February 4: Napier, NZ and Catching up

Feb. 2: Auckland provided a lovely day for us, though I only went ashore to get our proverbial shore photo taken (to prove we've been there).  Since we've been before and spent several days, we felt we would enjoy the ship day more. Our sea days prior had been quite rough, so we were glad for some calm. The day after Auckland was going to be busy for us in Tauranga...visiting Hobbiton!

Saturday, Feb. 3 (for us) was a partly cloudy day, but was a nice temperature (mid-high 60's)...just right for touring the countryside outside of Tauranga (the largest container port) and visiting Hobbiton, Peter Jackson's recreation of the sets that were used in filming Lord of the Rings etc. Well, most of it is definitely recreated for the visitors now, but we loved it! Highly recommend seeing it if in NZ!  You have to go through with a guide, so they control the flow of people along the way which is much needed.  There are 44 "Hobbit Holes" that you can see in The Shire and each one is more photogenic than the last. They are totally adorable! After a 2-hour walking tour through The Shire, you end at The Green Dragon for a beer or cider (both very good!) in delightful surroundings. Then, you return to the gift shop (very disappointing souvenirs...and dreadful T-shirts...sorry, no souvenirs, folks!) before rejoining our small tour bus (10 of us from the ship had arranged this private tour.). We stopped at a Manuka Honey shop for ice cream cones and a quick stop to see kiwi fruit ready for picking. Back in time for our 4:15 obligatory Life Boat Drill (they now require these every 30 days.). Too tired to do much more than have dinner and download photos, then bed. It was quite rocky, so not a good time to walk around much anyway...bed was safest!

Still rocky this morning, so we're taking it easy until we get into the harbor at Napier about 11 am.  Looks like a good day...partly cloudy and cool. (And this is their summer!) Shall post Hobbiton photos separately since it's difficult to do it from my email.

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