A Bumpy Start to a Great day...

Two days before we hit New Zealand we received an email from a friend from our Church at home. Elizabeth Davies, daughter of Marion Griffiths. Marion and Ellis, [now passed], were our friends for about 15 years. Ellis sang with Fellette in the choir and Marion was always as sweet as ever. Both as Welsh as can be. Marion’s daughter Elizabeth moved to Canada from NZ to be with her mother after Ellis passed away about three years ago. In October they both moved back to NZ and husband Huw. [Obviously Welsh for Hugh!]

Presto Shazam, an email, “Huw will pick you up and bring you home for lunch.” So... Our instructions were to meet “on Quay Street at Queen Street between 9 and 9:30 AM, look out for a white Mazda with a Welsh flag!” We did this, advising what we would be wearing and carrying a Canadian flag.


At 10 AM, as we were about to be arrested for loitering, we rang Elizabeth and were told to move down the street about 200 yards. There was Huw, waving at us overheated Canadians. [We dressed as we would at home and advised what we would be wearing, obviously too much]. We were overdressed but had to leave it on until the rendezvous was complete because we had never met Huw.

After a great welcome by a complete but loveable stranger we were taken on a tour of the “North Shore” of Auckland, over the “Nippon-Clip-On” bridge, so named because a Japanese contractor added two lanes on the outside of a woefully inadequate two-lane bridge. [Aussies and Kiwis have a way with the English language that is hard to describe]

We had a well-informed tour of Devenport and Mount Victoria, with a commentary by a proud Welsh geography teacher, with a strong Kiwi bent. It is truly a beautiful city, the biggest in NZ, with a population of little more than of 1,000,000. [New Zealand has a total population of about 4,000,000]



Time to buzz home, [about a 40 minute drive] to have a visit with Marion and lunch. Our car had different ideas, we were soon pulled off in a residential street with a boiled over radiator and an overheated engine. A quick peek under the hood revealed a little water spout obscenely spitting out onto the street! Our radiator had a very inconvenient hole in it. After a quick conference and some hasty decisions, plus a visit to a few petrol stops and even a Radiator repair shop we found a temporary fix with good old “Rad-Fix” or some such miracle leak-stopping potion. Fortunately Huw had some water and oil in the car with him.


After a bit of cooling off we made a run for home, a 45 minute dash across town on an freeway! We arrived safely, without further incident, albeit a couple of hours late. A quick inspection then showed the obscenity in all its glory, peeing out onto the driveway again.

To heck with it, time to see Marion and Elizabeth and we did just that.





We had a great lunch, ably assisted by Huw, who confesses truthfully that he is better in the kitchen than under the hood of a car. They live in a very comfortable and well situated home overlooking one of the many bays that form, I think, part of Auckland’s wonderful and vast harbour, or approaches.

All too soon it was time to whisk us back to the ship. Huw took us on a circuitous route through some lovely parts of the waterfront that eventually got us to the ship. We were docked right next to a newish Hilton Hotel, similar to the Pan Pacific in Vancouver.



So close that as a matter of fact we were exchanging “good mornings” with the hotel residents this morning as we each came out on our balconies to greet the day. We were also saying good-bye to the same and more residents as we pulled out at 6 PM, heading for Wellington.

It was an absolutely wonderful day with Marion, Elizabeth and husband Huw. The bumpy start was soon forgotten and became a matter of humour to us.

As we sailed out tonight, I could be wrong, but I think we sailed right passed their home, somewhat as you would sail past West Vancouver on the way out to sea from Vancouver. Great memories of Auckland and lovely people.

Marion asked me to “send her love to her friends at the church”. She asked specifically after her friend Francis, whom I suspect she will never see again.

The evening was made complete by sister Moe, who joined us in our cabin and balcony as we set sail to a seemingly endless sounding of the ship’s horns, warning close by sailing boats of our manoeuvres.


We docked head first, so we had to back out and then spin 180 degrees. The finale was when a powerful tug-boat that was standing by came alongside and did a series of 360 “wheelies” just below our balcony before heading back to shore. Wonderful!


The “Wine Fairy” came aboard this afternoon as passengers replenished their wine stocks, dwindling after 28 days of the voyage.

I want you all to know that while writing this blog tonight I apparently missed the “Funniest Thing That Has Ever Been Shown to Date” in the lounge. A comedian was on tonight. Sacrifices for the blog!