Our stateroom is referred to in the booking information as a “Partially Obstructed Balcony” which means that some part of a survival craft or its associated mechanism is the first thing you see off the balcony. On most ships and particularly on long ocean voyages there is little to see from balconies anyway. For 18 days we have watched our obstructed view and survival craft have twice been lowered into the sea to function as port tenders while at anchor and once for crew exercises while at a berth. For all of those days we have been somewhat mystified by an apparatus, sitting above the boat davits, that showed signs of extreme rust in a geared track and a bucket, partially full of oil, mcgyvered to hang below a motor. Attached to the outboard extremity of this apparatus is something that appears to be a folding gangway. Two questions: what was it for and in its condition, would it even work?
Friday morning in Auckland we were awakened by the noise of motors, grinding gears and grating sounds. The pattern repeated numerous times. We watched from the balcony as the mechanism moved outward, ground to a stop, retreated inward then outward slightly farther than the previous stoppage. Gradually the rust was overcome and the gangway was lowered to the dock where it was positioned to bring fresh supplies into the lower decks of the ship.
When we later returned to our room it was clear that someone had spread grease liberally on the gears and tracks. Before sailing the gangway and its balky davits were easily returned to their storage position. Here is a photo collage.
Our stop at Bay of Islands was very pleasant. There was very little wait time for tender service to the Waittangi shore. By the time we arrived most of the tours had begun and we had the choice of a 25 minute walk or free shuttle bus into Pahai. We opted to walk. We purchased water at a shop on the way and enjoyed the beautiful weather.
A group of Maoris were performing in a small park near the waterfront at Pahia and several travellers were co-opted into their performance. The town was not overly crowded. Souvenir shops, eateries and realtors lined the streets. More vendors could be found along walkways that threaded between the auto-roadways. That was where we found a pleasant little sandwich shop about lunch time. We returned to Waitangi on the shuttle bus and returned to the ship early in the afternoon. There was time to soak in the hot tub while watching sail craft, para-sailing and tour boats in the bay.
How much does a suntan cost? The sun is available to everyone and there were more than enough loungers on the deck so the answer should be “nothing”. Watching a few passengers tanning technique provides a different answer. There were a number of travellers who seemed to lay out on deck regardless of the availability of sun but as the sun warmed, the outerwear vanished, bodies glistened with sunscreen of something and bar stewards attended. My calculations estimate that over a three week cruise the tan may have cost more than $800, excluding sunscreen. Oh well, I suppose it’s good news for the cruise line.
Sunday and Monday we were at sea en route to Sydney Australia. Sunday was a beautiful day at sea with warm, sunny, dry weather and smooth seas. Monday could hardly have been more opposite as we traveled through the northern Tasman Sea. By the time we came along site the Overseas Passenger Terminal on Tuesday, February 27 the nice weather had returned.
Tuesday morning was scheduled for inspections by Australian Border Security people. Cunard, in their wisdom, scheduled visits to officials first by urgency to disembark for tours then by deck of residence in ascending order. What could be simpler? Our deck, deck 5, was called to the theatre in preparation for inspection ashore. while enroute to the theatre an announcement was made that there was no longer a need to stage disembarkation via the theatre. By this time we were with others committed to entering the theatre at the lowest of its three levels. Without method of escape we were held captive while Cunard staff explained to guest after guest after guest that no-one would be allowed back into the ship until all passengers had completed inspection, a fact that was in the paper documentation received by all and announced repeatedly over the public address system. Next, other than leaving the ship on deck 1 as originally planned, we were now directed back through the ship and up to deck 3. Once Cunard stopped messing around, Australian Border inspection was a breeze.
Cunard was, however, not yet done with us. Upon returning to the ship with plans to have lunch on board, many of us discovered we could not board at the planned time. We were given boarding sequence numbers then shuttled from place to place within the terminal building for nearly an hour. We were later to discover that Cunard had not planned for the eventuality that some 40 or so passengers felt that for some reason they could ignore Australian officials and simply stay on the ship. So the 400 or 500 of us wishing to re-board the ship had to wait while Cunard rounded up the strays and herded them to inspection.
After lunch we again set off to wander the harbour area. Sydney has a public transit system that includes bus, train and boat. They also have a “Tap and Ride” fare payment system that works quite well. One of our first stops was to pick up an OPAL card and shortly thereafter we were on a ferry heading to Darling Harbour. We found there were many changes since we first visited 10 years ago. There has been a lot of new development and the number of ferry stops reduced. We walked around Darling Harbour from one ferry stop to the next. the northern end of the harbour is currently being redeveloped. Parts of the eastern and western shores were familiar but most was either under development or already redeveloped into condos and businesses.
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