Auckland, NZ

Our excursion with the private tour company was a success.  There were only four of us, Vann and I plus two fellows from another cruise.  Our jolly driver-guide, Jeanine, showed us a fine time, taking us to all the places promised and then some.  Our first stop was a park memorializing MJ Savage, an early community organizer and Labour Party elected official.

This photo does not adequately represent the beauty of the grounds and its flower beds, which were spectacular.

Our second stop was at the Winter Garden, a complex of greenhouses filled with seasonal color.  There was also a fernery, where we saw New Zealand’s national symbol, the silver fern.

At its narrowest, New Zealand is only 16 kilometers (about 9 miles) wide.  This photo overlooks the narrow strip of land separating New Zealand from the Tasman Sea and Australia beyond.

Our next stop was to observe a colony of gannets, a migratory bird nesting on the steep cliffs of West Auckland.  There were hundreds of them!  Gannets mate for life, and while they live separately for most of their lives, the pair return each year to the cliffs where they were born and share in the raising of their chick.

Jeanine got us back to our ship just in time for sail-away.  We went to the forward observation lounge to watch as we pulled out of Auckland Harbor and found that an about dozen sailboats had gathered to escort us.  Colorful spinnakers filled the harbor on a glorious afternoon.

And so we’re off to the Bay of Plenty.  The following day will find us at the Art Deco city of  Napier, New Zealand, in the wine-growing region of Hawke’s Bay.