October 5*

Thursday October 5

Docked in Picton, NZ, our last stop before Sydney. Cool and overcast. (sis-in-law) Julie is ashore, I am staying on ship to relax and enjoy the amenities. (Hot tub all to myself!). I gave Julie my last $6.50 in NZ bucks and asked her to bring me back as much chocolate as that would buy.
Oct. 4

 Busy and beautiful day in Wellington yesterday. Got to shore about 1 p.m. following a short bus ride from the pier to downtown. Wellington is a bustling city of about 208,000 people, more if you count the suburbs. Rode the cable car, which has been in operation since 1901:


to the top of the city and enjoyed a giant slice of carrot cake:


and a really great cup of coffee at the cafĂ© overlooking the city. Julie and I split. I walked to the next tiny suburb over from the cable car (Kelburn), then a walk through the city’s botanical garden (free). Took some photos:




Then, back down to central town and visited Whitcoull's (a bookstore chain), then searched for some artisan chocolate with no luck. Took shuttle bus back to the pier and went back on board at about 5 p.m. A nice dinner with Julie of turkey roulade with cranberries and other dried fruits. Tiramisu and coffee for dessert. Julie did some knitting while I attended the movie “Mummy 2017” in the Aurora movie theater. Mostly aweful, but I liked the chick who played the mummy's bride (Sofia Boutella) … she really kicked ass and had that impossibly athletic body that requires four hour of workout per day. Looked for a loaner book in the library, but might as well have been in the bilge tank looking for diamonds. Will have to do with leftovers and “read-overs” on the Kindle.
Oct. 5

Julie back from shore with 8-oz package of mixed fudge pieces, made in NZ. Was $7, but clerk took pity on Julie and let her have it for $6.50. Have had better, but it scratched the itch and better than leaving $6.50 behind. Julie reports beautiful hand-crafted goods on shore – no imported crap – apparently NZ law. There is also some sort of thriving timber industry in Picton as evidenced by all the wood stacked near where our ship is docked.




That’s it for now.

Bruce

Comments

  1. UnknownOctober 5, 2017 at 6:24 AM

    Is that carrot cake you're holding? It's my favorite. Did the New Zealanders have a British accent?

    ReplyDelete

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