A long overdue update
Holy shit. Since February Livejournal? Really. That's just terrible. I think when you're a writer for a job you spend so much time writing there that writing for yourself slips away. When I do write for myself lately I've been emailing a guy called Bill. He was one of my Copypress colleagues and we discovered we both had a shared love of independent cinema. So I have an email friend for the first time since the early 2000s, which is kind of nice. It's like penpals for the tech age, although I don't think most people are using email to stay in touch with anyone beyond work colleagues and clients anymore.
Anyway, since I last wrote the cruise happened. It was so nice to get away. Cruising really does suit me. There was a moment where I was sitting in the hot tub on the top deck with Steve watching a James Taylor concert on the big screen and it occurred to me that there was nothing else that I needed to do. You know how when you're at home you might be sitting on the couch, but you're thinking about how you haven't dusted in a long time or you have dishes in the sink or whatever? Well in that moment I had nothing else to do and I was completely relaxed.
I must admit, most of the food didn't wow me but it was consistently good. I did have amazing guinea fowl, and the fact that I was eating guinea fowl was already exciting. And the fancy meal in the steakhouse was also really good. Perhaps the mainland of New Zealand set the bar too high, or our own cooking is just too good? The wine was good though. I was a bit worried about the selection because I'm a bit of a snob there too, but it was excellent. The company was good too. We were sat with a lovely couple and their two children, girls 11 and 15. Such genuinely good people and we had great conversations until long after dinner.
I didn't think I would, but I really enjoyed meeting so many new people on the cruise. Most of them you didn't chat to beyond the meal you were eating or the activity you were doing, but we did meet a lovely older couple who we ended up playing trivia with for the entire trip. There was one team who won every morning and afternoon session of trivia, but we beat them on the very last afternoon. It was awesome, especially since so many people came up to us and cheered us on because they hated this team! We felt like heroes. The Princess water bottle has become my new skating bottle. Very proud.
I also loved having a casino to play in, and bingo, and all of that stuff. And since it was an American ship Coach bags were reasonably priced so I splurged. I am in love with my new bag.
Time in New Zealand was amazing. I think the country's just different enough to make you feel like you've gone somewhere, but not so different that you're out of the element. I had the trip planned beautifully so we were never really wandering around wondering what to do. I discovered that I love riding Segways, and I'm pretty sure Devonport must be the best place to do it. The blend of sightseeing and just tearing around open spaces was awesome. I fell in love with kiwis at Wellington Zoo, and that whole zoo generally. It's small but the enclosures are beautiful and there were a few animals we don't have at our zoos beyond the kiwis, like the serval and caracal and the big porcupines. I had the very best meal I've ever had in my life in Auckland. If you're ever there, The Food Store. I had scampi with black pudding for an entree and duck breasts with potato roesti and porcini crumb for a main. Amazing amazing. That was also my birthday too. I also had so much fun frolicking with butterflies in the butterfly house at Dunedin Museum and eating liquid chocolate at Cadbury World. The smell of that place, amazing.
The only downside to cruising is that due to the tides or something our time in port was changed on a few occasions. So we'd get in too early to do anything and then we'd have to leave earlier than I anticipated. So the wine tour day we only managed to taste at one winery and eat at another. Honestly we could have seen more if the guide had have cut out the "look at our city" stuff, but it is what it is. Thankfully the winery we tasted was amazing. Clearview Wines if you're ever in Napier. And shipping a case back home wasn't unreasonable. The sommelier was lovely and we got to meet the winemaker too. So if we could only do one, I'm glad it was that one. The Tauranga day was also messed about. I would have booked Hobbiton earlier if I'd known. We intended to get our hobbit on in the morning and then check out the geothermal stuff at Rotorua afterwards, but we had no time. Thankfully despite never seeing a Lord of the Rings or Hobbit movie I had a ball. The gorgeous Irish guide may have enhanced the experience. We also missed Bay of Islands completely due to rough seas. Shame, but I don't think this will be our last trip to New Zealand.
Needless to say, we've already booked the next one. Just a short cruise, a three-nighter in September, but something to just get away again. I think it's healthy for us. It's with P&O instead of Princess, one of their food and wine cruises. We rationalised that it'd probably be cheaper to do that than spend the weekend at the Good Food and Wine show as we often do. It'll be interesting to compare the two lines I think.
Wow, this is as long as one of my long articles. That would have taken me a longer time to write, but it would have earned me money. Nose to the grindstone again I think.
Anyway, since I last wrote the cruise happened. It was so nice to get away. Cruising really does suit me. There was a moment where I was sitting in the hot tub on the top deck with Steve watching a James Taylor concert on the big screen and it occurred to me that there was nothing else that I needed to do. You know how when you're at home you might be sitting on the couch, but you're thinking about how you haven't dusted in a long time or you have dishes in the sink or whatever? Well in that moment I had nothing else to do and I was completely relaxed.
I must admit, most of the food didn't wow me but it was consistently good. I did have amazing guinea fowl, and the fact that I was eating guinea fowl was already exciting. And the fancy meal in the steakhouse was also really good. Perhaps the mainland of New Zealand set the bar too high, or our own cooking is just too good? The wine was good though. I was a bit worried about the selection because I'm a bit of a snob there too, but it was excellent. The company was good too. We were sat with a lovely couple and their two children, girls 11 and 15. Such genuinely good people and we had great conversations until long after dinner.
I didn't think I would, but I really enjoyed meeting so many new people on the cruise. Most of them you didn't chat to beyond the meal you were eating or the activity you were doing, but we did meet a lovely older couple who we ended up playing trivia with for the entire trip. There was one team who won every morning and afternoon session of trivia, but we beat them on the very last afternoon. It was awesome, especially since so many people came up to us and cheered us on because they hated this team! We felt like heroes. The Princess water bottle has become my new skating bottle. Very proud.
I also loved having a casino to play in, and bingo, and all of that stuff. And since it was an American ship Coach bags were reasonably priced so I splurged. I am in love with my new bag.
Time in New Zealand was amazing. I think the country's just different enough to make you feel like you've gone somewhere, but not so different that you're out of the element. I had the trip planned beautifully so we were never really wandering around wondering what to do. I discovered that I love riding Segways, and I'm pretty sure Devonport must be the best place to do it. The blend of sightseeing and just tearing around open spaces was awesome. I fell in love with kiwis at Wellington Zoo, and that whole zoo generally. It's small but the enclosures are beautiful and there were a few animals we don't have at our zoos beyond the kiwis, like the serval and caracal and the big porcupines. I had the very best meal I've ever had in my life in Auckland. If you're ever there, The Food Store. I had scampi with black pudding for an entree and duck breasts with potato roesti and porcini crumb for a main. Amazing amazing. That was also my birthday too. I also had so much fun frolicking with butterflies in the butterfly house at Dunedin Museum and eating liquid chocolate at Cadbury World. The smell of that place, amazing.
The only downside to cruising is that due to the tides or something our time in port was changed on a few occasions. So we'd get in too early to do anything and then we'd have to leave earlier than I anticipated. So the wine tour day we only managed to taste at one winery and eat at another. Honestly we could have seen more if the guide had have cut out the "look at our city" stuff, but it is what it is. Thankfully the winery we tasted was amazing. Clearview Wines if you're ever in Napier. And shipping a case back home wasn't unreasonable. The sommelier was lovely and we got to meet the winemaker too. So if we could only do one, I'm glad it was that one. The Tauranga day was also messed about. I would have booked Hobbiton earlier if I'd known. We intended to get our hobbit on in the morning and then check out the geothermal stuff at Rotorua afterwards, but we had no time. Thankfully despite never seeing a Lord of the Rings or Hobbit movie I had a ball. The gorgeous Irish guide may have enhanced the experience. We also missed Bay of Islands completely due to rough seas. Shame, but I don't think this will be our last trip to New Zealand.
Needless to say, we've already booked the next one. Just a short cruise, a three-nighter in September, but something to just get away again. I think it's healthy for us. It's with P&O instead of Princess, one of their food and wine cruises. We rationalised that it'd probably be cheaper to do that than spend the weekend at the Good Food and Wine show as we often do. It'll be interesting to compare the two lines I think.
Wow, this is as long as one of my long articles. That would have taken me a longer time to write, but it would have earned me money. Nose to the grindstone again I think.