Bye-Bye Divas!

The Divas were up early, ready to disembark from the ship.  It was sort of bittersweet, but despite the fantastic trip - all the Divas were ready to start their journey home.

Once we left the ship, we were greeted by Tim, our driver and guide for the day.  Tim picked us up is the wonderful Mercedes multi-passenger van (which Kiki is determined to have one despite the fact they are not available in the US and we know many dog show people who would just adore this van!).  Mercedes probably doesn't know there would be quite the market in the US for that van!

Our driver dropped us off at the Hyatt in Auckland - we were upgraded to a 3 bedroom, two story apartment. I suppose the Hyatt realized that we were the Divas and adjusted accordingly.  The massive amount of Diva luggage stayed at the Hyatt while our driver took us on a tour of Auckland.

Most impressive (after the Starbucks stop) was a trip to Mt. Eden - a dormant volcano where you can stand at the top and have magnificent views of Auckland.  You can look down to the bottom of the volcano.

Later was shopping in a wonderful area (the name I cannot remember) and had lunch at a great cafe/pub.  I will say, the Divas know how to eat and how to shop!

Divas Donna and Barbara were taken to the airport late afternoon and left Auckland on Air New Zealand - headed to San Francisco.  I will say, flying Air New Zealand is a real treat!  What down to earth and humorous flight attendants.  Having the luxury of a seat that converts to a six foot bed truly makes a 13 hour flight tolerable.  The dinner and breakfast were quite tasty.

Divas Kiki and Joyce - remained in Auckland for more retail therapy and they left Auckland later that evening headed to Los Angeles. 

All 4 divas arrived safely in the US, taking with them their memories to last a lifetime of Australia and New Zealand.  Everyday our weather was close to perfect, we met a lot of wonderful people -- other than our weight gain -- it was the most amazing trip.  

The 4 divas now will soon be at their own respective homes, continuing as the 4 divas, yet in their own respective states (Kentucky, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Florida).  

Good luck to Kiki and Joyce - in Long Beach to watch Scout's anticipated success.  How lucky they are to have such an outstanding dog.  Go Scoutie!  The Divas are all cheering you on!

Thanks to all of our family and friends for supporting us and following along with us on our journey.  It has been great to be able to share our trip with you daily.  In a few days, I hope to post a couple of videos from the trip as well -- they need some editing, so will be done as soon as I can.

Photos from Auckland today:

Leaving the SS Navigator behind...

View from the balcony at the Hyatt

Massive Diva luggage

View from top of Mt Eden (dormant volcano)

Looking down toward the center of the volcano

Such great views of Auckland

Happy to report that the Divas decided to go shopping
instead of violating the rules and going down the crater.

Divas are winding down ...

Today was our last full day on board SS Navigator.  We started our morning in our usual way - eating (oh my how the divas can eat!)

Our excursion in Tauranga took us to a Kiwi farm, very interesting how they farm the fruit.  They have yellow kiwi in addition to the usual green.  The yellow kiwi is sweeter than the green and quickly became our favorite.  The Divas will all go home hunting yellow Kiwi.  They say that most of the yellow Kiwi goes to Asia as "they have a sweeter palate"

Then .... there was a jet boat ride down a river.  It was beautiful (at least when I had my eyes open), everything is so green.  I didn't realize just how many hues of green there were.  Diva Donna had her reservations about the jetboat ride - but she did it anyway, with Diva Barbara being there to help ease her fears.  I am sure the others on the jet boat enjoyed Diva Donna's screams every time the boat did its 360 spin and whipped around sharp curves in the river. 

We had a leisurely afternoon - resting, eating (again), packing and naps by the pool.  We tried to get some photos of some of our favorite crew members, although we didn't have a chance to find everyone.  The crew, especially Marcial, Priscilla, Stefano, Catalain, George, Christopher and the one Diva Joyce calls "Dracula" - have all been so sweet and made sure that everything we wanted or needed we had.

Divas went for their last dinner on board to Prime 7 - the exclusive, small wonderful restaurant.  Greeted by Stefano with hugs and kisses - we enjoyed our multi-course dinner.  The food was wonderful as usual, but tonight was especially fun, the 4 divas enjoying their last dinner together.
The 4 divas - so very different from one another, but yet mesh together as a group of sisters.  We love one another, pick on and aggravate one another - just like family.  I think as we go our different ways - I for one, will miss my Diva Sisters. 

Tomorrow we arrive in Auckland, disembark the ship around 8:30 am.  We will then tour Auckland on our own.  Diva Barbara and Diva Donna will head to the airport around 5:30 - and fly to San Francisco.  Diva Kiki and Diva Joyce - fly out a little later and will fly to LA.  Divas Kiki and Joyce will spend a few days in LA, going to Eukanuba!  All Divas will be cheering on Scout from wherever they may be.

Tauranga, New Zealand
from my balcony - lovely view

Kiwi orchard

Kiwis growing on the vine - should be ready for harvest in April

River near Kiwi orchard

Divas Donna & Barbara getting ready for the jet boat

I am thinking Barbara finds my fear rather entertaining

Kiki took this photo - just another example of how gorgeous
everything is in New Zealand

The Divas love to watch the varied colors of the waters

Some of our favorite crew!



Christopher - my favorite milkshake maker - and he was
the start of the Crew show last night.  Great job Christopher!



Diva Kiki and Stefano!
Our meals would never have been so good without Stefano
making sure everyone around us took excellent care of the Divas!

The Divas and Stefano!

Catalain making sure everything is perfect for Diva Kiki!

Catalain and his smile - making life good for the Divas

Where would the divas be without our butler, Marcial and our housekeeper Priscilla?  These two have really taken excellent care of us.  Priscilla has the most genuine smile and warmth about her.  Marcial - always smiling, always eager to help us in any way.  Marcial has a laugh that will brighten anyone's day. 

George - you never know where George will show up, but wherever he is he gladly helps out the divas anyway he can.  Not sure why George never brought me better luck on the slot machines....

I cannot thank Kiki enough for this magical trip, this amazing journey, the fun, the food, the sites, the shopping, the pure laughter we have all shared.  A trip none of us will ever forget, memories that will last a lifetime.  Diva Kiki - we all love you!

Divas also thank our crew for how much they do for us.  We will miss them!

We disembark tomorrow at 8:30 - then touring Auckland!

Pacific Surprise X 2 = Happy Diva's!

The Captain announced around noon today that we were going to have time to go and see White Island.    What makes it one of the country's best attractions is it's volcanic activity.  The Island was mined for sulphur until 1914 when an eruption occurred and killed all the miners.  It has had some recent activity and was smoking today. 

Clouds were low, but you can still see the smoke in the photos below.  The terrain looks like something you would expect on the moon or Mars.  There is a large colony of gannets (white birds) who have taken up residence on the Island.  Thousands of them!

The second surprise was that we would be coming into our last port, Tauranga, tonight instead of in the morning.  Swells were expected in the sea tonight and since we had them the past two nights, he wanted us to have a more comfortable night.  We are docking right now as I type.

When we weren't watching volcano's, we were doing laundry and packing for the journey home.  Tonight, before dinner, there was a show put on entirely by the crew.  It was "glorious"!!!  (yes, there's a story there.... your favorite Diva will explain it to you when you see her).  Truly, it was a lot of fun and there's actually some great talent on board who are bartenders, waiters, cooks and all other kinds of crew members. 

Tomorrow starts early with a tour involving kiwi fruit, farm animals, eels and a jet boat ride!  Stay tuned!

Approaching White Island

White above is thousands of white gannet birds if you click on the photo you can probably see them better if the photo is larger.

View from Kiki's large balcony around the front of the ship gave us the best views of all!

the white area on the middle left of the photo is the area
of the gannet birds

Love this photo!  Gannet bird in flight

Now there you can see the gannet birds!  Isn't that amazing?

If only there was a scratch-n-sniff button you too could smell the sulfur

Great crew show!  One of our own (from our little area of rooms) is center stage!

Star of the crew show was Christopher - the Diva's own wonderful guy who patiently waits on us for our afternoon milkshakes by the pool.  Great job with the show Christopher!  Also - you can make a mean milkshake and pina colada!  The Divas love Christopher!!

A Shear Spectacular day for the Diva's!

Our tour today started with a visit to a sheep farm.  There was a demonstration of herding with Faye, the border collie.  She showed off her talent with great ease, following the voice commands of her owner, a 6th generation sheep farmer on the same land.  After a demonstration of sheering a sheep, two of the Diva's got to cuddle with a baby lamb.


A short walk across a pasture brought us to a cafe where we had morning tea with scones on the seashore and then headed for the hills to an overlook so high, hang gliders launch off from it.  As you can see, the views were spectacular with the farm land blending into the city and the sea beyond. 

Again, we were blessed with superb weather, although a bit warmer.

Coming down off the mountain, we got a great taste of New Zealand at a local winery.  Ngatarawa is a family owned vineyard and well known worldwide for their wines.  Their land was formerly a thoroughbred racehorse farm and they did a wonderful job converting the barn into a wine tasting facility.

The Diva's, having had a "rolley-polley" night at sea, returned to the ship for some R&R.  One Diva was particularly concerned about packing until realizing that tomorrow is a day at sea.  Whew!  Still lots of luggage space issues to deal with.  (That translates into presents!!!!)

Tonight is the first night the Diva's talked about going home.  While we are still having a wonderful time, we miss our loved ones - human and canine - and realize that it will be great to be back in the USA.  But we still have 3 full days of fun and we plan to make the most of them. 

Diva Boar

Faye, the dog, herding the sheep

Sheep shearing demo - the sheep appear not to mind the
process at all, they lay there rather calm

Amount of wool from the one sheep above

Diva Barbara and her new friend

Photos from the summit of TeMata Peak in Hawkes Bay, NZ
sort of a scary drive up in a large Volvo bus - but so worth every
second - the most beautiful views you could imagine.

From the summit - you can see all across the town and down to
the ocean - that blue below the clouds is the ocean

The river you see winding is the Tuki Tuki River

New Zealand has some of the most beautiful scenery. It was amazing
just how far you could see.  Thank goodness for great weather!

i

Next stop for the Divas was a winery - Ngatarawa Winery.
This winery is built in old stable barns - very cool.  This area has a unique
soil and climate that is perfect for growing grapes (and Kiwis, cherries, apples, asparagus, etc)  There are wineries everywhere around Hawkes Bay.

On our way back to the ship - picture shows how beautiful the
water is - the green/blue - fading into deep blue.  It was a gorgeous day, tons of sailboats all around the harbour.

Somehow this picture got a little out of order - Diva Donna and a 2 month old lamb.  If only the picture could have audio so you could hear the "baaaaa"

It was just a perfect Diva day - yet again.  Tomorrow we have a sea day as we travel to Tauranga.  The Divas will go to Longridge Park and see working orchards of Kiwi and avocado, as well as more farm animals.  Then there will be a jetboat ride along the Kaituna River.  Hopefully time to shop in the afternoon as one particular Diva needs to finish getting presents for someone!  Tomorrow stats the slow process of packing up to return home to our friends and family - can't wait until the last minute!