South Pacific Float - days 24-28 (Sea Day, NZ and end of trip)

    This is the final post from abroad.

    After two sea-days, two days spent at NZ before debarking at Aukland for an airport shuttle (currently sitting in airport lounge).

    Normally, sea-days are not so eventful, but these were.
    First - I was First Engineer for a ship-building contest (Gloria was the Captain and driver for the competition - I helped with the design, and supplied a 'crew').  Jana and Sue were also part of the building crew.  My contribution was to design the floatation around/behind the boat (to resemble a carrier ship), and to add a sea-anchor stabilizer to preventing from flipping under an added load (a suspended barbell about 30 inches below the center of the ship.  The ship's nautical historian/lecturer was particularly impressed by the stabilizer - he had not seen one before in these competitions.  Ships were judged based on Appearance, Resourcefulness of components used in construction, Seaworthiness/Design (in water), and Loadbearing (12 cans of soda).  Our ship ran away with the victory.  And then the carboard rotted and the ship fell apart - for future reference, also fully duct-tape the inside of the cardboard.
    Then, in the afternoon, we ran away with daily trivia, bringing the total number of victories to 5 over 25 days.  Next time - need to add someone from the Netherlands to the team for Holland-America trivia.

     First NZ day was at Waitangi and Bay of Islands.  Jana and I had been here back in 2004, so we did not feel compelled to do a ship-run tour.  Instead, we walked through the small town of Paihia (at Bay of Islands) for geocaching and nature-walk.  After a while, Jana headed back to the ship and I climbed a hill and then walked to Waitangi (where the Māori and English signed the founding treaty of New Zealand).  About 8 miles in all.  It felt good to get some steps in.  The town was small, so it was mostly rural/park areas, so a very pleasant walk.

    Second NZ day was Tauranga, near Rotarua.  Since we had done the Rotarua thing back in 2004, we again to a walk instead of a tour.  Unfortuately, the first 6+ miles was mostly industrial, as we picked up a few geocaches.  Jana and I stopped for snacks, and continued up the coast, which was a much better experience.  At about 8 miles, Jana headed back to the ship, and I continued to explore an 'Island' Park (connected to mainland) and a nearby Hill/Park.  Much better than rail-yards and silos and granaries.  After separating, Jana and I found ourselves running into groups of late-teens asking what we doing (looking for/listening to a tui) when one of the teens broke into a full tui call.  In Jana's case, she was listening to one (but unable to spot it - they are shy) and the teen and tui were calling back and forth to each other.  If you have not listened to a tui call (much like a full R2D2 song, with added coughs and clicks), do so - you will be amused, and amazed that NZ teens can exactly replicate.

    Third NZ day - hurry up and disembark and go to the airport and wait 6 hours for a flight.

    Photos:

    ShipBuilding!  The design, detail and creativity got us the win.  Some of the competitors are in the 4th picture:  

    Seen from the deck - a large flock of Black-Winged Petrals and Wedge-Tailed Shearwaters hitched a ride alongside the ship for a big chunk of the day (the ship kicks up a crustaceans and other snacks for the birds, and provide a near-free ride for their migrations).  Identification for these birds is not straightforward (a lot of petrels look about the same, and a lot of shearwaters look about the same), so a lot of pictures for confirmation, including front/back of the same bird.

    Arriving at Bay of Islands:

    On the tender through a dirty window - first bird of NZ was an Australasian Gannet, and just off the tender, a White-Fronted Tern

    Walking up a short hill along the coast, an African Collasred-Dove:

    Jana at the lookout point

    A glimpse of a Silvereye, hiding in some deeper foliage, and a second in a more open area:

    After a climb, the view from the top:

    I discovered that Monarch Butterflies are endemic to NZ.  They are believed to have been brought by typhoon winds to NZ in the 1800s.

    An enormous NZ Black Tree Fern:

    Variable Oystercatchers prying critters off the wall and having lunch:

    Across from Waitangi, a Red-Breasted Dotterel: 

    Next to the Waitangi Center, a Sacred Kingfisher, and a New Zealand Fantail doing a fantail thing:

    Last bird of the day, a group of Eastern Rosellas!

    On the way to the next port, a Buller's Shearwater keeping pace with the ship:

    At Tauranga, on the back-half of our adventure, a view from the beach:

    From the far end of the cliff-island:

    Another new bird, a Gray Gerygone:

    And after chasing and chasing an elusive Tui, which kept hiding in the dense trees, got one image of it in flight, and with some sun-glare, so it looks a little strange (a blob in the center of the image, as it is tucking its wings at the end of a flap).  Again, if you have not heard the song, find an audio-clip.  You will not be disappointed!
    All my other photos were with the sun in bad position, or deep into trees.  One of those photos is also included.

    And as we depart the Tauranga bay, as we head to Aukland, the Tauranga pilot climbing from the cruise ship to the pilot vessel (spotter keeping an eye).  Most people don't even notice when the pilot 'jumps' from one ship to another, at full cruise-ship speed.

    Well, that's it!  Shortly, we should be back in Portland!