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Live from Voyager—Feb 20 to Mar 6, 2018–Sydney to Auckland with RachelG

RachelG

By RachelG,
in Regent Seven Seas Cruises

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Mudhen

Mudhen

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Photos are lovely!

Have to laugh about George and the shows. and the casino.....John would be his bud. I almost always go to the shows alone while he will "make donations" or have an evening "treat"

I think there should be a gathering spot for all of the ladies who have lost their men to various other persuits. We could all go to the show together! giggle!

Linda

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jeb_bud

jeb_bud

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February 26, 2018–Milford Sound, New Zealand

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The captain had predicted that as soon as we rounded the bottom of New Zealand and started up the east side, the seas would calm down considerably, and he was right. We went to dinner in Compass Rose, and suddenly the seas were calm. George and I split an order of escargot as that is just too much for either of us. I had what was listed as trout on the menu but was actually salmon. The waiter told me it was in the same family?!? Would that family be fish? I was fine with it, but just not what I was expecting.

 

 

 

The entertainment was the Australian guy who plays every instrument known to man plus a bunch of others. He is really good. George went to make a donation to the casino.

 

 

To be fair, trout and salmon are both in the salmonidae family. It would be a little disconcerting to order trout and get salmon.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

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RachelG "Live from...." Rare

RachelG

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February 27, 2018–Dunedin New Zealand

 

After a smooth night of sailing, we awoke to very overcast skies with temps in the 40s and some wind which made it feel really cold as we entered a very narrow and shallow channel to go to Port Chalmers which is the port for Dunedin. They dredge the middle of the channel so that ships can get to the port, but it is very shallow on either side. Our captain did a great job of staying within the lines though.

 

On either side were low hills which remind me of Scotland, covered with tussock grass and interspersed trees. The Otago Peninsula juts out on one side and is a haven for wildlife of all sorts. There were several wildlife viewing excursions today and tomorrow, excursions to Dunedin which is about 8 miles away, and a free shuttle into Dunedin as well. A local tourism bureau representative came onboard with information and maps.

 

Excursions took off on time today, ours being to Larnach Castle and to Penguin Place. The Otago Peninsula is less than a mile from the port as the crow flies, but since the bay is very long and narrow, one has to go all the way to Dunedin, through town, then back down again to get to the peninsula, so quite a long drive. Dunedin is a university town, and this was the first week of classes for the semester, so things were bustling and somewhat congested.

 

Eventually we drove out of town through lush greenery, steep grass covered slopes with cows and sheep grazing, with views of the bay in the distance. No flat land here at all. All the flat land in Dunedin was reclaimed from the sea.

 

Larnach Castle was a home built by William Larnach, a businessman, banker, and politician who came over from Australia in the 1850s in time for the gold rush that took place near here. He made a whole lot of money and wanted to show off his wealth, so he built a castle in the middle of nowhere out on the peninsula. He committed suicide at age 66 when he found out that his 3rd wife (the other 2 had died, both at age 38) and his oldest son were having an affair. After that the castle was a psychiatric hospital, a home for nuns, and finally a military barracks in WWI. It then fell into disrepair and was abandoned until the current owner and her husband bought it in 1967 and refurbished it. They only paid £20,000 for it, but spent millions getting it back to how it was in the day. And it is spectacular.

 

The rooms and gardens have been restored, with the owner having found many of the original furnishings. The ceilings are very ornate, carved by a fellow they brought over from Italy. Lunch was served in the ballroom and was pretty good. We had some great tomato soup which I enjoyed since it was so cold outside, followed by a salad with cheese and meats then homemade shortbread for dessert.

 

We then proceeded to penguin place which is a nature reserve that is trying to prevent the yellow eyed penguin from going extinct. These little guys only live in New Zealand, and there are only about 1200 left. They are very solitary and sort of ill tempered. So they are difficult to see in the wild. We went on a short hike and saw little blue penguin babies in their nests. The parents are out at sea. We saw sea lions and fur seals, but no yellow eyed penguins until we got back to the penguin hospital where they are getting several healthy enough to be re released into the wild. It was interesting, and they are very stinky.

 

Then the long drive back to the ship, though town again with the driver pointing out the sights. I would have preferred another 30 minutes at the castle. The day was really chilly, but at least it didn’t rain, even though it looked as though it could at any minute.

 

Dinner at Prime 7 was excellent with a great steak, the best I have had onboard a ship, which is high praise as I am very picky about steak, and crab. Then the production cast performed “Soul Rockin Nights “. Very high energy, non stop singing and dancing. They are outstanding, the best ever troupe on any cruise we have done.

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Mr Rumor

Mr Rumor

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Soul Rocking Nights is a new Regent-fleet production; the Voyager production cast is the first to perform it. Agree it is nonstop energy--I was winded just watching!

 

I heartily recommend the cast Q&A + backstage tour if Ray is able to schedule.

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RachelG "Live from...." Rare

RachelG

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Rachel, what kind of steak did you order in the Prime that was so good?

6 oz filet. I do NOT like fatty cuts of meat, so a filet is about the only steak I will order in a restaurant. At home, where I can trim my meat myself before cooking, I will have a rib eye or KC strip, but not in a restaurant.

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RachelG "Live from...." Rare

RachelG

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February 28, 2018–Port Chalmers/Dunedin New Zealand

 

We were in port overnight, and I actually woke up during the night missing the motion of the ship. We awoke to a lovely sunny day, warmer than yesterday, with the high predicted to be in the upper 60s, a perfect day for hiking.

 

George and I have been to Dunedin before. We hiked Mt Cargill that time then went on the shuttle down town to the botanic gardens which are outstanding and to see the steepest street in the world, steeper than Lombard Street in San Francisco and straight down rather than curvy.

 

Today the plan was to hike around Port Chalmers. I had a map. We took off first down through the town and to the beachside path that goes around the little peninsula that the town sits on. Lots of huge pine trees loaded with pine cones, ducks and geese bobbing in the shallow water, a nice breeze, and sunshine—perfect except that I was bit somewhere along the way by a mysterious insect so I have a huge itchy hive on my neck.

 

Then we headed up past the Presbyterian Church on a narrow walking track that went up and up through a sort of rainforest with all sorts of ferns and huge trees to the memorial to Admiral Scott who set off from near here for his ill fated Antarctica mission. We hiked along some more, descending to a little village on the coast where we had a delicious lunch at a pub right by the fishing pier. Fish and chips for George, mussels and salad for me. Totally fresh and perfectly prepared.

 

We hiked back to the ship and caught the shuttle into Dunedin to shop a little for gifts. George bought some possum gloves for himself. Then back to the ship in time for trivia which we WON! But the funniest part was when the captain came on to make an announcement during the middle of it, and Ray mimed the entire speech. It was hilarious, and Ray did it totally off the cuff.

 

Beautiful sail out through the long harbor along side the peninsula with a lighthouse at the tip. We had dinner reservations in Chartreuse at 6:30, so no time to dilly dally.

 

Chartreuse was the best ever. George and I both started with a beet salad followed by cream of artichoke soup. I was planning on ordering the Dover sole, but they had a special of tilapia with asparagus, pesto mashed potatoes and spinach that sounded too good to pass up, and it was. George loves artichokes so had the artichoke veggie dish. Then a apple tart and creme brûlée for dessert for him. Everything was perfectly prepared.

 

We did a little onboard shopping, then George made his donations at the casino. The show was Carl Doy, a pianist from New Zealand. He was a proper pianist, the sort that I was back in the day before I gave that up to become a surgeon, because it requires hours per day of practice to attain that level of expertise, and you just can’t do it and have another job. I really enjoyed him, but was disappointed at the relatively poor turnout.

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