#181 Nomad Diary. 6-12 April 2024. Auckland.Tauranga. Suva, Fiji.Week on Grand Princess Repositioning Cruise.
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| On the Auckland Ferry. 12 minute Ride Across the Bay to Devonport. |
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| Beautiful Trees in Devonport Park |
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| Our Last Souvenier and Personal Purchases in New Zealand. Saturday. 6. In Auckland. We took a 12 minute ferry ride across the bay to Devonport. There were two hills to climb with stories and military significance. There were wonderful views and enough cloud cover to keep the intense sun dulled and the breeze comfortable. As we walked the neighborhood between the hills, I noticed some green fruit fallen into the street from a tree. I googled to make sure what I thought it might be. It was feijoa in season! I had read about this fruit and only heard about others talk about how they love it in season. I had tasted dried slices and also feijoa flavor added to a milkshake. I picked one up, tore it open and ate the insides. It was delicious! Darrell wasn’t interested in my find. I left the skin, but later thought that I could have eaten that too as I had eaten it dried. As we continued walking we came to a house that had a box of feijoa sitting on their fence with a ‘please take some’. So I got another and Darrell took one too. We both enjoyed the fruit! Wow! So happy we got to try it in season. On this walk we also used and app called Flush. It is a map of public toilets. We easily found one that we would not have found on our own. Later after exploring some beach and more pathways, we ate lunch at Dulce. It was fabulous! Everything was made fresh and local! I took a picture of the menu because I liked the combination of ingredients in the dishes. Maybe I can make something similar in the US. We went to the grocery and bought a few items. Rode the ferry back to Auckland. I found my last tourist item: a pencil case with NZ birds print for our grandson Quinn, and went back to the ship. |
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| The Sunrise Horizon from Our Ship Balcony. Sunday. 7. In Tauranga. We have been to this town 2 times before. Last month we went to a church and a couple there, Marion and Gary, took us for lunch after worship and back to our ship. They picked us up at the ship today and again after lunch took us back to the ship. We had a lovely visit with the members there. Many of us remembered one another and enjoyed our time together. John, a preacher from Auckland was there for the day as well as some others we had met in other locations. It was quite nice to see familiar faces and enjoy company. Before getting back on the ship, we climbed 50 minutes up Mt Maunganui. It was worth the views! We climbed down about 30 minutes and back to the ship. The day was beautiful and sunny! April 7th is the birthday for my sister Annette and Darrell’s sister Cyndy. Also my step-mom Donna. I think of each of them today with gratitude. |
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| Grandson Quinn (3 1/2 years old). Photo taken by his Mom in Brasillia, Brazil. |
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| Granddaughter Esther (8 months old) with Her Mommy Erin. Picture by her Dad. |
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| Screenshot Talking to Our Oldest Son Eric with Owen (2 1/2 and Esther 8 months). Monday. 8. Sea Day. Exercise. Breakfast. Good Food. Bible time. Rest time. Learned of difficulty for a friend in Kenya: his village was robbed by a gang with machetes at 3am. He and other christians didn’t resist. The none-christians who resisted were injured and still robbed. Also a long-time friend of ours, Steven Braman, passed away in a South African hospital. He had fallen in his hotel bathroom back in February, found and been unconscious in critical care since. Later we learned that an 89 year old friend in Alabama, Alton Robinson passed away full of years. I remember his kindness and his humor. He told me about the time he retired and decided to learn to cook and bake. He used his mother’s recipes and made pies and cakes like her! His wife Margaret, daughter Regina and granddaughter Maggie are all friends of ours. Tuesday. 9. Sea Day. |
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| Large Napping Bats in a Large Tree at the Botanic Gardens in Suva, Fiji |
Wednesday. 10. In Suva, Fiji. It’s hot and humid here! We called Owen, Ester and Eric today. This gives me a big smile every time! A place where you might find your eyeballs sweating if that’s possible! Lol! We walked off the ship into the well-weathered town. We took a walk through the vegetable and fruit market. We then walked along the water to the Botanical garden and the town museum. The museum was air conditioned. It had a piece of the HMS Bounty on display! Also a local and old boat with huge oars! It was enjoyable. I loved the dolls in the gift shop! I didn’t buy one, but really thought about it. I took a picture of them to keep in my memories. When I was little, I had some items including a fabric doll given to me by kind people or relatives, and they were very important to me then. I think that’s why I’m so drawn to this nice handmade doll. These were also very well made and attractive to me. Loved them! We ate lunch at the IHG Hotel, had a scoop of ice cream and walked back to the ship.
Thursday. 11.a. Sea Day. Cross the International Date Line. Enjoyed Bible class. We got positive comments from several attendees who are enjoying Darrell’s leading the class to read through the Book of Mark together. It’s really nice to hear the good comments, and have continued participation.
Thursday. 11.b. Sea Day. We go to dinner in the ‘fancy’ restaurant for the early 5pm sitting. We go in and choose to be randomly seated with a group of others who also choose random seating. We had 7 at our table today. We had met two before and 3 were new to us. I keep a list of first names of those I meet as part of my ‘game’. I enjoy learning about people and then challenging myself to remember them and what they have told me about themselves.
Friday. 12. Sea Day. The last couple of days I have been sitting up as a physical challenge to my body. I’m also conscious of drinking water, eating vegetables and moving and stretching while on the ship. The waves and ship movement is smooth but rocky at times. The weather is sunny with blue skies. The sunsets and sunrises are awesome and spectacular on the ocean!
Nomad Notes. We had some time changes on the ship during this week. Darrell reminded me about going into my phone settings and searching for ‘time’. This takes me to where I can reset the time on my phone. Separately we use a world map in the clock widget to find the time we need the phone set to and to identify what time zone to use in the settings.
Daily practicing prayer with gratitude and thoughtfulness of the difficulties people/friends face. Doing an occasional neurographic art with the thought of a scripture and my growth into the truth and my acceptance and action of it. A lesson in duolingo for both Spanish and Portuguese. Shopping for birthday gifts, personal items, future travel, etc. Reading up on fb to learn news of friends and family. Stretching and exercising along with always taking the stairs. Weekly phone calls as possible to grandkids and Darrell’s mom. Decisions about what to do at upcoming port days, expectations, etc. Discussions and actions for future travel, items like the truck license and absentee voting, and Brazil changing back to no visa required until 2025, useful travel apps, and ideas for increasing our security while traveling in the US and abroad. Also occasionally reviewing future house-sit possibilities and airbnb rentals, etc.
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