A Silver Shadow Over The World - December 2023 to May 2024

mysty · February 9

Here is a photo from our sail in to Bay of Islands.....

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A view of the Silver Shadow from the Hole in the Rock cruise....

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The map of the route of the cruise. We left from #1 Paihia and traveled to #14 Cape Brett and Piercy Island.....

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Photos from along the way.....

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Cape Brett's Lighthouse on Coromandel Peninsula.....

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At the end of the Cape is Motukokako which Captain Cook called Piercy Island.....

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Tomorrow we are in Auckland for an overnight.

mysty · February 9

Today we are in Auckland. No excursion booked. We may just meander.

Last night the Restaurant celebrated Chinese New Year.

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Lirio · February 9

2 hours ago, mysty said:

Today we are in Auckland. No excursion booked. We may just meander.

Last night the Restaurant celebrated Chinese New Year.

My heart lives in Auckland. Enjoy the city...I will be there April/May.

DavyWavey70 · February 10

Finally caught up M and loving following along. Seems like ages since I was in the Bay of Islands 2 weeks ago :(

mysty · February 10

1 hour ago, DavyWavey70 said:

Finally caught up M and loving following along. Seems like ages since I was in the Bay of Islands 2 weeks ago 😞

Thank you DW! 🥰 I'm sure your memories are fresh. It's always a joy to relive lovely places and experiences!

mysty · February 11

Today was our second day in Auckland. We did an excursion called Auckland's Wine country. First stop was the Hunting Lodge where we sampled 2 whites and 2 reds with pairing nibbles. Here are the wines we sampled.....

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The Albarino was served with cheese with bits of fig....

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The Sauvignon Blanc was served with smoked salmon and a caper.....

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The Pinot Noir was served with pear, cheese and prosciutto.....

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The Lagrein was served with cheese, honey and coffee grounds.....

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Next stop was Soljans Estate Winery. It is family owned and operated since 1937. Here we tasted a sparkling, a chardonnay, a sauvignon blanc, a merlot/cabernet/malbec, a pinot and a tawny port.

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Tomorrow we are in Tauranga, New Zealand.

QueSeraSera · February 12

21 hours ago, mysty said:

We did an excursion called Auckland's Wine country.

Thanks for the pictures, would love to have joined you & Myster.

Was there a standout among what you tasted?

mysty · February 12

44 minutes ago, QueSeraSera said:

Thanks for the pictures, would love to have joined you & Myster.

Was there a standout among what you tasted?

Our favourite was the Albarino from the Hunting Lodge. It was delicious! 😋😋😋

mysty · February 12

Today we were in Tauranga, New Zealand. We had a Gastronomic excursion booked which was canceled due to not enough folks booking. We were not enticed by the other excursions available. We spent the morning on the ship and headed out for an amble after lunch. I'm on a quest for an inexpensive option for attire for our trip to Uluru. We have been cautioned about wearing light coloured clothing due to the risk of staining by the red soil. Most of my summer wear is light coloured. The quest continues! 😁

mysty · February 12

We are currently at anchor in Gisborne. The swells are a problem for the tender operations so all the morning excursions are canceled. We are remaining here with the hope that the swells calm down this afternoon.

mysty · February 13

Tender service began at noon. With excursions canceled there was not a pressing need to visit Gisborne. The tender ride would be at least 25 minutes and then a shuttle ride of about 5 minutes to the town. Neither Myster nor I opted to leave the ship. Tomorrow will be Napier.

Joc123 · February 13

On 2/12/2024 at 12:02 PM, mysty said:

Today we were in Tauranga, New Zealand. We had a Gastronomic excursion booked which was canceled due to not enough folks booking. We were not enticed by the other excursions available. We spent the morning on the ship and headed out for an amble after lunch. I'm on a quest for an inexpensive option for attire for our trip to Uluru. We have been cautioned about wearing light coloured clothing due to the risk of staining by the red soil. Most of my summer wear is light coloured. The quest continues! 😁

On 1/27/2024 at 4:57 AM, mysty said:

Unless you intend to roll around in the dirt I wouldn’t worry too much about the red dirt staining your clothes.

I have been to the outback many times and worn white shorts without any problems.

Mind you, we don’t camp - if we did, that would be different.

mysty · February 13

1 minute ago, Joc123 said:

Thank you @Joc123! We were at Uluru many moons ago and I wore pale colours with no issues! As for rolling around in the dirt, that is definitely not on the agenda! 😁

jpalbny · February 13

I grew up in the country, and learned to prefer hay over dirt. 😉

Edited February 13 by jpalbny

MuseCruiser · February 13

43 minutes ago, jpalbny said:

I grew up in the country, and learned to prefer hay over dirt. 😉

Oh you meant countryside. At first I thought you meant that specific country where Mysty is haha. I was trying to figure that out.

mysty · February 14

Today we were docked in Napier, New Zealand. It was a spectacular weather day! Beautiful sunshine, wonderful temperatures. We did an excursion called Boutique Wineries: Abbey Cellars & Clearview Estates. It was an excellent excursion.

First stop was Abbey Cellars. Awesome venue and great wines with cheese, crackers, pate, nuts. We tasted 6 wines.

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Next stop was Clearview Estate. More luscious wines. We tasted 7 here. Awesome platters of nibbles!

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The list of wines we tasted (except for the last one which was not on the printed material.

2022 Black Reef Blush

2023 Coastal Pinot Gris

2022 Reserve Chardonnay

2021 Reserve Syrah

2021 Old Olive Block

2021 Enigma

Myster and I both thought the wines from Clearview were slightly better.

Tomorrow we are in Wellington, New Zealand.

mysty · February 14

Tonight we dined at the Grill. We had the great good fortune to meet @wristband and Ms. Wristband! It seems we were on the same excursion today. Using their super detective skills they were able to find Myster and me at the Grill tonight. Hopefully we can meet up for a meal at some point! 😁

mysty · February 14

Our gift for this segment appeared in the suite this evening. Gorgeous scarfs for the cold weather ahead.......

lincslady · February 14

That looks like a lovely excursion; I would have enjoyed it! So glad it is going well, Mysty.

Lola

mysty · February 14

8 hours ago, lincslady said:

That looks like a lovely excursion; I would have enjoyed it! So glad it is going well, Mysty.

Lola

It was one of the best excursions so far! 😁

mysty · February 15

Today we are in Wellington, New Zealand. Beautiful temperatures, bright sunshine, wicked wind. We took an excursion called Storm Coast which took us from the Aotea Quay along the coast to Pencarrow Lodge. Spectacular scenery along a rugged coast.