Christchurch and Wellington (15th and 16th February)

Hallelujah! I think I have finally managed to post a real blog, instead of only making a comment! It has taken a whole month, which is about 1/3 of the trip, but better late than never. Marlyse has been here for 5 full days, already. My how the time is flying by, but she is enjoying it more each day. So far, she has been busy with all her physical activities: yoga, golf, stretch and relax, and hiking around the deck (which I should be doing, but still have not done). In addition, she is busy with skulpting something out of soapstone. On sea days, there is no time for anything, due to such a busy schedule, and on land days, we have been equally busy. In Christchurch, Trudy met us early in the morning, and took us on a fantastic sightseeing ride over the mountain that lies between Lyttleton, where the ship docked (an active port full of containers) and Christchurch. Unfortunately, it was a real rainy day, and we view was limited, but still spectacular and interesting. They are desperately in need of rain here, so everyone (except the visitors) was especially glad to have that wet stuff falling. Many of you will remember Trudy as a former president of ZIWA, and she took us shopping for the most wonderful New Zealand specialty... a mix of Merino wool and possum fur, which we really appreciated on such a cold day.
Andrew and her parents joined us for lunch in the fantastic modern house that Trudy and Andrew have designed. Hopefully, I will manage to include a picture. By the time we returned to the ship, it was time for Friday night services, and then we were too tired to go to the cocktail hour for "singles". After dinner, Marlyse attended a wonderful violin concert, but I had to retire for the night almost without supper, and certainly without any further entertainment.
Today, Marlyse started out with her jaunt around the deck, followed by pilates, and stretching while I deid a laundry. We met for breakfast, and then went into Wellington for the day. It's a beautiful modern city full of fabulous architecture, which we appreciated as we walked along the quai to Te Papa Museum, where we spent the next few hours, until we were really exhausted! It's a fantastic museum under any circumstances, but today was its 10th anniversary celebration, and there were all sorts of special programs, including the NZ symphony orchestra. We especially enjoyed the body painting demonstration, a movie of the histroy of NZ, etc. etc.
My only regret is that I forgot to take my camera with me.
Before the ship left the dock, we were "serenaded" by a Scottish group as part of the send-off to Dunedin, where we will spend the day tomorrow. While Christchurch is known to be typically English, Dunedin is typically Scottish. In the meantime, we have been wrned to expect seas up to 15 feet on the way, and to secure any loose items in the cabin, etc. It's supposed to be "rock and roll" exclusively. Before dinner tonight, we are invited to a Wizard of Oz party for cocktails and entertainment, and after dinner there is a sleight of hand artist who will perform, if we can stay awake that long.
That's it for now; I will try to attach a couple of pictures. Anyone reading this is welcome to write me at my usual email address: anngut8700@bluewin.ch (if you feel like it).
Fond regards to all. So far no one fromEnglish Conversation has been heard from!
Ann
P.S. I'll have to find out how to attach pictures; I couldn't do it this time. Sorry.