It’s our first glimpse of New Zealand as the boat dropped anchor ⚓️ on the 4th day at the Bay of Islands. ⛴️ There isn’t much to see unless you join the shore excursions to view some waterfalls and some historic towns in this northeastern coast of the North Island. We used tender service to reach the island in 20  minutes, then a 5 minute shuttle bus to visit Paihia. There were shops and restos around, along with the Williams House with a neat garden around the historic structure owned by 5 generations of this founding European family including a man who translated the Treaty of Waitangi to Māori language. Book shelves lined the walls, along with framed portraits of the illustrious and respected Williamses. But most everyone who visited the Bay of Islands particularly enjoyed the WiFi connection within the grounds! Well, after 3 days at sea, you can’t blame us. Unwilling to pay extra for connectivity, we spent a good half hour just checking messages and surfing the Net on our mobile phones. The others checked out the island’s Chinese restaurants and oyster bars. Was tempted to try the 3-seater trike that takes tourists around the island but decided against it and went shopping instead. Perhaps another day for the trike adventure.

Williams Residence

By the time we rode the tender back to our big boat🚢, we had our late lunch at the Oceanview Cafe , this time without the crowd. Many of the passengers were still in the island so the early returnees enjoyed the facilities on the boat almost exclusively. Even the big pool and solarium pool were nearly devoid of swimmers. There were numerous activities to join but we proceeded to the theatre instead for a stand up comedy show which surprisingly, we enjoyed. Then off to the bar for acoustic music and another sunset view seated on colorful swing chairs. We learned of another band of Colombians with a Filipina singer named TJ that we wanted to listen to. We headed there and witnessed a couple of pairs who displayed their dancing prowess to TJ’s tango and salsa repertoire. 🕺💃

People watching is both an interesting activity and a discovery of sorts. The cruise director lined up many events — from Veterans Day (there were many seniors and I’m curious about the average age of passengers on this vessel) to comedy shows to bingos to dance and Zumba sessions to games to musicals to art auctions to workshops to self-care and spa treatment. They even gave each passenger a free bracelet where different charms can be bought each day. And a locket necklace with free charms each day. The passengers lined up at certain hours each day for the free necklace charms on sea days. There is always something to do. And to eat. The fine dining restaurants, the grill and pizza place, the bars, the ice cream corners, the sushi place. Le Petit Chef is also here. How does one get bored here? One of my friends signed up for nearly every single event but I chose to relax on sea days and looked forward to our excursions wherever the boat docked. Let’s see what happens in the next few days!