February 9, 2026 – great life – retired got nothing on

Napier

After a huge earthquake in 1931, the city was rebuilt in beautiful Art Deco style — it’s basically an open-air museum of 1930s architecture. Napier holds an annual art deco festival when everyone gets dressed deco and polish their old 1930s cars to bring memories to life again. There are Long coastal walkways, gardens, beaches, and that classic relaxed holiday feel.

Another nostalgic visit. I had never been to Napier but a guy who lived with us in Dunedin in 1962 has been following me on facebook for years and noticed that our cruise was taking us to Napier. He now lives across the other side of the north island and insisted he come to Napier to show us around. We hadn’t seen each other for 60 years but I “picked him” as the bus arrived at the shuttle drop off point.

John and his wife Marcia showed us around the Hawke’s bay and up to the high points around Napier. We finished our touring with a great New Zealand ice cream. Thanks John for the pleasant meetup.

Wellington

This is the capital of New Zealand but still have heaps of logs at the wharf to be exported mainly to China and other Asian destinations. We didn’t get off the ship as I wanted to get my claim in to the bus company whose bus had caused me to be knocked out in the bay of islands. I’m not noticing any improvement in my balance and speed. Seems like I have regressed somewhat (just more for Lyn to be concerned about).

Timaru

It was from Timaru that our family moved to Hobart in mid 1962. We wandered around in the sunshine and enjoyed a morning tea on the sidewalk. There was a couple of young girls across from us from Denmark who were touring New Zealand and working at fruit orchards. Would you believe they were both knitting woolen hats from NZ wool? Interesting sisters.

On the beachfront, a game of polo was happening. Apparently, next week, an Australian team will be here to compete against New Zealand.

Dunedin

I did 4 years of schooling in Dunedin in the late 50s and early sixties. My mother had three brothers in this town. One of them had 8 children, many of my cousins I had never met. Paulette and Colleen were here enjoying Waitangi day (New Zealand’s national day) and we interrupted their day but had a lot of laughs and humorous stories to catch up on. The most interesting story is that one lady made contact with the family when she was 83. Unbeknown to the family, their mum and dad adopted her out before the rest of the family turned up. There mum and dad were not around anymore to answer the “please explain” question. But they all got along for the last few years of their lives. (Oh, the things that happened in the old days)

In the distance is the steepest street in the world.

Thanks Paulette and Colleen for the laughter and hospitality. Might have to do it again one day.

Fiordland

After some rocking and rolling around the southern point of New Zealand, Noordam made it into the Fiordland region for us to cruise around. The skies were not real kind and very grey. But still, the Milford Sound is majestic with waterfalls along the fjords.