All at sea

Day 3 was our first day at sea for this cruise. We began our day at the gymnasium, on the treadmills for 40 minutes and then enjoyed a leisurely breakfast in the Oceanview Café on Deck 14.

Beyond the Podium is a series of presentations by professionals on a huge variety of mostly relevant cruise topics. We enjoyed a talk and PowerPoint presentation on the volcanic history of New Zealand as well as the formation of the fjords from glaciers millions of years ago. We also enjoyed learning about the history and culture of the Māoris.

Sea days usually mean the evenings will be formal occasions and this was the case - passengers dress up to match the occasion and there's a real feeling of opulence within the dining room. Last night's show was called Ghost Light and was a 'Hollywood' singing and dancing spectacular featuring fantastic singers and dancers performing songs from musicals across the years - a truly wonderful event. We finally dropped into bed well after midnight.

Day 4, and we are currently sitting in the café at the Te Papa National Museum in Wellington. Apart from the wonderful displays of earth's history and origins of life, we have seen one of the World's largest squids - at around 4 metres long. We were rocked by an earthquake in a simulated experience and watched as New Zealand was torn away from Australia in what was then Gondwanaland. All fascinating!  Lunch wasn't bad either and free WiFi is always a bonus!

We're off to explore Wellington now before heading back to the Solstice - out of the rain...



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