AKAROA, NZ (substitute for Christchurch)

We ended this day in a wonderful way--a classical concert pianist with an hour of Chopin music and it was all memorized!  This followed a wonderful Italian Dinner.

But this beautiful day began with a tender ride to shore (the ship cannot dock, so uses tenders--the life boats, to transfer people to shore.)  Akarao is small; there are fewer than 600 permanent residents and we have 1900 on the ship.  It is a charming town and we walked up into the hills, had a nice meal in a deli, took a harbour cruise out to the Pacific to see dolphins--these are rare species called Hector Dolphins, and they are the smallest ones.  We also saw Blue Penguins, NZ Fur Seals, and several nice sea birds.

Just before returning to the ship we finally found a store that had NZ Sheepskin slippers, so we are very happy to have new ones again.  We've been wearing these for 35 years now--not the same pair, however!

G'day