Cruising the Tasman Sea and Milford Sound - 10-11-12 January 2019

We have a couple of welcome sea days with calm seas  --  our clocks go forward one hour bringing us to New Zealand time.

On the Bridge of the Azamara Quest

One morning we attend a very good tour of the Bridge -- given by Ljubo, the 2nd Officer, who hails from Croatia.   It feels quite powerful to stand at the very bow of the ship looking out over the vast ocean.  Ljubo shows us charts on the monitors mentioning that everything is electronic -- no paper.   He further explains how the engines are used and how they can be controlled from either the Bridge or the Engine Room.     

Looking Over the Vast Tasman Sea from Azamara Quest

He tells us about using AIS (Automatic Identification System) to determine what ships are nearby.  It is similar to the Ship Finder App on my phone.  However there is still a human spotter on the bridge at all times.

Human Spotter -- Still Needed!

Captain Magnus Davidson -- a very social British Captain, stops in to say "hello" to the group and answer a few questions.

Captain Magnus and 2nd Officer Ljubo on the Bridge

After lunch -- there is a destination lecture for ports in New Zealand, and Dr. Knuth (who spoke about UNESCO) has a lecture on Highgate Cemetery in London.   I'm the only one in my group who is interested in the cemetery talk. 

One evening we have the Ernest Marchain Show.  Ernest is our talented Cruise Director who, for 11 years, was a member of the "Starlight Express" touring company.   He sings, dances and even roller skates around the stage.     

Starlight Express is an Andrew Lloyd Weber musical based on "the little train that could" story.  The set is quite elaborate with "train tracks" running above the audience and cast members' roller-skating on these tracks.   I saw it in London with my friend, Carol Murphy Edberg when we were there for a week in 1989.  Carol, if you are reading, I remember that week as so much fun.    

Phil and Colette in the Cabaret Lounge before the Show.

Tomorrow we will cruise the Milford Sound.

Thanks for Reading.

Pat

12 January 2019 - Saturday

Milford Sound, New Zealand

Milford Sound is a fiord in the southwest of New Zealand's south island.   A Fiord (Fjord) is defined as a long, narrow, deep inlet of the sea between high cliffs, typically formed by submergence of a glaciated valley.  Milford Sound was part of Zealandia -- the still existing underwater continent parts of which formed New Zealand when the land popped out of the water.

Entering the Milford Sound at Dale Point.

Milford Sound is known as the wettest inhabited place in New Zealand with a mean annual rainfall of 252 inches.  Because of this we are told later how lucky we are to have a sunny day to tour this area. 

At 6:30 am -- we are situated in the Living Room lounge on deck ten at the bow of the ship.  By 7:30 narration over the ship's public address system begins as we enter at Dale Point to transfer passengers on an overnight excursion onto a smaller boat near Lady Bowen Falls so they can travel by land to Queenstown.  We will meet them tomorrow in Dunedin.

One of several Waterfalls in Milford Sound.

As we traverse Milford Sound, its beauty from the waterfalls to changing mountain views is indescribable.   We see several small planes landing and taking off on an airstrip -- not visible from the ship.  

Can You See the Plane?

Our narrators give us some interesting tidbits:  all the trees we see are spruce -- Captain Cook (b: 1728-d: 1779) bypassed the sound on his explorations due to a concern that the wind would be strong enough to get his ship out of the sound and back to the ocean   And -- Rudyard Kipling (b: 1865-d: 1836) called Milford Sound the 8th Wonder of the World.   

We are out of Milford Sound and on our way to Dunedin by 10:00 am but the coastline of New Zealand's Southern Island is very pretty.

After a relaxing afternoon --- we have dinner at the steakhouse compliments of Azamara (Azamara charges extra to eat in their alternate dining rooms).  I'm not sure if we received this complimentary meal because we are "back to back" passengers meaning we are on two cruises put together, or we complain too much.  Either way -- we'll take it.

The meal tonight was very good.

Thanks for Reading.

Pat