CRUISING

So, about the boat …….

Ovation of the Seas is a massive ship with the capacity to serve close to 5,000 passengers.  There are over 2,000 staterooms and it is almost 1,200 feet long.  There is an Art Gallery with a multi-million dollar art collection of 11,000 pieces, several jewelry stores, a beauty shop, a huge spa, a fitness center, a music hall, 3 pools, 10 outdoor jacuzzis and a casino.  There are scheduled activities and shows just about every hour.

We are enjoying our “at sea” days. 

It took us a couple of days to get into the groove of it. Learning to navigate the Royal Carribean app is crucial to enjoying time while cruising.  It is used for everything.  It tells you what activities are offered, where you can dine at any given time, where you can get coffee and what the theme of the day is.  You can reserve time at the spa or shows, make dinner reservations, just about anything. Most importantly, it has it’s own messaging system between passengers which has become crucial for us.

WORLD’S SEXIEST MAN

One of the activities we participated in was “The World’s Sexiest Man”. They picked the contestants from the audience. I wanted Kevin to go up there but they requested ages 18 to 35 only.  I think that is crazy because everyone knows that men of all ages are sexy. Some older men are even more sexy than younger men.  They are seasoned and experienced and know women so much better than younger men.  Anyway ………

I’m sure Kevin would have won 🙂

NEW ZEALAND

New Zealand is in the Pacific Ocean which totally blows my mind.  I grew up in California on the Pacific Ocean.  We flew out of San Francisco for 15 1/2 hours across the Pacific Ocean, lost a day and many time zones and here we are still on the Pacific Ocean.

Amazing!!!

New Zealand is just 3,000 miles from Antarctica.  Can you believe that?  A long way from home!

It is primarily made up of two islands, the north island and the south island.  There are also another 700 small islands.  Our cruise is around the south island with a stop in Wellington which is actually on the southern tip of the north island.

There is a fault line that runs through an inlet between the north and south islands and then up and around the two islands.  There are earthquakes here every day.  Most are never even felt, but at least once a month the residents feel it.  They hear it before they feel it!  

Yikes!  And I thought California was bad!  

We hit New Zealand on our 4th day at sea when we sailed through the Milford Sound, the Doubtful Sound and the Dusky Sound.  Breathtakingly beautiful scenery.  I especially enjoyed the long white cloud that seems to go on forever.  I later learned that New Zealand is also called Aeotora which means “land of the long white cloud”.

On day 5, we went into port in Dunedin and had our first excursion.  We visited Baldwin Street, which supposedly is the steepest street in the world.  It is even in the Guiness Book of World Records.  David walked up the steep street, but the rest of us were content to take pictures from the bottom.  

LARNACH CASTLE

Also, that day we went to Larnach Castle, New Zealand’s one and only castle.  It wasn’t what I would expect for a castle but it had a very interesting and sad story.  

Larnach Castle was built by William Larnach of Scotland.  He came over to New Zealand in 1861 with his wife Eliza.  She brought her sister over to live with them.  After Eliza died from an illness at age 38, William married his sister in law. Unfortunately she also died of an illness at age 38. 

Weird huh? Sisters that married the same man and both died at age 38.

He then married a younger woman, Constance, who carried on a love affair with William’s son.  One day William received a mysterious letter that was never again found.  Upon receipt of this letter, William went to the Parliament building and shot himself.  Nobody knows for sure why he committed suicide but apparently he had many possible reasons.

Kind of a sad story.

There is a book called “King of the Castle” that tells the story of William Larnach and the Larnach Castle.  Of course, I bought it. 

I can’t wait to start reading it!