Welcome to Auckland!

Check out our itinerary for the next 14 nights...heading back to Sydney. Wait...didn't we just leave Sydney???

Who knew our hotel would be next door to an adult bookstore? Were those ‘working ladies’ I saw outside? And my companion in the elevator later on? Hmmm, I wonder.

Hello from Auckland, where we boarded the beautiful Celebrity Millennium...and are now beginning our southbound journey toward Tauranga, followed by a sea day, Napier, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, Dusky Sound/Doubtful Sound/Milford Sound, two days at sea, then Melbourne, AUS, where we’ll meet up with friend Luke. He was a physical therapist for the AUS rowing team, and our family befriended him when he was in Mayberry for the ‘96 Olympics (the rowers trained in our lake). I was a torch bearer for our town, so we all got to spend quite a bit of time with Luke during the local festivities both in Mayberry and in ATL, where friend Joy and I were Olympic volunteers. After Melbourne, we have another sea day before hitting Sydney.

We are back now from our boat safety drill, feeling all secure in the knowledge that there are plenty of lifeboats for all of us, as well as life jackets. Lunch earlier was good (better than the Rhapsody), so that is a PLUS. We are now underway...walked about the ship, then sat visiting with a nice couple from Scotland in the card room. That was more fun than going to the show tonight, so we are missing that. We have late seating again for dinner...no tour planned for Tauranga tomorrow as 80% chance of rain is expected. We have 100% at the moment. That’s OK...we are on a cruise ship, enjoying a nice glass of wine and everything is lovely. Cheers!