Port Chalmers

We made it to New Zealand. The seas calmed quickly after we “turned the corner” and came to the leeward side of New Zealand. We took a train ride to see the picturesque Taieri Gorge. The operative word was “see”. The most interesting views were on the other side of the train. Coming back, they moved the engine to the other side of the train. They did not turn the cars around, so we missed some of the best views going both ways. It didn’t make that much difference, because taking pictures was impossible no matter we sat. There were strong reflections on the windows. The windows on our car were large, but incapable of being opened. Here’s the best picture I got. It looks more like a UFO beaming somebody up. Never the less, we saw an extremely interesting, isolated, and dramatic area.

When we got back to the ship, we decided to walk around Port Chalmers. This is a very small town. The local economy is obviously struggling. The town’s only coffee shop makes the worst espresso I ever had. But it is a very charming town. Here’s a picture of one of the churches.

Danita and I walked up to the lookout point. It was quite a climb. I had an interesting conversation with a local. Turning around to come back to the ship, I saw a hillside that was stunningly beautiful. Unfortunately, my camera turned it into a mundane waste of pixels. Trust me. If you were there, you would agree. It’s beautiful.

These flowers in somebody’s yard caught my eye.

The last pic is of a 19th century passenger cabin. If a captain had a first class passenger, he might put this cabin on the deck. Everybody would be delighted — provided a storm didn’t blow the cabin overboard.

We have a port visit every day for over a week. Everybody on board is delighted knowing we won’t have any sea days for a while.

I hope this finds everybody doing well.