Can we all please pause and have moment of silence for my liver, which died last night during the Judgement of Paris wine pairing dinner---- thank you/
As I type, we are leaving Port Chalmers through a somewhat thinned out veil of fog that detained us so long we will have to forego our stop in Akaroa (Christ Church)/ I’m pretty bummed to miss that stop, but life goes on/
Getting to step foot onto land in New Zealand was another huge moment! Sailing in, we were just blown away by how incredibly gorgeous it was—the blue of the ocean against the royal green, rolling hillside – dotted with sheep and little else/ Jason was the most excited he’s been so far – just smiling ear to ear/ We were coming in hours late because of the morning fog and some tours were cancelled/ We didn’t have a tour planned so it was easy for us – but we did wish we would have had more time in Dunedin – what a lovely little town!
We had to take a shuttle bus from the ship in Port Chalmers to Dunedin, which took about 20 minutes/ Getting off the boat and onto the shuttle took about an hour! Sheesh! I think this was mostly just that everything was out of whack from being late/ The shuttle bus cost us $15 New Zealand dollars each/ Thankfully, I’d snuck down to the front desk early and exchanged some money so we were ready to rock/
The drive was lovely – except that it was an abnormally hot day for early spring and the bus windows didn’t open/ Jason was pretty miserable/ we hopped off in “the octagon”, which was the city center – perfect for grabbing lunch and exploring/ Dunedin is named after Edinburgh, Scotland and looks quite a lot like it! Loved the castles and the fish and chips! We found a table in an open air style pub right by the window—which was open and didn’t even have a screen – it was a beautiful spot to people watch and enjoy the meal/
Afterwards, we walked awhile and checked out some of the local shops/ Lots and lots of things made from merino wool, sheepskin (including Uggs everywhere you look), and even possum! This was our first day figuring out new zealand money and prices so I couldn’t quite get my bearings/ Another instance to miss Google and constant wifi!
Because we were late into port, the ship adjusted the all aboard time to 9 PM – but we still had to be back to the ship no later than 5 because we were signed up for the Judgement of Paris wine pairing dinner/ We wanted to have a little time to walk around the tiny but charming town of Port Chalmers, too/ So, we hopped the shuttle back over and then started walking the main street in Port Chalmers – what a great little place/
There is a public library with good, free wifi right by the cruise port/ We stepped inside for a moment and saw our awesome room steward!So glad to see him getting a break off the boat/ We asked the librarian where we could find a post office box and she directed us up the street to the pharmacy – off we went, stopping in a few interesting little shops along the way/ There is an awesome used book store – what a perfect idea right near a cruise port! Up the hill behind the main street is an incredible old church with a large steeple and bell tower/ I only took about 78 pictures of it
Anyway, before long it was time to head on ship to get ready for our dinner/We were looking forward to seeing Rod and Louise and finding out about their day/ In addition, we’d invited Karen to join the 4 of us and Jason and I were looking forward to getting to know her better/ Rod and Louise had met her on one of their earlier excursions/
JoJo and the team had everything all set when we got there/ I saw wine glasses galore! Now, if you haven’t kept up on the wine world in, ever, you might not be familiar with the Judgement of Paris/ Years ago, someone tasted California wines and decided they were good enough to stand up to the best wines in the world – at that time, California wines weren’t considered in the wine world at all/ And so, an interesting competition was proposed – a blind tasting – one on one – a Californian v a French wine/ The outcome surely helped change wine history in California/
Here was our chance to do something similar. What we thought would happen is that we would get a taste of a French wine and a Californian wine for each course, decide which we preferred and get to drink more of that one to complete the course. Instead, what happened was we got a solid pour of both, each course. 6 courses. If your math is rusty – I’ll tell you that is 12 glasses of wine. Did I mentioned we got started with a glass of sparkling while we waited to be seated? Oh liver, forgive me.
The menu was fabulous – they did a wonderful job creating a delightful set of courses with which to pair. Ahead of time, I was most excited to have some of my favorite Chardonnay (Ferrari Carano) and to get to try Chateauneuf du Pape. I was surprised that I often preferred the French wine, especially when pairing with it the food. Karen and I were very similar in our tastes – often liking the French best with food but the Californian best on its own. JoJo would come around between courses and take everyone’s vote. At the end of the night, California won!
In the meantime, we had a wonderful time getting to know Karen better and, as always, enjoying time with Rod and Louise. We were starting to worry they weren’t going to make it but they showed up and caught up in the 2nd course after their tour went a bit longer with the rescheduling of things from the morning fog.
Karen lived in California for about 15 years and had a lot of fun escaping into wine country on the weekends, just like I used to/ She told us about some of her favorite places off the Silverado Trail/ We shared a few fun stories of our own/ As we kept swapping stories, we heard she was traveling with an older couple and they were collectively sharing the Pinnacle Suite, which is the largest suite on the boat! What fun! We had just been talking with Rod about when we were planning the trip, we went back and forth on whether a suite would be worth the extra cost/ So, we had plenty of questions to ask her about it/ Next thing you know, she’s invited us to come up to see it! What fun is that? During the course of the meal, the captain announced we were stuck in the fog and so we decided we might as well get together in the morning up in the suite for a light breakfast and mimosas/
Karen headed up to the suite after the meal, but we got crazy and stayed another hour or so/ And that’s when it got hilarious – it’s always those after hours moments, right? So much laughter and outrageousness. The staff, as ALWAYS, we champs and didn’t seem to mind us sitting there, came and chatted, played along and even brought out another bottle of Decoy, because, who knows why. I was laughing so hard on the way back to the cabin that I couldn’t take the stairs and I thought I’d have to sit down and rest. It’s about a 2 minute walk. So fun.
When we woke up this morning, it was 8, which is shocking to begin with, because that’s some super late sleeping for me/ I was extremely glad that I wasn’t hung over/ I was trying hard to pay attention and not drink all 12 glasses but you know somewhere in all that mess things get weird/ Anyway – whew! Jason was also doing fine – he’d made an effort to watch it, too/ Next, we were trying to remember what we’d decided – was Karen to call everyone when she cleared us coming up with her roommates? Were we to call her? Was no one calling anyone? We didn’t know/ What we did know was if she was waiting up there for us, we didn’t want to not show up, so I called her right before 9 and asked, “so, are you expecting us right now?” hahahaha/ Indeed, she was/
The Pinnacle suite is just incredible/ It’s something like 1500 square feet – which isn’t much smaller than our house!!! There’s a kitchen that they keep stocked/ A huge full master suite with a jetted tub/ a second bathroom/ the best balcony ever – with another jetted tub outside on it!! Plus, a dining room table, real crystal and silver, actual fine art hanging on the walls, large binoculars on a tripod, windows everywhere/ It was pretty darn awesome/
Another treat was getting to meet Bill and Pat, the sweet couple Karen was traveling and rooming with/ They were both English professors back in the day – they met in Chaucer class While talking, someone mentioned November 3/ Pat looked and Bill and said, “Do you know what November 3 is?”
“I do,” he replied
“Good—then you shall live another day!” she replied with spunk!
They told us November 3 would be the 61st anniversary of their first date, and they celebrate it just as much as their actual wedding anniversary/ I love it!
Another fun thing – they’ve been all over the world cruising and this is the very first time they’ve had a balcony! Whoa! What a way to go for it!! They are a lovely couple and it was a delight to get to spend a little time with them.
We did a time check – it was about 10 am/ We’d readjusted the all aboard for 11:30 and we were wanting to walk back to Port Chalmers so we had to get going/ Rod and Karen both wanted to go, too – last chance for free wifi! We agreed to meet down at the gangway and walk to town/ Off we went!
While I was waiting at the gangway, the chefs were presenting their pumpkin carving – man!! They rocked it! I told Jason he should consider doing something like that next year as a fundraiser in the farm—the chefs decorated their pumpkins only with veggies! Imagine button mushrooms for ears, cucumber strips for tongues/ So clever/
We were finally able to leave Port Chalmers around 1PM/ There was still some fog so a pilot boat helped us out/ We’ve got a lot of water to cross to make it to Picton – I’m hoping we are able to get there and get docked in time to make our Tour of Marlborough Wine Country in the morning/
Until then, we’ve got a Halloween party and much more laughter on the books. Oh wow – the period key just worked. Hallelujah!
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