February 20
Auckland
To remain consistent with my extreme lifestyle, today was meant to bring bungee jumping of a huge bridge in Auckland. However, due to rain, I opted for my other extreme activity…finding internet access. And after delaying my exit from the ship, running through the rain, and ordering a cappuccino, I was sitting in a café getting my much needed internet fix. This was then followed by an extreme trip to the grocery store, where I bought some extreme wine and cheese, and walked back to the ship in an extreme way. Yeah, maybe not, but I have to make up for not bungee jumping somehow.
Honestly, I can’t really remember much else from my last visit to Auckland. The rest of the day panned out as usual and my bungee jumping has been deferred till some later date – but you know you’ll be sure to hear about it when it happens. Seeya!
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
Tauranga/Mount Monganue
February 19
Tauranga
Well, the tour worked out – I got to go rafting! But not without some difficulties…
I left it last night where I was just about to send the tour operator an email about final numbers, and that’s what I did as soon as I finished writing my blog. Without yet having found the other person on the ship who I was told was organizing the tour, I sent out an email 3 minutes before it was due letting the operator know to use whatever number the other crew member gave him, or if he hadn’t heard from the other crew member, that the number was 8 people (I figured that was a large enough number for him to work with us on the tour, despite me at the time knowing of 3 other people who were actually interested).
Anyways, I was lucky enough to have the internet on the ship fail last night, right when I really would have needed it working. This really complicated essential communications for a tour that was supposed to happen the next day. That aside, I did eventually find the other crew member who was said to be organizing the tour. When I talked to her that night I found out that she had no idea what the price was, pick up time, how to pay, and that she hadn’t checked her emails for a week, meaning she certainly hasn’t contacted the tour operator recently in regards to the rafting trip. I took some of her names from the list, made a few phone calls, and eventually sent out an email a midnight that night to the operator, much later than he’d asked for to get a final confirmation. That being done, I went to bed hoping that I’d get an email back in the morning saying the tour was still going to happen.
So that brings me to today, when I woke up early to check my email and find out whether or not this tour was actually going to happen. The internet was working again and I had gotten a reply from the operator, we were set up to leave that morning around 10:30-10:45...perfect. So next step – I called everyone on my list to confirm that the tour was going out that morning. I called the girl who was previously setting up the tour and she was still able to go, but after she called her contacts, she let me know all her people backed out, not good. I called the two friends of mine who I knew were ready to go, they paced their stuff and met me at the gangway. Meanwhile, the other names I had received weren’t returning my calls or pages, meaning the group that was supposed to contain 10 people had been diminished to just 3, not enough for a raft. So there I am, outside the gangway 15 minutes before the pick up time, standing there with my two friends trying to figure out how to get another few people on the tour. The girl who previously tried to organize the group did show up, but was of absolutely no use in filling out the group furthermore. So my friend Moody (he goes by his last name), started recruiting some more people while I checked the bus status and made sure everything was organized with the tour operator.
The bus was running late, thankfully, and that gave us some time to gather a few more people together. In the meantime, we were able to get a hold of a few people who were in rehearsal that had been interested in the trip, and told them to hustle down to the pier as soon as rehearsal let out. Also, there was a photographer who was interested, and due to the delays, was also able to run inside and get his stuff together when he was let off work early. By about 11:10 we had left the pier with a total group of 8, exactly the number I’d quoted the tour operator originally. I could finally relax and enjoy the tour.
We drove to the rafting company’s site where we were given gear, signed our waiver, and transported to the river. After a quick training we were off in two separate rafts, my raft in front. I was especially excited for the tour because this was going to be the first time I really got to test my camera’s underwater and shock-resistant abilities. So with a paddle in hand and my camera dangling by a lanyard from my life vest, we hit the first of three waterfalls.
The first two weren’t especially spectacular, I was almost even a bit disappointed. It was still nice to be out in a raft and doing something this cool, but we rode through those drops with little difficulty. The only problem was that the line I was grabbing onto somehow smashed my fingers, which gave me a lot of concern for the larger drop that was to come. We went through some more decent rapids before approaching the highlight of the trip, a 21 foot waterfall. This is the largest commercially rafted waterfall in the world, meaning I figured the bragging rights of having done it would be worth whatever it cost. Anyways, we set up for the fall, brace ourselves down inside the raft, and make the drop. When a raft with 7 people falls from 21 feet straight down, there’s a decent amount of downward momentum fighting floatation. The result: a fully submerged raft. Yeah, we went off the waterfall, went fully under the water, and then popped up sideways in the pool below (the group bought pictures, so I’ll try to post those online). That right there made up for any disappointment from the first two falls. We then watched the other raft make the plunge, where it surfaced with one less person…my friend Moody – so that was funny.
We continued on down the river. There were a few more rapids, one of which actually through the guide sitting on the back of the raft into the water. Because of how we went down the rapid, the back of the raft bounced up hard and threw him flying off of it, which he said hasn’t happened in years. Meanwhile, the rest of us still in the raft, go careening at full speed into a rock wall because our guide who gives the orders for forward or back is swimming behind us. The guide who went flying thought it was hilarious, the girl that almost got her head taken of by a rock ledge probably felt otherwise.
The last feature of the run was what the guides called river surfing. Usually, after the downward movement of water in a rapid, there is an upward bulge of water that you can position a raft on top of. Then, with two people in the front (me being one of them), you can dig the front of the raft into the water and get a ton of water in your face...which I’m sure is more fun than it actually sounds. Anyways, it was cool that the raft would sit on the proceeding bulge while I stared at the fast moving water right under me, which we have some good pictures of as well.
We finished the run, exited the raft, and were then transported back to the original building where it all began. After a change of clothes and us purchasing a CD of pictures taken by the professional photographer, we headed back home. We made a quick lunch stop at a convenience store, where I had a meatloaf sandwich with lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise, caramelized onions, and a large slice a really nice cheese. I wasn’t sure that I’d like it when I bought it but it ended up being absolutely delicious (yeah, a meatloaf sandwich, go figure).
Just cause I can’t help but mention it, we drove through a city on the way to and from the river named Te Puke. I’m sure it’s not pronounced as I would like it to be, but it was really amusing to me and my 5 year old sense of humor. From the Te Puke Car Repairs to the Old Te Puke Cemetery, it just never got old. Definitely a blog-worthy city! Maybe I should have gotten some Te Puke souvenirs…ok, I’ll stop.
Back at the ship I went through the pictures, rested for an hour, and then headed out again with Moody to climb the same mountain that I climbed last time in port. We jogged over to the base of the mountain, made the climb, and quickly came back down as we were running out of time for the day. But it was a great day off the ship and certainly one of the most physical of my ship excursions.
I went to the show that night and enjoyed a night off, nice! Thanks for reading and be sure to check for the pics!
Tauranga
Well, the tour worked out – I got to go rafting! But not without some difficulties…
I left it last night where I was just about to send the tour operator an email about final numbers, and that’s what I did as soon as I finished writing my blog. Without yet having found the other person on the ship who I was told was organizing the tour, I sent out an email 3 minutes before it was due letting the operator know to use whatever number the other crew member gave him, or if he hadn’t heard from the other crew member, that the number was 8 people (I figured that was a large enough number for him to work with us on the tour, despite me at the time knowing of 3 other people who were actually interested).
Anyways, I was lucky enough to have the internet on the ship fail last night, right when I really would have needed it working. This really complicated essential communications for a tour that was supposed to happen the next day. That aside, I did eventually find the other crew member who was said to be organizing the tour. When I talked to her that night I found out that she had no idea what the price was, pick up time, how to pay, and that she hadn’t checked her emails for a week, meaning she certainly hasn’t contacted the tour operator recently in regards to the rafting trip. I took some of her names from the list, made a few phone calls, and eventually sent out an email a midnight that night to the operator, much later than he’d asked for to get a final confirmation. That being done, I went to bed hoping that I’d get an email back in the morning saying the tour was still going to happen.
So that brings me to today, when I woke up early to check my email and find out whether or not this tour was actually going to happen. The internet was working again and I had gotten a reply from the operator, we were set up to leave that morning around 10:30-10:45...perfect. So next step – I called everyone on my list to confirm that the tour was going out that morning. I called the girl who was previously setting up the tour and she was still able to go, but after she called her contacts, she let me know all her people backed out, not good. I called the two friends of mine who I knew were ready to go, they paced their stuff and met me at the gangway. Meanwhile, the other names I had received weren’t returning my calls or pages, meaning the group that was supposed to contain 10 people had been diminished to just 3, not enough for a raft. So there I am, outside the gangway 15 minutes before the pick up time, standing there with my two friends trying to figure out how to get another few people on the tour. The girl who previously tried to organize the group did show up, but was of absolutely no use in filling out the group furthermore. So my friend Moody (he goes by his last name), started recruiting some more people while I checked the bus status and made sure everything was organized with the tour operator.
The bus was running late, thankfully, and that gave us some time to gather a few more people together. In the meantime, we were able to get a hold of a few people who were in rehearsal that had been interested in the trip, and told them to hustle down to the pier as soon as rehearsal let out. Also, there was a photographer who was interested, and due to the delays, was also able to run inside and get his stuff together when he was let off work early. By about 11:10 we had left the pier with a total group of 8, exactly the number I’d quoted the tour operator originally. I could finally relax and enjoy the tour.
We drove to the rafting company’s site where we were given gear, signed our waiver, and transported to the river. After a quick training we were off in two separate rafts, my raft in front. I was especially excited for the tour because this was going to be the first time I really got to test my camera’s underwater and shock-resistant abilities. So with a paddle in hand and my camera dangling by a lanyard from my life vest, we hit the first of three waterfalls.
The first two weren’t especially spectacular, I was almost even a bit disappointed. It was still nice to be out in a raft and doing something this cool, but we rode through those drops with little difficulty. The only problem was that the line I was grabbing onto somehow smashed my fingers, which gave me a lot of concern for the larger drop that was to come. We went through some more decent rapids before approaching the highlight of the trip, a 21 foot waterfall. This is the largest commercially rafted waterfall in the world, meaning I figured the bragging rights of having done it would be worth whatever it cost. Anyways, we set up for the fall, brace ourselves down inside the raft, and make the drop. When a raft with 7 people falls from 21 feet straight down, there’s a decent amount of downward momentum fighting floatation. The result: a fully submerged raft. Yeah, we went off the waterfall, went fully under the water, and then popped up sideways in the pool below (the group bought pictures, so I’ll try to post those online). That right there made up for any disappointment from the first two falls. We then watched the other raft make the plunge, where it surfaced with one less person…my friend Moody – so that was funny.
We continued on down the river. There were a few more rapids, one of which actually through the guide sitting on the back of the raft into the water. Because of how we went down the rapid, the back of the raft bounced up hard and threw him flying off of it, which he said hasn’t happened in years. Meanwhile, the rest of us still in the raft, go careening at full speed into a rock wall because our guide who gives the orders for forward or back is swimming behind us. The guide who went flying thought it was hilarious, the girl that almost got her head taken of by a rock ledge probably felt otherwise.
The last feature of the run was what the guides called river surfing. Usually, after the downward movement of water in a rapid, there is an upward bulge of water that you can position a raft on top of. Then, with two people in the front (me being one of them), you can dig the front of the raft into the water and get a ton of water in your face...which I’m sure is more fun than it actually sounds. Anyways, it was cool that the raft would sit on the proceeding bulge while I stared at the fast moving water right under me, which we have some good pictures of as well.
We finished the run, exited the raft, and were then transported back to the original building where it all began. After a change of clothes and us purchasing a CD of pictures taken by the professional photographer, we headed back home. We made a quick lunch stop at a convenience store, where I had a meatloaf sandwich with lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise, caramelized onions, and a large slice a really nice cheese. I wasn’t sure that I’d like it when I bought it but it ended up being absolutely delicious (yeah, a meatloaf sandwich, go figure).
Just cause I can’t help but mention it, we drove through a city on the way to and from the river named Te Puke. I’m sure it’s not pronounced as I would like it to be, but it was really amusing to me and my 5 year old sense of humor. From the Te Puke Car Repairs to the Old Te Puke Cemetery, it just never got old. Definitely a blog-worthy city! Maybe I should have gotten some Te Puke souvenirs…ok, I’ll stop.
Back at the ship I went through the pictures, rested for an hour, and then headed out again with Moody to climb the same mountain that I climbed last time in port. We jogged over to the base of the mountain, made the climb, and quickly came back down as we were running out of time for the day. But it was a great day off the ship and certainly one of the most physical of my ship excursions.
I went to the show that night and enjoyed a night off, nice! Thanks for reading and be sure to check for the pics!
Wellington/At Sea
February 17, 18
Wellington/At Sea
I was hoping to catch up with my friend again today in Wellington, but communications didn’t exactly work out and I ended up getting of the ship later with a friend from the ship. I had a rehearsal in the morning for the show that night, a show where my friend Terry was the featured performer. He’s the lead singer on the ship and put together his own show, and luckily for him, the ship has been letting him perform his show during the cruises as a headliner act so that he can get used to performing it. Anyways, we did the rehearsal and then I got off the ship with Terry.
Today Wellington must have had the best weather in recent memory, or at least so was the consensus of everyone on the ship I talked with. Terry and I took a shuttle into the city and decided to make our way over to the Te Papa museum, a free museum that I’ve heard nothing but great things about.
On the way over to the museum, I came across a music store, something I can never help but go in. I’ve been looking for more saxophone reeds, and luckily, this place had some. I ended up buying a random collection of reeds to try out on my mouthpieces as I continue to fine-tune my sax set up. I bought some really obscure Australian reeds too, so I’m excited to see what happens with those.
Moving on, we made our way to the museum, where I was immediately impressed at it’s size, design, and free price. The highlight of the museum was that colossal squid that they had on display. Yeah, one of those giant squids you hear about every so often – well they had one and I saw it! This is the only colossal squid on display to the public, and was caught somewhere in Antarctica and donated to the museum. Apparently, the Squid had been pulled up by a research fishing vessel, and having seen a line of hooked fish, the squid grabbed one and didn’t ever figure out to let go till it rose to the surface and was near death. It was then brought aboard the ship, frozen, and then carefully thawed at the museum and put on display. Anyways, it was cool to see it myself and watch the videos about it.
We eventually left the museum, grabbed a coffee somewhere, enjoyed the weather and headed back to the ship so that Terry could prepare for his show. The show went fine, I had a solo where I went to the front of the stage, and that’s about it for the day.
I’m actually writing this on the 18th, so I don’t know yet how the day’s going to end, but I figure I should just do it now before I put it off for a week. We’re sailing today and are supposed to sail around some Volcanic Island that I’ll hopefully be able to see after rehearsal. Otherwise, I’m trying to help put together a tour for tomorrow to go rafting, but have been sitting in my room unsuccessfully trying to get a hold of the other person who’s been putting the tour together. What happened was I tried to get the tour together for some of my friends, contacted the operator and was told there’s someone else on the ship trying to do the same thing and that we should combine groups. I’ve been trying my best over the past 24 hours to contact this other person but have had no luck at all, meanwhile, I’m 45 minutes away from needing to have told the tour operator a final number. Hopefully everything works out and I’ll get to do this tour tomorrow, but nothing has been clearly arranged and we might have waited just a bit too long to get this tour scheduled…fingers crossed though. And that’s about it for today, seeya!
Wellington/At Sea
I was hoping to catch up with my friend again today in Wellington, but communications didn’t exactly work out and I ended up getting of the ship later with a friend from the ship. I had a rehearsal in the morning for the show that night, a show where my friend Terry was the featured performer. He’s the lead singer on the ship and put together his own show, and luckily for him, the ship has been letting him perform his show during the cruises as a headliner act so that he can get used to performing it. Anyways, we did the rehearsal and then I got off the ship with Terry.
Today Wellington must have had the best weather in recent memory, or at least so was the consensus of everyone on the ship I talked with. Terry and I took a shuttle into the city and decided to make our way over to the Te Papa museum, a free museum that I’ve heard nothing but great things about.
On the way over to the museum, I came across a music store, something I can never help but go in. I’ve been looking for more saxophone reeds, and luckily, this place had some. I ended up buying a random collection of reeds to try out on my mouthpieces as I continue to fine-tune my sax set up. I bought some really obscure Australian reeds too, so I’m excited to see what happens with those.
Moving on, we made our way to the museum, where I was immediately impressed at it’s size, design, and free price. The highlight of the museum was that colossal squid that they had on display. Yeah, one of those giant squids you hear about every so often – well they had one and I saw it! This is the only colossal squid on display to the public, and was caught somewhere in Antarctica and donated to the museum. Apparently, the Squid had been pulled up by a research fishing vessel, and having seen a line of hooked fish, the squid grabbed one and didn’t ever figure out to let go till it rose to the surface and was near death. It was then brought aboard the ship, frozen, and then carefully thawed at the museum and put on display. Anyways, it was cool to see it myself and watch the videos about it.
We eventually left the museum, grabbed a coffee somewhere, enjoyed the weather and headed back to the ship so that Terry could prepare for his show. The show went fine, I had a solo where I went to the front of the stage, and that’s about it for the day.
I’m actually writing this on the 18th, so I don’t know yet how the day’s going to end, but I figure I should just do it now before I put it off for a week. We’re sailing today and are supposed to sail around some Volcanic Island that I’ll hopefully be able to see after rehearsal. Otherwise, I’m trying to help put together a tour for tomorrow to go rafting, but have been sitting in my room unsuccessfully trying to get a hold of the other person who’s been putting the tour together. What happened was I tried to get the tour together for some of my friends, contacted the operator and was told there’s someone else on the ship trying to do the same thing and that we should combine groups. I’ve been trying my best over the past 24 hours to contact this other person but have had no luck at all, meanwhile, I’m 45 minutes away from needing to have told the tour operator a final number. Hopefully everything works out and I’ll get to do this tour tomorrow, but nothing has been clearly arranged and we might have waited just a bit too long to get this tour scheduled…fingers crossed though. And that’s about it for today, seeya!
Christchurch
February 16
Christchurch
Last time I was in Christchurch I remained in the port city of Lyttleton for my hiking excursion, so I figured I should go see the actual city this time around, and that’s what I did. After hoping on a bus and making the trip into the city, I looked around for a bit and my first stop was at a large chessboard with 3-foot-tall pieces where too guys were playing. I watched that for 20 minutes or so, or at least till I figured out I was standing in New Zealand watching two people I didn’t know play chess. I moved on.
I walked for a while around the city, simply traveling in which ever direction seemed interesting at the time. I went in a few shops, grabbed a cappuccino, and eventually made it back to the bus to be taken back to the ship. I don’t know that there’s really that much more to tell you about as I didn’t really do anything but meander through the city. It was a beautiful city, slightly cold, and had a lovely river running through it, but that’s about all I got for you…
I returned to the ship, played a show for a humorous impressionist, and that’s about it. Thanks!
Christchurch
Last time I was in Christchurch I remained in the port city of Lyttleton for my hiking excursion, so I figured I should go see the actual city this time around, and that’s what I did. After hoping on a bus and making the trip into the city, I looked around for a bit and my first stop was at a large chessboard with 3-foot-tall pieces where too guys were playing. I watched that for 20 minutes or so, or at least till I figured out I was standing in New Zealand watching two people I didn’t know play chess. I moved on.
I walked for a while around the city, simply traveling in which ever direction seemed interesting at the time. I went in a few shops, grabbed a cappuccino, and eventually made it back to the bus to be taken back to the ship. I don’t know that there’s really that much more to tell you about as I didn’t really do anything but meander through the city. It was a beautiful city, slightly cold, and had a lovely river running through it, but that’s about all I got for you…
I returned to the ship, played a show for a humorous impressionist, and that’s about it. Thanks!
Dunedin
February 15
Dunedin (Port Chalmers)
Today we were docked in Port Chalmers, the port town of Dunedin. My plan was to rent a bicycle with a friend and go riding. However, either due to chance or last night’s party, my friend backed out claiming not feeling well enough for a bike ride, so I went to the crew office myself to rent a bike.
With today being the first day on the cruise in New Zealand, the ship got hit pretty hard with customs procedures, resulting in over 50 crew members getting cigarettes/alcohol confiscated by the authorities. Oddly enough, it was confiscated because they claimed too much…who knows how that works. Anyways, when I went to rent my bike, the office said that it’d have to be cleaned and passed through customs, who I was warned would be slightly impatient due to the recent events. I was advised not to rent a bike today and instead opted to go running by myself through the port area.
I got off the ship, made a left turn, and just began running along the waterfront following a road that ran the perimeter of the bay area. I had no actual goal other than to run and did that basically till I couldn’t go much further.
This area of New Zealand, along with many areas in the country where we dock, is extremely hilly. I had wanted to climb to the top of one of the hills/mountains and was looking for a trail during my run, but soon noticed that most of the roads and paths I found were private residences and fields of sheep. I did find one hill, however, where I was able to walk through an empty field, littered with dried up sheep droppings, and get some better views. I walked the field for a while till two things happened. First, I started to see the house that owned the property, and not wanting to be interrogated about trespassing through a sheep field, preferred to keep my distance. Second, I made a turn around a fenced of area and found myself 15 feet away from a sheep who had wandered far away from his herd. She looked at me with some evil New Zealand rabid sheep glare and ran off in the other direction, probably figuring that I was just scary enough not to mess with. OK, maybe not quite like that - it was probably just as startled as I was, and she turned and slowly waddled away as I stood against the fence not exactly knowing how to handle a potential guard-sheep issue. Following that exchange, I made my way back over the orginal fence I jumped and returned to running down the road.
I stopped later when I felt I’d traveled an ample distance from the ship and began walking back. I had made it quite some distance during that time, and figuring New Zealanders to be a nice group of people, I made an attempt to hitch hike my way back to the ship. There was really only that one road and it lead directly to the ship so I figured it wouldn’t be too hard to find someone to get me there. So I warmed up my thumb, started walking and looked for the next passing car to signal.
Honestly, I’m wasn’t totally comfortable with the hitch hiking idea and can’t say I made a huge effort to get a ride. I walked facing the direction of the ship, not looking at the cars I was soliciting, with my arm slightly out at my side, thumb extended…over the water bottle I was carrying. I figured any one who would stop for such an unenthusiastic attempt at hitch hiking would have to be really friendly. Well, no one stopped and I walked the entire distance back to the ship with my arm slightly further from my side than natural.
The walk back took 90 minutes (what would have been perfect hitch hiking distance). It was a nice walk though, I took some pics, and upon arriving back in the port area saw my friends at a bar where they invited me over for some drinks. I sat there talking with them, some passengers, and some old gnarly seadogs covered in tattoos that were somehow inscribed onto they’re leathery skin. One guy sitting near me had a full beard that was tar stained around his mouth from excessive smoking, which was one of those things that’s so hard to look at simply cause it’s gross, but you keep checking back to make sure you saw what you think you saw, almost trying to figure out a different explanation to make you feel better about the guy sitting by you. That lasted till I had to get back on the ship where I played a jazz set that night and that’s about all. Thanks for reading!
Dunedin (Port Chalmers)
Today we were docked in Port Chalmers, the port town of Dunedin. My plan was to rent a bicycle with a friend and go riding. However, either due to chance or last night’s party, my friend backed out claiming not feeling well enough for a bike ride, so I went to the crew office myself to rent a bike.
With today being the first day on the cruise in New Zealand, the ship got hit pretty hard with customs procedures, resulting in over 50 crew members getting cigarettes/alcohol confiscated by the authorities. Oddly enough, it was confiscated because they claimed too much…who knows how that works. Anyways, when I went to rent my bike, the office said that it’d have to be cleaned and passed through customs, who I was warned would be slightly impatient due to the recent events. I was advised not to rent a bike today and instead opted to go running by myself through the port area.
I got off the ship, made a left turn, and just began running along the waterfront following a road that ran the perimeter of the bay area. I had no actual goal other than to run and did that basically till I couldn’t go much further.
This area of New Zealand, along with many areas in the country where we dock, is extremely hilly. I had wanted to climb to the top of one of the hills/mountains and was looking for a trail during my run, but soon noticed that most of the roads and paths I found were private residences and fields of sheep. I did find one hill, however, where I was able to walk through an empty field, littered with dried up sheep droppings, and get some better views. I walked the field for a while till two things happened. First, I started to see the house that owned the property, and not wanting to be interrogated about trespassing through a sheep field, preferred to keep my distance. Second, I made a turn around a fenced of area and found myself 15 feet away from a sheep who had wandered far away from his herd. She looked at me with some evil New Zealand rabid sheep glare and ran off in the other direction, probably figuring that I was just scary enough not to mess with. OK, maybe not quite like that - it was probably just as startled as I was, and she turned and slowly waddled away as I stood against the fence not exactly knowing how to handle a potential guard-sheep issue. Following that exchange, I made my way back over the orginal fence I jumped and returned to running down the road.
I stopped later when I felt I’d traveled an ample distance from the ship and began walking back. I had made it quite some distance during that time, and figuring New Zealanders to be a nice group of people, I made an attempt to hitch hike my way back to the ship. There was really only that one road and it lead directly to the ship so I figured it wouldn’t be too hard to find someone to get me there. So I warmed up my thumb, started walking and looked for the next passing car to signal.
Honestly, I’m wasn’t totally comfortable with the hitch hiking idea and can’t say I made a huge effort to get a ride. I walked facing the direction of the ship, not looking at the cars I was soliciting, with my arm slightly out at my side, thumb extended…over the water bottle I was carrying. I figured any one who would stop for such an unenthusiastic attempt at hitch hiking would have to be really friendly. Well, no one stopped and I walked the entire distance back to the ship with my arm slightly further from my side than natural.
The walk back took 90 minutes (what would have been perfect hitch hiking distance). It was a nice walk though, I took some pics, and upon arriving back in the port area saw my friends at a bar where they invited me over for some drinks. I sat there talking with them, some passengers, and some old gnarly seadogs covered in tattoos that were somehow inscribed onto they’re leathery skin. One guy sitting near me had a full beard that was tar stained around his mouth from excessive smoking, which was one of those things that’s so hard to look at simply cause it’s gross, but you keep checking back to make sure you saw what you think you saw, almost trying to figure out a different explanation to make you feel better about the guy sitting by you. That lasted till I had to get back on the ship where I played a jazz set that night and that’s about all. Thanks for reading!
At Sea
Feb 12-14
At Sea
Again, we had another long stretch of sea days, which is always good for reading and practicing, meaning I’ve been happy. The second day, however, we were in pretty rough seas. The guitarist, who signed on with me and is brand new to ships, has found out that reading music and the large swells felt in the theater results in him making frequent trips to the bathroom. He ended up missing both shows that night do to his vomiting, a situation I’m certainly not envious of. The unfortunate thing, however, is that this probably means he’ll be sent home. This is bad on two accounts, first, I feel bad for him because it’s his first ship, and second, he’s been my Spanish teacher, so he can’t leave! Unfortunately the ship isn’t likely to put my desire to learn Spanish above having a functioning, dependable guitar player in all weather conditions.
The 14th was spent back in the fjords, and was again missed. I just don’t have much of a desire to dress in my blacks and stand outside looking at scenery I feel like I’ve seen before. Maybe I’ll catch it next time though – we’ll be back in a month or so.
The only other thing that happened was a Valentine’s Day party, during most of which I sat in the adjacent mess and worked on my computer. I stepped into the party for a moment only to find I have no desire to blow out my eardrums listening to terrible music cranked too loud and hang out around fellow crew smelling of body odor and the inevitable intoxication that accompanies any party with free drinks. I returned to my room, slept well, and woke up ready for the next day that was too be spent in Dunedin.
At Sea
Again, we had another long stretch of sea days, which is always good for reading and practicing, meaning I’ve been happy. The second day, however, we were in pretty rough seas. The guitarist, who signed on with me and is brand new to ships, has found out that reading music and the large swells felt in the theater results in him making frequent trips to the bathroom. He ended up missing both shows that night do to his vomiting, a situation I’m certainly not envious of. The unfortunate thing, however, is that this probably means he’ll be sent home. This is bad on two accounts, first, I feel bad for him because it’s his first ship, and second, he’s been my Spanish teacher, so he can’t leave! Unfortunately the ship isn’t likely to put my desire to learn Spanish above having a functioning, dependable guitar player in all weather conditions.
The 14th was spent back in the fjords, and was again missed. I just don’t have much of a desire to dress in my blacks and stand outside looking at scenery I feel like I’ve seen before. Maybe I’ll catch it next time though – we’ll be back in a month or so.
The only other thing that happened was a Valentine’s Day party, during most of which I sat in the adjacent mess and worked on my computer. I stepped into the party for a moment only to find I have no desire to blow out my eardrums listening to terrible music cranked too loud and hang out around fellow crew smelling of body odor and the inevitable intoxication that accompanies any party with free drinks. I returned to my room, slept well, and woke up ready for the next day that was too be spent in Dunedin.
Sydney
February 10, 11
Sydney
Today’s turn around procedures were slightly odd because of another ship being in port with us and sitting at our pier. We knew it was going to happen, but this meant getting all the old passengers off and the new on using tenders, which you can imagine is not very crew friendly. Luckily, I don’t have to help with any of that, but it still meant I couldn’t get off the ship in the morning and that returning to the ship will involve a tender, which isn’t exactly preferred. Anyways, I got off the ship in the early afternoon, and after sitting on a tender for an hour waiting for a different pier to clear, I stepped back into Sydney with Terry and we set out for whatever was going to happen.
The first stop of our meandering was at a free Internet signal thanks to a coffee shop. I got a mediocre cappuccino and sat online till my battery died, but was able to do a lot of work and make a phone call home during the process. Internet usage, after 2 weeks of struggling to find anything free, was a wonderful way to start the excursion.
Moving on, Terry and I looked for a place to get lunch/dinner, more so dinner with each passing minute. After a good deal of walking, a chocolate bar to hold us over, and dealing with the occasional drizzle, we came across a pub with $6 pasta dishes. The meal was ok and of a portion you’d assume $6 might buy, but hey, at least now I wasn’t starving.
The next stop was at a music club/bar that I knew my friends were going to be heading to later that evening, I figured around 10PM, we got there at 8. I more so went to see who was playing and just to go on a walk in a direction I’ve yet to travel. The bar looked decent, but having arrived two hours early, we weren’t about to wait and moved on to the next place that caught our eye.
Terry had an urge to go to the Casino that night, and myself, having never been to a casino (aside from the Monte Carlo in Monaco, la-ti-da) figured that it’d be interesting. I planned out the walking path and we set out down the streets of Sydney.
15 minutes into the walk we were greeted by a large number of black birds flying down the streets 100 feet above us. Unsure about what kind of birds they were, Terry asked the nearest person, where we ascertained they weren’t birds at all, but gigantic bats! We kind of figured they were bats by the shape of the wings, but it just seemed too Batman-esque to be happening in a large city such as Sydney. Nevertheless, dozens of bats flew right over our head coming from the park we were on our way towards. I was thoroughly amused for the next 10 minutes looking at these bats everyone else seemed not to notice.
Along side the park, while looking around for more bats, I spotted something in the grass. I couldn’t tell what it was, but it looked like some strange combination between a squirrel and a kangaroo. Matt (my brother) has been jokingly wanting me to find him a tree kangaroo, and due in part to my knowing nothing about the animal, the darkness, and an unwavering desire to please my brother’s completely outrageous requests, decided that the foreign animal I was looking at must be the elusive tree kangaroo (and no, I was not drunk). Anyways, I jumped over the barricade into the park, stealthily ran towards the animal, chased it up a tree, and the photographed it as best I could…drawing the eyes of all those who saw me. Excited that I had photographed a tree kangaroo, I returned to the sidewalk and we pressed on towards the casino.
The casino was a really nice place, very clean and flashy, and certainly an interesting part of the evening. Most of the time was spent watching Terry gamble playing 3 card poker, a game I had no idea existed. I also did some wandering around, became a member of the casino (completely free and entitled me to 3 free coffees!), and eventually did some gambling of my own. With my $50 Australian, all I had in my wallet, Mr. Big Spender hit the roulette wheel. The roulette wheel hit back. I was out $50 within 6 minutes and ready to move on. In all honesty, it was fun and I’d have kicked myself back at the ship if I didn’t at least risk something. Anyways, $50 Australian is only about $35 US, so that makes it OK, right? Following that, I played a couple games of Keno as a joke, losing $3, walked around the casino a bit more, and headed back to the ship, returning at about 3:30 AM.
I stayed on the ship the next day seeing as the gangway was restricted to crew due to passengers boarding the ship. Nothing really happened that day while I sat in my cabin. I did however show my picture of the tree kangaroo to my roommate (who is from Sydney). He didn’t call it a tree kangaroo...he called it a “possum”. Well there went my excitement, but I do maintain that the Australian “possums” are nothing like the ones in the states.
Oh, that all aside, I’ve been learning Spanish the past week. I practice daily with the guitar player, Gustavo, who is from Argentina. I have a number of listening programs and 4 years of high school Spanish to dig out of my memory, but it’s a fun, frustrating challenge. We’ll see how fluid I can become in the next 3 months. Hasta Luego!
Sydney
Today’s turn around procedures were slightly odd because of another ship being in port with us and sitting at our pier. We knew it was going to happen, but this meant getting all the old passengers off and the new on using tenders, which you can imagine is not very crew friendly. Luckily, I don’t have to help with any of that, but it still meant I couldn’t get off the ship in the morning and that returning to the ship will involve a tender, which isn’t exactly preferred. Anyways, I got off the ship in the early afternoon, and after sitting on a tender for an hour waiting for a different pier to clear, I stepped back into Sydney with Terry and we set out for whatever was going to happen.
The first stop of our meandering was at a free Internet signal thanks to a coffee shop. I got a mediocre cappuccino and sat online till my battery died, but was able to do a lot of work and make a phone call home during the process. Internet usage, after 2 weeks of struggling to find anything free, was a wonderful way to start the excursion.
Moving on, Terry and I looked for a place to get lunch/dinner, more so dinner with each passing minute. After a good deal of walking, a chocolate bar to hold us over, and dealing with the occasional drizzle, we came across a pub with $6 pasta dishes. The meal was ok and of a portion you’d assume $6 might buy, but hey, at least now I wasn’t starving.
The next stop was at a music club/bar that I knew my friends were going to be heading to later that evening, I figured around 10PM, we got there at 8. I more so went to see who was playing and just to go on a walk in a direction I’ve yet to travel. The bar looked decent, but having arrived two hours early, we weren’t about to wait and moved on to the next place that caught our eye.
Terry had an urge to go to the Casino that night, and myself, having never been to a casino (aside from the Monte Carlo in Monaco, la-ti-da) figured that it’d be interesting. I planned out the walking path and we set out down the streets of Sydney.
15 minutes into the walk we were greeted by a large number of black birds flying down the streets 100 feet above us. Unsure about what kind of birds they were, Terry asked the nearest person, where we ascertained they weren’t birds at all, but gigantic bats! We kind of figured they were bats by the shape of the wings, but it just seemed too Batman-esque to be happening in a large city such as Sydney. Nevertheless, dozens of bats flew right over our head coming from the park we were on our way towards. I was thoroughly amused for the next 10 minutes looking at these bats everyone else seemed not to notice.
Along side the park, while looking around for more bats, I spotted something in the grass. I couldn’t tell what it was, but it looked like some strange combination between a squirrel and a kangaroo. Matt (my brother) has been jokingly wanting me to find him a tree kangaroo, and due in part to my knowing nothing about the animal, the darkness, and an unwavering desire to please my brother’s completely outrageous requests, decided that the foreign animal I was looking at must be the elusive tree kangaroo (and no, I was not drunk). Anyways, I jumped over the barricade into the park, stealthily ran towards the animal, chased it up a tree, and the photographed it as best I could…drawing the eyes of all those who saw me. Excited that I had photographed a tree kangaroo, I returned to the sidewalk and we pressed on towards the casino.
The casino was a really nice place, very clean and flashy, and certainly an interesting part of the evening. Most of the time was spent watching Terry gamble playing 3 card poker, a game I had no idea existed. I also did some wandering around, became a member of the casino (completely free and entitled me to 3 free coffees!), and eventually did some gambling of my own. With my $50 Australian, all I had in my wallet, Mr. Big Spender hit the roulette wheel. The roulette wheel hit back. I was out $50 within 6 minutes and ready to move on. In all honesty, it was fun and I’d have kicked myself back at the ship if I didn’t at least risk something. Anyways, $50 Australian is only about $35 US, so that makes it OK, right? Following that, I played a couple games of Keno as a joke, losing $3, walked around the casino a bit more, and headed back to the ship, returning at about 3:30 AM.
I stayed on the ship the next day seeing as the gangway was restricted to crew due to passengers boarding the ship. Nothing really happened that day while I sat in my cabin. I did however show my picture of the tree kangaroo to my roommate (who is from Sydney). He didn’t call it a tree kangaroo...he called it a “possum”. Well there went my excitement, but I do maintain that the Australian “possums” are nothing like the ones in the states.
Oh, that all aside, I’ve been learning Spanish the past week. I practice daily with the guitar player, Gustavo, who is from Argentina. I have a number of listening programs and 4 years of high school Spanish to dig out of my memory, but it’s a fun, frustrating challenge. We’ll see how fluid I can become in the next 3 months. Hasta Luego!
At Sea
February 7-9
At sea
The next three days were spent at see traveling back to Sydney. The first day, however, was spent going through the New Zealand fjord land, a site that I for the most part…slept through. I did catch the last part of the third fjord that we sailed through, only to see that it’s exactly like Norway, and though very beautiful, isn’t exactly anything new to me. Maybe the sleep was worth it, but either way, we’ll be back and I’ll catch it next time around.
The other sea days weren’t really anything to speak of. I just spend most of my time online and with my books, of which I’ve now finished Atlas Shrugged and absolutely loved it. Next is the totally unrelated Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, so we’ll see how I do making the switch. Otherwise there’s not much more to say, but I’m excited to be going back to Sydney to spend my first overnight doing whatever strikes me.
At sea
The next three days were spent at see traveling back to Sydney. The first day, however, was spent going through the New Zealand fjord land, a site that I for the most part…slept through. I did catch the last part of the third fjord that we sailed through, only to see that it’s exactly like Norway, and though very beautiful, isn’t exactly anything new to me. Maybe the sleep was worth it, but either way, we’ll be back and I’ll catch it next time around.
The other sea days weren’t really anything to speak of. I just spend most of my time online and with my books, of which I’ve now finished Atlas Shrugged and absolutely loved it. Next is the totally unrelated Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, so we’ll see how I do making the switch. Otherwise there’s not much more to say, but I’m excited to be going back to Sydney to spend my first overnight doing whatever strikes me.
Dunedin
February 6
Dunedin
Dunedin is another town that is preceded by a smaller port city, and being less mountainous around the port area, I decided to opt for a more normal itinerary and took a bus into the main city. The town of Dunedin has a good deal of shopping, and from what I was able to see while walking around with Terry, that’s about it. We didn’t venture all that far and much of our time there was spent in an internet café.
Probably the single most eventful part of that day was that while I was walking through the streets, some insect, probably a bee, came out of no where and stung me on my right hand pinky finger! Two things make me mad about this situation: 1) I didn’t even see the bee when it stung me, and it’s sort of depressing not actually being able to see your aggressor, and 2) how is it I can travel through fields and forests and trails where no one goes with out a scratch, but can’t walk through a metropolitan area without getting attacked by some bee flying in stealth mode? Anyways, it hurt as expected, but luckily I’m not allergic to bees and I just hoped that the New Zealand bees wouldn’t pull out some unforeseen allergy.
We eventually left the city, my pinky finger slightly swollen, and headed back to the port city where I went to a grocery store for laundry detergent and returned to the ship.
That night was meant to be a night off while the pianist in the band played a jazz set upstairs. This was all going to go to plan till the pianists roommate was feeling ill, went to the doctor, and consequently got the pianist pulled into the medical center for questioning about the possibility of quarantining the room (which would be standard procedure for certain illnesses as we can’t allow the entire ship to get sick). Well, during the interrogation, the pianist wasn’t going to be on time to his gig, and as you might have well guessed, I ran upstairs to play the gig myself with the trombone player playing his horn with me. It was nice to get on a piano again like that, and after the first tune, the trombonist relaxed in the knowledge that this sax player actually does know how to play piano, and we had a nice hour long set which was well received by the guests listening to it.
Anyways, that’s about it for today and for this cruise as we start the trip back to Australia tomorrow. Seeya!
Dunedin
Dunedin is another town that is preceded by a smaller port city, and being less mountainous around the port area, I decided to opt for a more normal itinerary and took a bus into the main city. The town of Dunedin has a good deal of shopping, and from what I was able to see while walking around with Terry, that’s about it. We didn’t venture all that far and much of our time there was spent in an internet café.
Probably the single most eventful part of that day was that while I was walking through the streets, some insect, probably a bee, came out of no where and stung me on my right hand pinky finger! Two things make me mad about this situation: 1) I didn’t even see the bee when it stung me, and it’s sort of depressing not actually being able to see your aggressor, and 2) how is it I can travel through fields and forests and trails where no one goes with out a scratch, but can’t walk through a metropolitan area without getting attacked by some bee flying in stealth mode? Anyways, it hurt as expected, but luckily I’m not allergic to bees and I just hoped that the New Zealand bees wouldn’t pull out some unforeseen allergy.
We eventually left the city, my pinky finger slightly swollen, and headed back to the port city where I went to a grocery store for laundry detergent and returned to the ship.
That night was meant to be a night off while the pianist in the band played a jazz set upstairs. This was all going to go to plan till the pianists roommate was feeling ill, went to the doctor, and consequently got the pianist pulled into the medical center for questioning about the possibility of quarantining the room (which would be standard procedure for certain illnesses as we can’t allow the entire ship to get sick). Well, during the interrogation, the pianist wasn’t going to be on time to his gig, and as you might have well guessed, I ran upstairs to play the gig myself with the trombone player playing his horn with me. It was nice to get on a piano again like that, and after the first tune, the trombonist relaxed in the knowledge that this sax player actually does know how to play piano, and we had a nice hour long set which was well received by the guests listening to it.
Anyways, that’s about it for today and for this cruise as we start the trip back to Australia tomorrow. Seeya!
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