Here I am dressed for our 4th formal night. (we missed one during the storm) Since we have been on the ship almost 1 month, there have been 5 formal nights. Thank goodness Suzanne and Samantha took me shopping, I would hate to have gone to dinner in my gray shorts! Len said I never looked nicer!
Wellington was fantastic. I think we had never realized how beautiful a country New Zealand is.Their country, made up of many many islands is exquisite. Hills that gently roll down to the ocean. Sheer cliffs that drop 800 feet into the sea. There are homes built into the side of the hills and it is not only picturesque outside the city but inside as well. There is a pride the New Zealanders have that seems to glow on their faces. Not a speck of rubbish on the roads. Not a drop of graffiti anywhere. (Just like home)
When we arrived port on the dock was tons and tons and tons of logs waiting to be shipped mostly to Korea to be made into paper. They farm the pine trees for shipment. Most of these logs are 25 years old.
We took a cable car up to the hills above Wellington. There is a huge botanical garden that runs down the hill. Takes about a half hour to walk down to the main street. Since we had gone on the tour earlier we were afraid we would not have time to walk around Wellington, so we took the cable car back down.Other people who did choose to walk said it was beautiful.
Even though some people smoke (not that many, since a PACKAGE of cigarettes cost from $10.00 to $20. (US) they encourage no smoking but the people that do smoke, don't throw their butts on the street.There are garbage cans every 200 - 300 feet in the city. People are walking by, eating as they walk or sitting in coffee shops on the sidewalks and it is such a pleasure to see how much they care about this country by not dirtying it up. (Just like home)
We first took a tour of the countryside to visit another rancher who turned his home into a venue that does weddings, wine tastings (he grows grapes and bottles wine) He was a fireman for 20 years and had an opportunity to buy the farm. He owns 200 acres on a hilltop with an outstanding view of the sea below. Again the family went out of their way to show us everything. He gave more detail in the herding of the sheep since he uses 2 different kinds of dogs and has 2000 sheep. There is a helicopter landing pad on the front lawn.
The dogs he uses are called Hunt Aways and the other is a Heading Dog. The sheep rustlers in early days only used the Heading Dogs because they are super quiet and never bark. That way they could rustle the sheep without being heard. This is the Heading Dog. They come from behind the sheep and push them forward.
This is the Hunt Away dog. He continuously barks CONTINUOUSLY and they were never used by the rustlers because they are so noisy.
They both knew exactly what to do.
As we drove back from the farm along the coast there were numerous wild goats. The driver explained
that a number of years back someone decided to farm goats. When he couldn't make a go of it he let them loose so now wild goats and escaped sheep run all over the hills.
There are no beggars on the streets of Wellington. There were no police cars or sirens in the city that day. After the tour we just walked around drinking in the sites.
There are signs everywhere for public toilets and here is a picture of one of the facilities. They even offer showers
We had a wonderful day in Wellington. Tomorrow we visit Christchurch.
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