Boarding!

Auckland and Boarding the Ship

Well. The day finally arrived. I was so excited I couldn't sleep all that well that last night so I was awake at 4:00 AM and was packed and already watching out the window for the Amsterdam to appear in the bay. 

I found on Kathi's blog, a link to sea scanner, which gave me up to the minute info on where the ship was. I saw it was still about 20 miles or so away so I knew I had time. I took a shower and made a small pot of coffee while I waited. 

At about 6:30 I looked up and there she came!!!  Pretty fun to watch I must say. 

My host, Bart, appeared about 7:30 to start making breakfast for me and we talked about how their bed and breakfast came to be. 

All too soon it was almost 9:00 AM and time for me to leave. The tour company that I had arranged a city tour of Auckland with for the morning with me and 14 others from the ship, was stopping by to pick me up on the way to the ship. My hosts and I hugged goodbye and off I went. I might mention there's a picture of Bart and Therese's dog which is a breed I'd never heard of before - a Saluki. He's simply beautiful. 

We arrived down at the ship's pier and as we drove up I saw our group waiting. There were some old friends there! Bernd and Mieke, and Bonita and Lenny. I met them on last year's world cruise and we'd all become friends. It felt so nice to see them again - like a special reunion. 

Our tour was set for 3 hours and we got a great overview of Auckland. We drove over the bridge and got some nice views of the city from across the little bay. Then we visited the Winter Gardens which are on the grounds next to the War Museum. There, our guide showed us New Zealand's unique "silver fern". It's a special type of fern that is silver colored only on the underside of its leaves. 

Next we drove up to the top of Mt. Eden where there's an old crater from a volcanic eruption, as well as fantastic 360 degree views of Auckland and it's surroundings. 

We were taken through various neighborhoods including the "Beverly Hills" of Auckland, where no house looks the same and they are all at least $3 million or over in cost. The plots of land are very small but housing is incredibly expensive here. There were several homes on one street whose prices exceeded that of $35 million. 

We finished up at one last park and then headed back to the ship. Finally it was time to board!

Boarding was quick and easy and I was in my cabin. Yay! Soon there was a knock at my door. Thinking it was the cabin steward stopping by to introduce himself, I opened the door to find Jack there. It was wonderful to see my friend again. He stayed a little while and showed me his new iPhone and we worked out a couple of things that he was having trouble with, then he left. We share the same table at dinner, so I knew I'd see him later. Last year, we had settled into a comfortable daily routine as our friendship developed so I knew it would be easy to slip back into our same routine this year - early morning walk on the deck, breakfast with him and Vinny and Carol in the Lido, working the crossword puzzle in the library, lunch in the Lido, listening to Adagio and then dinner in the dining room. Most days. Sometimes on port days things get dropped due to tours and what not. 

All too soon it was time for dinner. And then the show. And then bedtime. My first day complete!!