We have arrived safely in New Zealand and our friends Helen and Fred were at the landing point to meet us. It is difficult to get good internet connections at a lot of places therefore our photos and stories are sometimes backdated.

Hope you are all enjoying our travels - we are!

We are having a marvelous time. At the moment we are very busy traveling with our friends Helen & Fred so these reports will be a bit late as we have no time to write up or even look at our photos as we have so much to see and catch up on with our friends.

Our days are spent touring and swimming and our evenings are spent talking and eating!

We probably will not have time for more reports and photos until next week - we will see.

I got up at 7 a.m. this morning to test the internet connection and have been very lucky and have uploaded our South Pacific adventures. Peter got up  too and is busy writing his first reports on New Zealand.

It is now 8.30 a.m. and time for breakfast and a new tour to Russel which was the first town established in New Zealand.

Until soon - wishing you all a happy and healthy "Advent´s Time".

Love

Linda & Peter

continued...

New Zealand

15.12.2017

Our ship arrival into Waitangi/New Zealand was on time at 13.00 hrs. but unfortunately the tender boats took 3 hours to tender all passengers to shore. We were in the customs office when the tender boat tickets were distributed so unfortunately we got the number 373 and 374. However, these numbers started after the organized Aida tours left the ship so our tender boat got us on land at 4 p.m. – 16.00 hrs. Helen and Fred, our friends from Sydney were waiting for us at the dock. They were also surprised that it had taken so long for Aida to tender passengers to land. We felt very sorry for the passengers that had not booked an Aida tour as they only now had under 4 hours in New Zealand instead of 7 which meant it was difficult for them to do any Island Bay tours etc., We hope they nevertheless were able to enjoy 4 hours in this beautiful country.

It is wonderful being back in New Zealand and fantastic being with our dear friends again. The weather is great – around 26 degrees and sunny!

 We had pre-booked a hotel in Pahia together with two apartments next to each other. This was easy to find and a great arrangement. After we had left our luggage at the hotel we went back into town for a walk around and booked a wonderful Island Bay tour for the next day. The tour is called the “The Cream Island Bay Tour”. It is a 7-hour boat tour from Pahia and back including dolphin watching, swimming, a visit to the beach where Captain Cook first landed in New Zealand and a stop off at Russell, which is the first town that was established in New Zealand. We were now all ready for the following day. Collection next day at 8.15 a.m at our hotel.

Next on our list, food! We did some shopping at the local supermarket and then headed for a fish shop to get some fresh fish. Back at our rooms we enjoyed a great evening meal with some lovely New Zealand wine.

Notes:

Waitangi, one of New Zealand's most significant historic sites, is where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840 between the British Crown and more than 500 Maori chiefs. The treaty agreed the terms by which New Zealand would become a British colony.

Today the Treaty Grounds are an opportunity to learn about Maori culture and the historical events associated with the signing of the treaty. Not only is Waitangi engaging from an educational point of view, it's also a very beautiful place to explore. The shoreline provides a continuously changing panorama of the bay where warriors, whalers, sailors and settlers arrived in New Zealand.

The silver fern (Cyathea dealbata) has come to embody the spirit of New Zealand. According to Māori legend, the silver fern once lived in the sea. It was asked to come and live in the forest to play a significant role in guiding the Māori people.

Māori hunters and warriors used the silver underside of the fern leaves to find their way home. When bent over, the fronds would catch the moonlight and illuminate a path through the forest.

This distinctly New Zealand symbol is considered a badge of honour by the people, products and services of our country that carry it.

It has been the symbol of New Zealand’s national rugby team since the 1880s and is now proudly worn by all our top athletes and prominently carried by many of our top companies.

Tourism New Zealand and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise have adopted the silver fern as the country of origin symbol for New Zealand. It is used in the 100% Pure New Zealand campaign, in all international trade promotions and as the mark of quality assurance, or Qualmark, for the tourism industry.z

Waitangi

The New Zealand Fern

Peter  15.12.2017 Ankunft Bay of Island, Neuseeland

Nach 4 Seetage erreichten war gegen 11.30 Uhr Land in Sicht. Die Einfahrt in dem von vielen kleinen Inseln gesäumten Weg war bei gutem Wetter sensationell schön.

Im Schritttempo erreichten wir die Liegestelle und der Kapitän ließ den Anker fallen.

Es war wieder Tendern angesagt, und das zog sich heute besonders in die länge da die Boote eine ziemlich lange Strecke bis zur Anlegestelle zurück legen mussten.

Unsere kleinen Koffer plus Drohnen- und Fototasche hatten wir bereits am Vorabend gepackt.

Wir mussten allerdings bevor wir das Schiff verlassen durften noch mit allem was wir von Bord nehmen wollten bei den an Bord befindlichen Behördenmitarbeitern vorstellig werden, sie wollten unser Pässe und uns überprüfen. Als das endlich vorüber war konnten wir erst unsere Tendertickets holen. Unser Nummern waren 371 u. 372, das hieß geduldig warten.

Um 15.45 Uhr konnten wir endlich Land betreten, Helen und Fred warteten bereits geduldig auf uns. Alles war schnell verstaut und ab ging es zum Hotel. Es war nur ein kurzes Stück zu fahren. Die Anmeldungen verlief problemlos und wir konnten nun unsere Apartments in Beschlag nehmen. Es war großzügig und gut ausgestattet. Gegen Abend fuhren wir noch einmal in den Ort um uns nach Gestaltungsmöglichkeiten für Tag 1 zu erkundigen und um ein wenig Einzukaufen. Alles klappte wie am Schnürchen. Es gab bei Wein, Bier und etwas zu Essen sehr viel zu erzählen, wir hatten uns schließlich sehr lange nicht gesehen.

Wir sind gut in Neuseeland angekommen und unsere Freunde Helen und Fred waren am Landepunkt um uns zu treffen. Es ist schwierig, an vielen Orten gute Internet Verbindungen zu bekommen, daher werden unsere Fotos und Geschichten manchmal zurückdatiert.

Hoffe, ihr genießt alle unsere Reiseberichte - wir genießen unsere Reise!

Wir haben eine wundervolle Zeit. Im Moment sind wir unterwegs mit unseren Freunden Helen & Fred, so dass diese Berichte ein bisschen zu spät kommen werden, da wir keine Zeit haben, zu schreiben oder unsere Fotos anzuschauen da wir so viel zu sehen bekommen.

Unsere Tage verbringen wir mit Touren und Schwimmen und unsere Abende verbringen wir mit Reden und Essen!

Wir werden wahrscheinlich bis nächste Woche keine Zeit für weitere Berichte und Fotos haben - wir werden sehen.

Ich, Linda, bin heute Morgen um 7 Uhr morgens aufgestanden, um die Internetverbindung zu testen und habe viel Glück gehabt und unsere Abenteuer im Südpazifik hochgeladen. Peter hat um 7.00 uhr angefangen seine Berichte über Neuseeland zu schreiben. Es ist jetzt 8.30 Uhr und Zeit für Frühstück und eine neue Tour nach Russel, die erste Stadt in Neuseeland.

Morgen fahren wir nach Aukland und über Morgen fliegen wir nach Sydney und weiter nach Melbourne.

Bis bald - wir wünschen Euch allen eine glückliche und gesunde "Adventszeit".

Liebe

Linda und Peter

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