Still travelling: Dawn Princess - NZ cruise. The final update

Yes, that was all months ago, but going back to where we left off, Akaroa.

Back on board safely and pleased to be ahead of the crowd. We were quite impressed with the sail-out, as it was calm & the sea smooth - only to be broken by the Captain's announcement that as we approach Cook Strait overnight we are going to have another frontal system with high winds and seas. Don't think he's got it right - all looks too good!

Sunday:
OK, he was right. A bumpy evening and we woke to find ourselves tied up in Wellington with horizontal rain and bitterly cold. But I am used to Wellington, so undaunted we queue up (oops Elite again, so mini-queue!) for the shuttle into town after breakfast. One "advantage" of the recent earthquakes is that the terminal and wharf adjacent is closed, so we are berthed a 100 or so metres further north, but with no pedestrian access, we have to use a shuttle and on this occasion they are free. A mad rush through the rain to the bus (about 20 metres), still saw us pretty wet, but at least we got into the CBD (on a Sunday!!!!)

Vivian's main objective was to visit David Jones Department Store, in the old Kirkaldie & Stains premises. Well, we were hugely underwhelmed and it didn't take us long at all to leave the store and brave the elements and head for our "favourite" Cafe, Astoria. I used to go there when I lived/worked in Wellington and more recently it was our meeting place with my late Aunt Lois. So we had a lovely coffee & muffin and toasted Lois.

Time to head off. Ah ha, the Wellington wind caught Vivian as she was about to cross the street - rubbish bin lid took off and gave her a bit of a fright. However we managed to cross Lambton Quay and being tourists, took refuge in Farmers!, where I bought a T shirt, followed by Hallensteins just down the road where I bought another 3 (for the price of 1). Don't you just love to spend $$$$$s, just to buy stuff you could at home?

Fortunately there was a break in the weather, so we made our way back to the bus stop and waited, waited, waited. Buses came for the "other" cruise ship in town, but we waited for the non-arrival of our shuttle. The queue grew and quite frankly the staff were out of their depth in trying to keep us out of the (then) rain. When the bus did arrive, the numbers had swelled into the hundreds and they were letting on the more recent arrivals until we rebelled and forced our way aboard - hey, there was lunch waiting for us back on board. And yes, we did do lunch to warm up once we got back. The family had gone ashore separately and gone to Te Papa etc., so we didn't meet up until later - Happy Hour!

Still very rough as we sailed out of Wellington and headed up towards Napier. Madeline was particularly excited at the large waves rolling past the dining room window. Pleased to say though that although there was a good swell, the Dawn princess handled it well.

Monday:
We had planned earlier in the cruise that we'd have breakfast on our combined balconies when we arrived in Napier. Well, we did and while it wasn't raining (well, a few showers) it was a bit chilly, so rugged up and breakfast together. Unfortunately as be had "backed in", we overlooked the operational part of the port and were on the colder side. After breakfast we headed into Napier, once again on the free shuttle. The aim was to buy Vivian a new possum/merino cardigan from the place I bought one a couple of years ago. Traipsed down Marine Parade to the shop, only to find that it had moved to the CBD. Eventually found it and quite frankly I could easily have walked out. New owners had no idea of marketing or goodwill. When I asked about discount and commented how there was a "GST rebate" last time, the response was "well if you are on a cruise ship you can afford it". Bad response.

We were only in port until 2.00, so decided to get back up to the shuttle and back to the ship. Great timing, as we only had to wait about 5 minutes for the shuttle, but by then the queue had grown (funny how that seems to happen when we are around) to several hundreds. Guess what, got back on board and the rain came - sorry for those folk still queuing.

Tonight is our final formal night and more importantly for us it was the Captain's Cocktail Party for the 40 most travelled passengers. On other & longer cruises this is generally a special luncheon, but hey the food was simply amazing and no lack of refreshments. Had a good chat with Captain Slight, who is the last Captain for the Dawn, which is going up to Singapore at the end of May to become P&O Pacific Explorer!

Tuesday:
Dawned (pun intended) glorious in Tauranga. Hard to believe the difference a day (or two) makes. We had arranged to meet our friends Margie & Ash, who we cruised the world with in 2015 and part of last year's Circle Pacific. Sure enough, the they were sitting waiting for us and off we went in the Daimler plated ASHTON. First we had a coffee at Palmers Garden Centre in Welcome Bay (where they live), before viewing their home and collecting picnic gear as we were off to one of their holiday homes. This one is at Pukehina and Margie bought it a couple of years ago on the spur of the moment, mainly as a retreat for her painting and writing. Lovely spot, lovely food, lovely company.

All too soon it was back to the Mount and on board for our final sail-away. Could not have thought of a better place to finish our holiday. The bad news however was that serious packing now required as the bags have to be out before dinner. Ah well, we'll be home in 24 hours, so doesn't really matter too much.

Wednesday:
Good bye Dawn Princess and goodbye Port of Auckland. Shuttle to Fiona's and then into the car and home. A great time and although the weather was not the best, we all had a great time.