 Suburban. Both pictures below. Hubby talked them into installing running boards on it for free. They'll be installed next week.

One neat thing about it is that a button on the remote allows you to start the car before you get in it. You could stand at your living room window, push a button to start your car, and it would be warmed up by the time you get in it. Oh, and it comes with one year of On-Star, which we're discovering is pretty cool, and 3 months of XM radio. We have Sirius in the van and love it, but XM is great too.

My camera is home

I got my camera back! It was in the hospital getting a new something-or-other so it could initialize. Huh? In plain English, it wouldn't turn on. Cost me $107 to send it to Canon to be fixed. It was either that or buy a new one for $400. Anyway, I'm happy to have it back. I love my camera! Here is a description and review of it.

** BOUNCE **

The sound you just heard was that of me dropping the ball. I sort of left this cruise saga hanging. Well, you wanted to stay on the ship an extra few days anyway, didn't you? LOL. I will finish when the mood strikes me again. My parents are back in Phoenix -- with colds.

Virtual Cruise, Part 6

We're nearing the end of our trip. Today (Thursday locally) the Sapphire Princess arrived in Christchurch, New Zealand. Skies were cloudy and the temperature was a cool 49 degrees. The forecast was for a high of 59 for the day and possible showers. Bummer.

My parents were scheduled for a shore excursion called "Christchurch City Sightseeing". They like to take generic city tours that typically travel via motorcoach and take you through town pointing out various things, then go to 1 to 3 destinations. Usually a botanical garden, historic home/landmark, museum, etc. The tours usually cost between $49 and $79 per person and last anywhere from 90 minutes to 4 hours.

Today's tour starts out at a botanical garden. I couldn't decide on just one photo, so I included 3. So pretty. Reminds me of Butchart Gardens in Victoria, B.C.









































Next is Christchurch Arts Centre (That's how they spell it - 're' instead of 'er'. Like 'harbour' yesterday, it looks odd.) Attractions there are galleries, studios, shops, cafes, a theater, and gothic style buildings. On weekends they have arts and crafts fairs and farmer's markets. Sounds like a fun gathering place with lots of activity.









After that, it's off to Mona Vale - yet another garden. (I scheduled all their tours and I'm now realizing I sent them to an awful lot of gardens! Hope they're not sick of flowers by now.) Mona Vale is a Victorian style homestead located beside a river.











There are sights that will be pointed out along the way, such as Sign of the Takahe, a stone roadhouse with magnificent views of the Canterbury Plains.

This tour is 4 hours long, so it includes refreshments. Here is what the tour description says about it:

REFRESHMENTS
A delightful morning or afternoon Devonshire Tea is included during your time at Mona Vale, which includes smoked salmon and cucumber club sandwiches, tea, coffee, plus scones with whippings of fresh cream and jam.

Yummy. Tomorrow is a full day at sea, then Tauranga, New Zealand, then to the final destination of Auckland, where my parents have a 2-night stay before flying 16 LONG hours home.

Virtual Cruise, Part 5

The Sapphire Princess arrived in Dunedin, New Zealand at 9:00 am Wednesday (New Zealand time). It was noon here in the U.S. west coast. It was only 47 degrees. Burrrr!!!! It was sunny and got up to 64 by 3:00 pm, but that's still on the cool side. Especially for people from Arizona!!

Dunedin is described as the best-preserved Victorian city in the world. The tour my parents had scheduled for today is a visit to Larnach Castle, New Zealand's only castle.
It sits on a hill overlooking Otago Harbour. (That's how they spell it over there, with the "u". Looks funny!)

Along the way, they will view the interesting architecture of a few historic buildings like churches and a couple of banks.

Next stop will be Christchurch, New Zealand, then a full day at sea.

Cruise, Part 4

After two full days at sea, no, we are not arriving at a port. We are cruising the Fjordland National Park at the south end of New Zealand.

There were some expensive excursions available to book, but my parents chose to stay onboard the ship and listen to the continuous talk given over the P.A. system by the naturalist who boards the ship for the day. These pictures look absolutely gorgeous.

Next stop, the city of Dunedin in New Zealand.