onlyslightlymad

Ponant does adventure cruises around NZ but they are expensive. https://us.ponant.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=new+zealand They go to the Chathams and sub-Antarctic islands, not just the two main islands

Oh no, Jean, wetas are wonderful little creatures. Yes, they can be big but they are amazing and absolutely harmless.

I applied for this. Got approved but to close the loop you have to ring their international 0800 number. Just can't bear the thought of being on hold forever but will have to do it sometime.

Think I've told you this before, Ondine. We're booked on the first voyage too. Can't wait. The food look good.

Apologies if this has already been asked. We are booked on the mermaiden voyage out of Melbourne in December. It is only five days and my husband is keen to stay on the ship for a lot of the time that we are in port in Tasmania. My question is re the restaurants for lunch on port days. Do these maintain their normal hours or are there reduce options? Thanks

Husband has stayed there a lot for work. He says well-located, rooms are a funny shape, getting a bit tired pre-pandemic but a nice hotel. Close to centre of town, Hyde Park, easy walk down to Opera House and Circular Quay.

I'm on this cruise too, just to try Virgin out. I'm really hoping for relaxing time.

Celebrity do a South Pacific ex Auckland but it books up really quickly as it's popular

We did Hawai'i to Vancouver and had five sea days. I enjoyed it but that's the longest I've done.

I do quite like sea days. My life is so busy that I daydream about having a quiet, peaceful break with no phone, email or interruptions.

That's a great deal.

Min wage in NZ is now around $24 an hour

At the moment, there are 11 dead and they are concerned about approximately 10 people who are unaccounted for. Some communities are still cut off and isolated. Many roads and bridges are badly damaged or destroyed. It's a mess.

I don't think the Met Service over-forecast, it's just that they deal in probabilities and people struggle with that. They want to know whether it's going to rain or not. They don't want to hear that there's an 80% probability of rain and a 20% probability of no rain. When it comes to a storms and cyclones, they have a duty of care to warn people if there is a high probability of an extreme weather event, but it's not a certainty.

Here's a good summary about the situation in Napier https://www.newsroom.co.nz/napier-is-an-island

Pictures from RNZ this morning showing some of the damage from the flooding. It will take years to recover from this. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/484213/widespread-damage-cyclone-gabrielle-in-pictures https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/weather-news/300806341/in-pictures-cyclone-gabrielle-cuts-path-of-destruction

True. I stand corrected. I should have said mainland Australia.

I may be wrong, but I don't think Australia is in the firing line for this one.

Our wind warning has been upgraded to orange now and we have a heavy rain watch. I can hear the wind starting to pick up outside.

It's supposed to hit Northland on Sunday, then Auckland, Coromandel, Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Gisborne on Monday & Tuesday. We will probably be okay in the Bay of Plenty, I'm just being cautious. It's the Coromandel Peninsula and the East Cape that are supposed to take the worst hammering. It's all mathematical models, of course, so no one knows for sure where it will land, or indeed if it will land. Let's hope it tracks further east than expected and just heads out to sea.

We have had a busy day clearing drains, tidying loose objects, buying batteries and generally preparing a welcome for Gabrielle

I think you can safely assume that both airlines will be strict on the weight limit. If you are over this you will have to pay. https://www.airnewzealand.co.nz/excess-baggage-fees

My daughter is fructose intolerant. She can drink Coke from NZ because it is made with cane sugar (sucrose) but has to be super careful on a cruise because if the Coke is from the US it has corn syrup (fructose)

Paranoia is a fear of something that is not real. It's okay to disagree with the protocols and think they are over the top but it's still not paranoia.

I don't think it's paranoia when there is an actual disease causing real people to die. You may disagree with the protocols but calling it paranoia s a bit inflammatory.