Wednesday 18^th March – Day at Sea.

Well – Wellington got the boot!

Our day in Wellington turned out to be a day at sea. We pottered around in the Cook Strait between the islands until 5am. There were storm force 10 winds and a heavy swell again. This time Ian noticed it – but apart from a bit of pitching, the ship handled it well (didn’t need to worry about objects falling off tables etc.)

We tried the approaches to Wellington but at 8am the Captain announced that it was too dangerous and that we were going to sail up the west coast (keeping the land between us and the weather) and then sail around the top of New Zealand, arriving in Auckland “sometime tomorrow afternoon”.

It was a slightly bumpy day for us. They tried to rearrange some “entertainment” but it didn’t inspire us too much and for the first time this trip, Nesta was bored!!

Paul, the Entertainments Director, has had to fly home to the UK as his Mother is ill. His team did manage to persuade the headline act for this sector – that well known singer and “comedian” Mike Doyle (?) – to do another show for us, as he should have flown home to Wales from Wellington!

We had missed his first show - and his Q&A session with Paul - but were told he was very funny… Well – he’s got a good voice, but funny?? We thought watching paint dry was funnier – but passengers sitting around us were rolling in the isles, so perhaps it’s just us?!

After the show we had chicken and “pigs in blankets” in the Kings Court – very edible! We had also filled up our empty bottle of “Mullygrubber” with supermarket Shiraz so enjoyed a cheap drink or two with our meal.

Hopefully we’ll be in Auckland by 4pm tomorrow afternoon, so we are now waiting to hear back from Stuart & Diane with details of where we’re going to meet them – should be good!