March 4 Double Rainbow
We woke to a double rainbow and calmer seas on Monday, day 60. Five regulars played fighting chess in the morning and two played in the afternoon. Wildlife expert Robin Petch showed beautiful pictures of animals and landscape in his lecture on “The Natural History of New Zealand.” Our trivia team got back to winning ways with 12 points and a tie for second place behind the winning team who scored 13 points. A few of the bloggers got together in the afternoon. We met a guest journalist from Australia’s Better Homes & Garden who boarded in Papeete and is going to write an article on the Viking Sun. David Burgess spoke on “Auckland, a Modern Metropolis That Grew from a Small Settlement.” In 1840, Captain William Hobson founded the city and was New Zealand’s first governor. We took a galley tour where we learned that the ship has 101 chefs. Very interesting to see where our gourmet dishes are prepared. Special care is taken for food allergies. Food must be thrown out when it reaches four hours old. It can be used as fish food if discarded more than 12 miles from land. The Viking Band and vocalists played while we celebrated the crossing of the International Date Line, the Domain of the Golden Dragon. Kym Purling, piano, Tony Granados, drums, and Leonardo de Guzman, bass guitar, played a variety of jazz standards for our evening entertainment.
Seven chess players competed Tuesday morning, day 61. Geoff Peters provided an historical overview of “America’s Cup.” Because of our galley tour yesterday, we watched the port talk on Waitangi on our interactive TV. We attended today’s port talk on Auckland. Our trivia team finished in a three-way tie for first with 11 points. We won the tiebreaker by coming close, without going over, to the elevation of Angel Falls. We now have won 5 times and finished second 6 times (out of 37 sea days). An atrium concert brought together guest pianist Kym Purling and cruise director Heather Clancey for a taste of jazz by these two friends. Paul Koudouris joined with the Viking band and singers to perform country flavored music for the evening entertainment.
Rainbow Falls
We anchored in the Bay of Islands, composed of some 144 islands in the northern part of New Zealand, on Wednesday, day 62. We tendered to Waitangi, which means “weeping waters” in Maori, a language that uses only 14 letters. On February 6, 1840, Captain William Hobson and 52 Maori chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi here which is considered the founding of New Zealand as a nation. We toured the area by bus with a stop in Kawakawa to see the ornate Friedensreich Hundertwasser pubic bathrooms. The town has other art, too. We especially liked the colorful 2011 Karetu School mural project. Along the Kerikeri River we admired the 88-foot Rainbow Falls. Also, near Kerikeri we took photographs of New Zealand’s oldest buildings, the stone-constructed Stone Store and the wooden Kemp House. After our bus tour, we walked around Paihia where we liked the historic stonework of St. Pauls Anglican Church and we learned about the 150-year history of the Williams House before it became the Public Library in 2003. It was interesting to visit this part of New Zealand. Our cruise director, Heather Clancey, is also a professional singer of note. Tonight, she put on a superlative performance including several operatic pieces.
A Battling Bishop 