Freo

We should have been in Fremantle at 08:00.  It's now 13:50 and we are turning around - that is a sight - in the harbour, with a clearance of only 25 meters, getting ready to dock.

The reason for the delay was a storm last night into this morning.

 

Only the 2nd time in my life that I have seen the entire rainbow. 

 

 

 

 

Auckland 1

the Nippon Clip-on highway

The "Carnivalization" of Cunard

For those of you who do not know, Cunard is owned by Carnival, also owners of Carnival, Princess, P&O and God only knows what else.

And the Queen Mary 2 standards are falling, stupidly, in ways that are immediately apparent.

The pillow chocolates are about half the size of the ones previously left on the bed at night.  The “downsize” served as fodder for the comedians in the variety shows as well as for the (many) complaining passengers.

The shower caps given to the passengers are almost too small for adults.

The midnight buffet, which used to be open until 4 am when continental breakfast begins, suddenly, last month, closed at 1 am.  A group of us left the disco early and headed upstairs for a light snack of ……..spare ribs, only to find the buffet closed. It is now open until 2 and after that…room service which can take up to 45 minutes, as we are always warned.

World Voyages on QM2 used to be sold in long segments but then Carnival realized it could rake in much more by selling short segments – 8 days, anyone can afford that.  Just fill the ship, no matter what.

So, now the ship is often filled with uncouth louts of both sexes who have no idea of “dressing for dinner” on formal evenings and wander around in jeans, ragged shorts and shirts too small to accommodate the beer belly underneath – the dress code is only enforced in the dining room but the rest of the ship is a free-fire zone.

My last neighbors screamed obscenities along the hallways as a matter of course.  But, from Carnival’s point of view, they are fine.  The casino is busy, busy, busy and the earnings from the bar rise exponentially.

Last month, at high tea no less, a man at the table next to me picked up a fruit tart (small pastry cup with custard and glazed fruit) which crumbled in his hand.  He stuffed the pieces in his mouth and then licked his palm clean.  Reminded me of my dogs.

For me, the saddest aspect of the decline is the deterioration of the entertainment staff.  These are the “first line of defense” for Cunard and with the exception of the cruise directors, the social hostess, Janet, and 2 others, they are absolutely horrible, in appearance and distressing lack of education as well as general ignorance about manners and decorum.

From the way some of the entertainment staff speak to the passengers, you might be confused about who works here.

We are daily berated in line dancing – “What’s wrong with you? Are you all tired today”  “You don’t seem very lively”.  “Why aren’t you smiling?”  The previous trainer was even worse – she didn’t bother to learn the dances and tried to teach us reading the steps.  It got so bad that one of the passengers took over the class and fortunately did an excellent job. Nevertheless, she insulted us by saying that line dancing was only provided so that we (passengers) would have some way to pass the time.

I have been asked by many passengers to teach it but this is my holiday.

While they might be suitable for a Carnival ship (although I doubt even that), if they were on land, the only jobs they could get would be the ones asking, “You want fries with that?”

I cannot think of another luxury brand which has cheapened itself and survived.  And, it is all so unnecessary.  Leave or raise the Cunard standards and let the Carnival ships have the lager louts

Does anyone reading this know Sir Richard Branson?  He should put together a consortium and buy Cunard and rescue it from further “carnivalization”.

Ok, that’s enough whining/whinging about this tiny little first-world problem.  My voyage of discovery continues to be amazing.

But, I meant what I said about Sir Richard.

 

AUCKLAND

March 11, 2013   

The central part of New Zealand’s largest city occupies a narrow isthmus between the Manukau Harbour on the Tasman Sea and the Waitemata Harbour on the Pacific Ocean.

 Auckland’s nickname is the “City of Sails” and it has more yachts per capita than any other city in the world.  The harbor was full the day we visited.  If, as the inhabitants claim, New Zealand is “God’s own country”, Aucklanders claim, “God would choose to live and work in Auckland.”

As usual, we docked in a busy container terminal so we had to have photo ID with us at all times.  I had booked a tour so we followed the paddle holder to our bus.  Normally, there is a driver and a tour guide, but Ray, our driver, was also the tour guide and a very good one.

His first commentary startled us:  Auckland has many volcanoes, 14 of which are classified as dormant, not extinct.  The entrance to the harbor where we docked is dominated by the cone of Rangitoto – last eruption over 800 years ago but it rumbles regularly.

Maori tribes settled the area of Auckland about 1350 AD.  In 1840, Captain Hobson of the HMS RATTLESNAKE (how appropriate!) named the area Auckland after the 1^st Earl of Auckland and persuaded other English settlers to move in.  He was subsequently ordered to draw up a treaty with the Maori clans – the still controversial Waitangi treaty.

The first stop on the tour was the SKY TOWER – oh joy, a very high place!  An attraction (for some) is that part of the floor of the terrace on the 50^th ??  floor is glass.

Katie, who was also not excited about high places, joined me for a walk-about.  We discovered St. Matthew in The City Episcopal Church and it was open. 

Then we had a desultory cup of tea, complete with desultory service.

The tour was a short one, chosen deliberately as I now hate long bus rides.  Actually it’s my knee which refuses to cooperate.  But the driver thought we would not get our money’s worth so he took the “scenic route” to our next destination.  This meant a drive through exclusive neighborhoods with $5-30m homes - the NZ dollar and the American dollar are just about equal – and magnificent views of the various bays.  His commentary was just enough to be interesting but not overwhelming.

The highlight of the tour was of course the aquarium:  Kelly Tarlton’s Underwater World and Antarctic Encounter.

http://www.kellytarltons.co.nz/

The Antarctic Encounter was first – a replica of the hut built and provisioned for the Scott expedition.  Sir Robert Falcon Scott (1868 – 1912) and 4 companions made a sledge journey to the South Pole.  When they arrived they discovered that Roald Amundsen had beaten them by only a month.  All 5 died on the trip back to their base camp.

Roald Amundsen (1872-1928) not only was the first to reach the South Pole in 1911, he was also the first to navigate the North-West Passage (1903-06) when he located the site of the magnetic North Pole.  Being photographed by his statue in Norway was a highlight.

As interesting as that was, the first marine exhibition was the main attraction for me – the giant squid.   There is a larger squid, the Colossal Squid, the remains of one are in Wellington, but this was quite a find.  They live at such great depths that finding even a part of one is amazing.

From there the path led to the tunnel with sharks and rays swimming around us.  Then, the various sea creatures, especially the sea horses and corals.  The time spent there went much too fast.

Paihia revisited - wish I could!

Some excerpts from the tourist information map:

 

Business Paihia – www.paihianz.co.nz

 

Missionaries were the first Europeans to settle Paihia in 1823, before the whalers in 1840.  They built a home, a store and the first church in New Zealand, constructed the traditional Maori way using raupo.

Across the water is Russell – shore destination for whalers and traders – which developed a reputation as lawless and bawdy, earning the title, “Hell Hole of the Pacific”.  Nowadays, there are frequent ferries which take from 5 to 20 minutes depending on the speed of the boat.

Zane Grey, who books I devoured during my teenage years, helped to develop and popularize big game fishing.

Christ Church (a building in Russell, not the city 80 miles away) is New Zealand’s oldest standing church and still has the bullet holes from the Maori Wars.  No, I don’t know why they have not been patched.

Haruru Falls, the goal of our “war canoe” trip is horseshoe-shaped and aori legend says t5hat a taniwha (water monster) lives in the lagoon below.  He wasn’t home when we arrived.

Haruru was an aramoana – a seaway or ocean path – for the 9 kaianga (villages) between Haruru and Waitangi (3-4 km).  Missionaries reported seeing between 60 and 100 canoes pulled up on the mud banks. 

 

no more internet time

We pay for the internet and I have used most of the time for this segment.  I will publish again after Sydney, Tuesday.

BREAKING NEWS

March 17, 2013 – 12:00 local time

600 nautical miles due east of Tasmania 

The Commodore has announced the details of what we already knew – we are in a storm.

In this case, we are being influenced by 2 storms – depressions – and the waves which are now 5 m – about 15 feet – are expected to increase during the day, throughout the evening, only abating some time tomorrow morning.  The physicists reading this will be able to explain the momentary feeling of weightlessness which occurs when we seem to ride a wave.  It’s eerie and very exciting.

When the Commodore says to be aware of objects in the stateroom which might be “unstable”, such as the vases of my birthday flowers, and to use hand rails, it is really time to “batten down the hatches”.  I feel sorry for anyone in this storm on any ship other than QUEEN MARY 2.

 

UPDATE: 20:00 hours local time 09:00 in Berlin)

The weather is described as “rough” with waves of 6-7 meters, 18-20 feet and we barely feel it.  Love this ship!