ANZ Day 14: Tauranga, NZ (1/3/2013)

Today we were supposed to take our last shore excursion, but we ended up canceling it because of the lunch issue. I talked to the people at the shore excursions desk about my issues with not being able to get lunch and they weren't able to do anything to help me, but they did offer to refund my money. I was pretty disappointed :(. We did try to make the best of the day, however, by getting a little extra sleep and then heading into town. We were actually docked in a small town right next door to Tauranga, Mount Maunganui. We strolled through the shops, dropping in here and there and checking out the incredibly high price tags! Things are not cheap in New Zealand! We hiked up a path to see if we could see a blow hole. When we got to the top, we weren't sure where to look, but it was a nice view!

Can you se M sitting on the rocks?

His view of us!

We love to hike :)

In front of "The Mount"

We did see some water smashing into the rocks and spraying up. It was fun, regardless. After the hike we promised the kids we would stop at the playground for a while.

They were happy to let off some steam. I watched K dive onto a moving merry-go-round. Maybe I'm wrong about her career as a politician and she's actually going to be a stunt woman or action movie star! We then made our way back into town and had lunch at Burger Fuel. The burgers were good and they had these cool cardboard holders so the "stuff" won't fall out of your burger! We were all fascinated with them!

"Doofer" is the name of the cardboard holder, not the burger.

L&P is a lemony New Zealand soda pop

  

Once we got back on the ship there was some nap/play/packing time. We had to have our bags in the hall by 11pm, so I had my work cut out for me.

Our laundry at the end of the cruise!

On our way to dinner we stopped at one of the shops onboard and bought some inexpensive glass figurines to remember our trip. They weren't made at the hot glass show, but that's ok! Our last dinner was nice. The kids bought presents for Joel & Nikola - a 3-in-1 laser pointer/flashlight/pen. Can you guess who picked it out? C was sure Joel would want to use it right away for writing down our orders and pointing to the chef's recommendation! We had pictures with Joel & Nikola and the kids gave Joel a kiss at his request.

Our waiter, Joel

Our assistant waiter, Nikola

Once again, I'm so glad our family doesn't have to make the heart-wrenching kind of decision that Joel's does. We skipped the show tonight and headed straight to bed. At least, that's where the kids went. I had plenty of work left to do!

Air Quality

My brother sent me this question and as I was responding I thought it would make a good blog post, so here you go!

"Hows the air?  I heard a piece on NPR with an american reporter living in shanghai who said the air is so bad they have to check an app every day to decide if they should go out or not.  And sometimes they wear masks….."

Today it's not very good.  See for yourself:

http://www.stateair.net/web/post/1/4.html

Understanding the levels:

We go out every day and we don't wear masks, but on the days that it's above 200 (purple: very unhealthy) the kids have indoor recess and we limit our outdoor time.  I don't usually let them play hard outside if it's above 100 (orange: unhealthy for sensitive groups).  For comparison purposes, here's a US air quality map:

http://www.airnow.gov/

There was an app that I used to check, but the consulate changed their website/feed and the app no longer works, so now I just visit the first website (http://www.stateair.net/web/post/1/4.html) for my info.  There are other websites with air quality info, run by local entities.  Here's a picture of the AQI from last month that illustrates how difficult it is to know what's really going on. 

The funny thing about the air quality, is that you can't tell from just looking out the window.  On days it seems bad, it might be ok.  On bright sunny "clear" days it might be really bad.  One thing is pretty consistent, though.  If it rains, it's usually good (that's why we had some yellow and green yesterday) because the rain is coming off the ocean where the air is cleaner.  When the rain clears out and it get sunny, it's usually bad (like today) because the air from inland is dirtier.

And there, my friends, is your lesson in air quality!  Enjoy your fresh air today if you have it!

ANZ Day 13: At Sea (1/2/2013)

This was another relaxing day! We woke up and watched Michigan play their bowl game. Watching college football is always exciting for us because we don't get to watch very often in China. The kids & I went to the buffet for breakfast and brought M back some C & K Service ;). They were so happy to bring M's breakfast to him! There was a big watch sale this morning and my watch hasn't been working consistently so I decided to get a new one. It was $20, so if it lasts through the summer I'll be happy :).  (NOTE: Last month I got water in it when I was washing my hands and it stopped working.  On a brighter note, I found the watch that I thought was in storage!)

When the game ended, K and I went to watch a little of the last hot glass show. We met M and C at the pool where we spent most of the rest of the day. Swimming might be C's favorite activity.

Synchronized Swimming?

One Happy Family!

The Pool

We had burgers by the pool for lunch and tried for another hockey medal (K won again and gave it to C!).  

Excellent form, but no goal!

She shoots...

She scores!

The Goalie even came out for a high five.

Look at the air on that shot!  Still no goal for this Wings fan.

We came back to the room with enough time for a short nap/rest before dinner. We needed it because the show tonight was at 8:45 instead of the usual 7pm. I have to mention that we had warm lava cake for dessert tonight. So yummy! After dinner we walked around a bit and then went to the theater to get good seats for the show - a cirque type "people circus" as M has been calling it. I have never been to an actual Cirque show, so I have nothing to compare this to, but it was amazing! We were all enthralled! M and I were especially impressed with the performers ability to work on a moving (rocking!) ship! Needless to say, after the late show we were all exhausted and ready for bed!

Sunset

ANZ Day 12: Wellington, NZ (1/1/2013)

We had our long shore excursion today. It was scheduled to be 8 hours! It wound up being a little shorter, which was fine, because they had some trouble with the gangway this morning, so we left late. We visited a beautiful historic church, Old St. Paul's Cathedral, all made of wood.

After the church, on our drive, we learned about "New Zealand's Christmas Tree."  I can't remember the actual name of the tree, but it blooms bright red around the time of Christmas.  The trees were everywhere!

For as many of these trees as we saw, you'd think I would have a better picture than this!  Sorry!

Then we got to rid the cable car up the hill. There was a little cable car museum at the top that was interesting.

After the cable car, we drove about an hour into the suburbs/country to an antique car museum. This place was really cool! There were several hundred cars ranging from a Tin Lizzie to a De Lorean to a Copper Car. We all enjoyed this stop!

This is just part of the main floor of the museum.  There was a second floor mostly devoted to bikes & motorcycles, and a basement level full of more cars!

Down the road from the museum was a farm where we watched a sheep shearing, had lunch (not at the same time!), and walked through the petting farm to feed the animals.

We bought some fudge before we left, and we are happy to tell you that we think we have the best fudge at home in Michigan! There was one more stop on our tour, Mt. Victoria, overlooking the city of Wellington.

It was a beautiful, yet windy, view.  We could see the airport really well and got to watch a plane take off from above. That was neat too! We were ready to be back at the ship at the end of this long day.

ANZ Day 11: Akoroa, NZ (12/31/2012)

This is what we opened our curtains to this morning:

Breathtaking!

We didn't dock today, we had to use the lifeboats as "tenders" to get us to shore. It was a pretty neat experience!

Visiting Akoroa was a little like visiting Leland, or another cute town on Lake Michigan. It's a fairly small town about an hour and a half from Christchurch. Because of the 2 earthquakes that hit Christchurch in 2010 and 2011, we were unable to dock there. Lots of people took excursions to Christchurch today. We opted to walk around town.

Along the beach road

We started out along the beach road and took a path up to a park that we hoped would have a playground for the kids. It wound up being a playground for sheep! It was a pretty steep climb and we had to walk through lots of "sheep poo" to get to the top of the hill, but we were rewarded with stunning views all around! We even got to see some of the sheep and hear them calling out to M while we were there.

It was like this pretty much the whole climb.  C kept asking if we could go back.

We came back down through an adorable neighborhood with beautiful gardens. I don't know what it is about New Zealand, but the colors here are so vibrant! It's like being In a fantasy land! No wonder they chose this place to film "The Lord of the Rings!" It's also important to note that the air is so fresh and clean. I found myself taking huge gulps all day.

This girl has a photographic eye - she asked me to stop and take this picture! 

Once we made it back down near the water we ended up finding a playground. The kids were so happy to get to play, even if it was just for 20 minutes. It was nice to see them able to work out some of the excess energy they've had.

The view from the park wasn't bad either!

You can see our ship far out in the center of the photo.

We had fish & chips again for lunch. It's hard to turn that down! We marveled at the beautiful scenery a little more, picked up some souvenirs, and headed back to the ship for a swim before dinner.

Tonight was a formal night in the dining room, and we had planned to hit the buffet, but Joel convinced us that what we had brought would be fine to wear, so we came in khakis and button down shirts for the boys, and dresses for the girls. It was worth it! When we got to our table, there were Happy New Year hats and noisemakers for all of us! Our menu choices included blue cheese soufflé (good, but strong!), wild berry soup (the kids LOVED this), Beef Wellington and lobster tail. Whew! What a dinner! The kids were happy to toot their horns and make noise with their spinners every few minutes. We saw the last few minutes of the show (a tenor), then went outside for more noise making. M suggested we check out the hot glass show (yay!), which was a great choice as the audience was small so we had great seats! We aren't planning to stay up until Midnight tonight. The kids are already asleep. It's tempting to take advantage of being among the first on earth to welcome the new year, but we have to meet in the theater for our excursion at 8:15 tomorrow morning, and we're going to be gone all day.

Happy New Year to all of you! We're having such a great time on this trip!

Post Script: A bird pooped on me today.  Yes.  It was more than unfortunate.  The last time this happened to me was also on a vacation - what gives?!?!?