Tag: travel

On the North Island of New Zealand. Exploring Tauranga and the Bay of Plenty.

5 January 2025

We’ve had some bumpy seas, storms and had to skip the stop of Napier. It is an art deco city with 1930’s architecture. We had been looking forward to seeing it. As we approached the area, the captain announced the winds were exceeding 35 knots and it would not be safe even with a tug boat, so with that, we continued south.

Off in the distance we saw a Princess Cruise ship that had apparently taken damage while traveling north to Napier.

Taraunga is the kiwi capital of fruit…it is a wealthy area and has a lot of Maori ancestry. We also drove by several golf courses – apparently there are 400 courses in New Zealand.

Our excursion for this stop was a good cultural experience. We traveled inland about 90 minutes. jAlong the way we saw kiwi orchard farming (the farmers plant tall tree hedges between fields to protect against strong wind). Arriving to the Whakarewerewa Thermal Reserve, it was fascinating to see the thermal waters, boiling mud pools, geyser.

From here we visited the Te Puia Arts and Crafts Institute where young Maori apprentices learn ancient art of carving and weaving. We also enjoyed a traditional Maori dance and had an amazing lunch “hangi” earth oven style. We enjoyed our lunch with new friends, Elizabeth and Marty.

Weaving of natural materials

The most amazing color of a favorite flower…

amazing carvings!

The port area was beautiful as is New Zealand…

For dinner we joined a lovely group of solo/social travelers in the Pacific Rim restaurant…it was my favorite on the ship! Duck cofit spring rolls, Pad Thai and this beautiful dessert!

Port Elizabeth – March 30, 2024

We were to be in Durbin but apparently the safety issue is huge now and NG decided best to skip it and do Port Elizabeth – much preferred than a big city. 

Docked the NG Explorer in the morning in PE and boarded a bus to the private game reserve about 90 minutes out of the port. Beautiful drive – very industry driven city and possibly one of the poorest in SE South Africa

We have been asked by National Geographic not to identify the game drives we visited to help preserve the animals we saw. 

The game drive was wonderful – we had one in the morning, lunch, and then one in the afternoon. Our driver was a star and throughly loved taking us about the huge land area. There are strict rules about how many vehicles in an area and when something was found, the guides all communicated where different animals were but again, no more than two vehicles to stop and watch…The lunch was a traditional brei (BBQ) outside near one of the lodges on the grounds, with many meats, local dishes, salads and rice. 

We saw so many animals – did not spot a leopard or cheetah but otherwise many that are some very common place and others harder to find. Two new ones for me were the kudu (never found on past game drives) and the nyala…there were several families of white rhino as well as some sleeping female lions and not too far away a male lion with his son – both resting (afternoon drive). 

Top to bottom – wildebeest and baby, giraffe, termite hill, kudu and a nyala. It was an overcast day and not too warm so while a daytime game drive, the animals were out and about!

Lunch break in a boma, cheeky monkey on the building where the food was, solitary elephant, sleeping female lions – there were three of them. One sleeping with its paw up – so got a great photo of her paw!! Giraffe…there were two, male lion resting and same male got up to drink, after which he sauntered over and laid down with his son.

At sea… and another update from previous excursions.

3/27 Hermanus

Hermanus… by road. We were to start out trip up the coast on boat but due to heavy seas and very heavy winds, we took the road. Interestingly, there was a large cruise ship in port that has been stuck there for several days due to the wind. It just could not get out of the port as it was too high.

Tuesday we had a tour to Hermanus and an abalone farm…as well as a lot of long delays with traffic. And sadly, no time to wander Hermanus which is what I’d hoped for. On the boat and more info/dinner/greeting fellow passengers and getting acclimated. Wednesday morning, I took off while Melinda when to the botanical gardens. I’ve been and appreciated some down time. About 3:00 the ship NG Explorer set sail and we said good-bye to Cape Town… what a view of Signal Hill and Table Top Mountain. It was choppy, windy and a bit of a wild ride but meds were had and we all survived. 

We had a lovely drive, along with a least an hour delay both directions of an hour or more due to road works…learned a lot about abalone, something I never thought I would see… we had a great lunch and sadly no time to explore Hermanus, which is southeast from Cape Town, due to delays. TIA

View from our lunch spot! 

3/28 Mossel Bay

The next day we arrived in Mossel Bay by ship, another area as we travel up the Indian Ocean and eastern side of South Africa. A lovely town on the coast… there were several unique excursions. We visited an amazing Mosaic Tunnel and a local (stunningly set) golf club…There was also a hike but I simply took in the vistas. This afternoon we continue up the coast and will have our first game drive tomorrow. 

March 29 – day at sea – wonderful presentations by Naturalists!!

Catch up – in the Indian Ocean leaving Richard’s Bay and on our way to Madagascar…

Quick side note – one of our favorite comments when in Peace Corps Kenya was TIA…This is Africa… this continues to hold true…we have had to skip Mozambique due a cholera outbreak and also a storm that had hit last week and the waters on the way are proving to be a challenge. Our sailing times have increased significantly.

Pictures from our couple of free days…before getting on the boat.

March 25/March 26…African penguins are smaller and have black dots on their front – each penguins pattern of does is different. The two mountains are Table mountain and Signal Rock. The Cape of Good Hope is where the two oceans, the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean meet…

While in Cape Town we explored the waterfront, took a hop on/hop off bus tour and met up with Monica and Emily who both live in Botswana. What a treat for them to come down and see us while in Cape Town. We also went to Cape Point and enjoyed spectacular view, especially from Chapman’s Peak Drive. An amazing road and construction feat.

We enjoyed a lot of great food and Melinda and Monica who has not seen in other in about four decades got to catch up! A side note, in the last seven months I was able to visit with all three of the amazing women/dear friends in our wedding (1983) as well as Bob’s Best Man and family. Wonderful sharing with so many of good memories.

On Monday Monica, Melinda and I took a fun tour to the the Boulder Penguins as ell as The Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point…it’s as close as one can get to where the Indian and Atlantic oceans meet as well as the most Southwestern tip of Africa. Cape Town offers some amazing views, beaches and experiences…

After a late lunch and some beverages we said farewell to Monica and went to meet up with our National Geographic/Linblad group – a cocktail reception and dinner, directions for the next days tours and embarking on the ship. TIA was reflected on (this is Africa), a slogan we often used even in the Peace Corps way back when. This expedition is the first time NG has done it and things change all the time…on this continent.