Sharon woke up this morning with muscle spasms in her back. She decided that this might be a good day for her to just rest and to not take the excursion on the “Seal Coast Safari”. She said that she was fine that she just needed to lay low, so she offered me her seat on the tour that she had booked. That was a wise decision for her, even though the trip was an outstanding wildlife experience the ride was quite bumpy and I doubt very much if she could have navigated the shell and rock covered beach with her walker. I thoroughly enjoyed it but more of that later.
After using their computers at the port visitors center, I took the shuttle into the city of Wellington, the capital of New Zealand. As we have been heading south our temperatures have been dropping, today it was 68 degrees and sunny. The city has been nicknamed “Windy Welly” because of the omnipresent winds that come wiping through Cook’s Strait. It didn’t take long for me to realize what a sophisticated city Wellington is: high end clothing and jewelry stores, fine restaurants and cafes; and also a McDonalds, Subway and a Borders. I had many choices as to how I was going to spend my time, but I desperately needed a hair cut and to get out into nature. I asked the girl at the well managed Visitor Center to recommend a good place for an hour hike and an inexpensive beauty parlor. I took her advice and first went to “Adrian’s” to have my hair taken care of by Tommy Lee a young man from Hong Kong. He did a great job but was very slow and meticulous. I felt myself getting impatient because I didn’t want to be spending my time in Wellington sitting in a beautician’s chair. But it all worked out since I got a good cut and also had a wonderful hike.
I then was pushed for time and almost missed the bus as I ran to the bus stop. I had to make it back to the pier to take the safari tour. They are not kidding when the use safari in the title for the tour. We were driven in dirty rugged SUV’s with serious tires. After going through the city, we headed up a mountainous range toward the wind turbines.
Our drivers Billy and Kent were very funny, outgoing and fast talkers, in fact a rollicking good sense of humor seems to be trademark of all of our Kiwi guides. They told us interesting stories about the early Maori and farmers of this area. Showed us a deer farm and a couple of ostriches.
The drive out and back along the coast line to the seal colony was unbelievable. It was a “hold onto your hat ride ‘m cowboy” type of a ride. We gasped and were thrilled as we drove over this sandy and rocky track that was often wet in spots. In fact the morning group couldn’t get through because the tide had risen faster than expected. This is a private track that is closed off to the public for most of the way.
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The seals didn’t seem impressed with our efforts to see them. These were Fur Seals that were hunted almost to extinction, what a lazy life they lead. I felt very fortunate to be in such a remote location and to be able to get up “close and personal” to this curious animals.
A cup of native herbal tea and muffins were provided by the guides while we took pictures and bonded with nature.
So once again we say good-bye to another NZ port city that was filled with many adventures.
Another interesting couple has joined us at our dinner table, they run a travel agency and are taking 50 people on this cruise. He used to play major league softball in Christchurch, so I’m sure he will have many stories to tell.
Sharon and I saw a very good variety show this evening with a comedian from the UK. He made fun of our captain and us, the passengers, of course all in good taste and politically correct. I was in tears with laughter.
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