Odyssey Auckland to Sydney: The Grass isn't always greener

[Emperor Norton]

Oddly no prices were listed for beverages.

 

The namesake of the inn, the Green Dragon

 

 

 

I don't think the fire was necessary today

 

 

We were then whisked off to a circus tent for a buffet lunch. Sadly no hobbit brews were downed during this meal. It was then back on the bus to the several hour trip back to Auckland with a stop along the way for a crowded restroom and some ice cream.

[Roxburgh]

Very much enjoying your photos ..... keep'em coming!

[Emperor Norton]

Still backtracked...

 

Prior to boarding I like to play a game to guess who on the flight or in the airport (if I fly in the day of) or in the hotel will be on the cruise. This time I found one person immediately who talked to throughout the cruise. Then there was the plague couple. I first heard them as they were both coughing up a fit. I noticed the woman never made any effort to cover her mouth when she coughed. This became problematic as she went up to the hotel bar to order then coughed all over the bartender and the already made drinks. She made no effort to apologize and just continued with her order as if she didn't just spew phlegm all over another person and cause them to also have to remake a tray full of drinks.

 

Sadly the next I saw of that woman was on our first sea day which was after Tauranga. She was ordering in Seabourn square when she again coughed all over the person behind the bar/counter. I'd like to see Seabourn put a little more care into health screenings, perhaps have staff report the obviously sick to the Dr the first few days.

 

That being done I guess its the day after Tauranga, our first sea day.

[Emperor Norton]

Before most people were out and about I was out looking to see what else had changed between the little and big ships.

 

R2 was an interesting change. It appeared almost grudgingly added on and the inclusion of a bar with stools didn't make much sense. I never saw passengers use the stools, are they just there for looks?

 

The entrance to R2, I only saw the stools used by crew members during off hours.

 

 

Out on deck they were setting up another grill to go along with the Patio Grill

 

 

Their work was temporarily halted by the blinding entrance of Mr. Awesome (Slobodon)

 

[Emperor Norton]

Butter Pecan Ice cream, Bourbon ice cream, some Makers Mark all blended together.

 

It seems that on this cruise the Rum Raisin ice cream was the one you had to get to quickly as it was frequently out before the end of day.

 

Next stop - a city similar to San Francisco, a tour where photographs/videos were forbidden and a San Francisco treat: Fog.

[ab21au]

Still backtracked...

 

Prior to boarding I like to play a game to guess who on the flight or in the airport (if I fly in the day of) or in the hotel will be on the cruise.

 

We did the same at the bar at the hotel in Montreal the night before we boarded last year as we saw the SB rep chatting to various couples and handing them info. We just happened to be staying at the same hotel.

 

Great photos, well done.

Edited March 5, 2016 by ab21au

[Emperor Norton]

We did the same at the bar at the hotel in Montreal the night before we boarded last year as we saw the SB rep chatting to various couples and handing them info. We just happened to be staying at the same hotel.

 

Great photos, well done.

 

Oh, that's cheating;):D

[Emperor Norton]

The next day was up and early for another day of Hobbiting. We were off to the WETA cave (WETA is Peter Jackson SFX company, similar to ILM) and then a stop at one of the filming locations before going on to a scenic view of Wellington. That Scenic view gave a very San Francisco welcome with most of the area being covered in clouds and fog.

 

The problem with a secure phone is it does such a good job of being secure that it doesn't quite do a good job in other areas. However it also had the benefit of being an international phone and no need for a carrier unlock. I think next time I may just toss Disconnect.me on a better phone and pay for an unlock.

After entering the terminal you are met by this character (Archibald Haddock from Tin Tin)

 

Welcome to foggy

 

After a bit of a bus ride during which time we learned all about Wellington cafe/coffee house culture we came to this non-descript parking lot with a rather large green screen.

 

Next up was the WETA workshop, but a more accurate description would be small gift shop with a tiny showcase attached. Because WETA just produced the props and didn't own the copyrights we could only take pictures of the giftshop area. Everything else was verboten.

 

Why, hello there!

 

Looks like someone forgot his staff

 

[Emperor Norton]

 

 

 

 

 

And finally the doors to the mini museum

[Emperor Norton]

I was expecting a bit more from the tour of the cave and was disappointed they didn't cover much about the digital part of the company.

 

Just like the old ILM building on Kerner, if you didn't know where you were you'd have no idea what you were looking at.

 

After another bus ride we arrived to some of the outdoor filming locations. Of course along the way we were told how filming started sans permit (it seems Jackson is another that believes its better to beg forgiveness than ask permission). He was only caught when his smoke generators made it appear the mountain was on fire.

 

 

The road a Nazgul was coming down

 

Hobbits came running down here

 

The pit the hobbits hid in from the Nazgul. Yes it was that close to the road and that small.

[Emperor Norton]

All the hobbits, save Samwise had to run up and down this hill several times until Jackson was satisfied with the take. Due to his extra weight Samwise was spared all the running and just stepped out from behind a tree. His stunt double wasn't so lucky.

 

Wellington "International" airport

 

We then moved higher up the mountain for a view of -

 

 

On the way back into town we went down some narrow curvy streets with some San Francisco like architecture. It seems San Francisco style buildings were used as at the time they were supposed to be relatively earthquake proof.

 

Coming back into town we spotted a group of men being carried around by teddy-bears. (example only)

 

While it was a very early or a bit late for Halloween it wasn't too early for 7s Rugby. It seems people would dress up in costumes to attend the games. I regret not going back out again and seeing if I could get pictures of the fans.

[Emperor Norton]

Once back on the ship it seems some Sangria had made its way to the Patio bar.

 

I don't how it happened but I just pointed my camera at the galley for the Patio grill during a lull in business at the grill and this is what came out.

 

Oh look, right when we have to leave the weather clears up.

[Emperor Norton]

Our next stop was Akaroa where I'd booked a see the wildlife type tour. It was interesting to see all the different cameras people on this tour had brought. It seemed a lot of people with lens hoods were loathe to use them. They come with the camera and you have it with you, why not use it? There was one passenger that had a quite nice lens for reaching out and touching those far away critters. As I didn't bring a lens anywhere near that size I had to go to my max zoom (70mm) /cry and then crop then heavily crop the image.

 

Crew mugging it up for cameras

 

The pier where the tenders landed and we picked up our boat for the tour.

 

Our tender returning to the ship

 

Last bit of inhabited land

 

[Emperor Norton]

We saw a lot of cormorants along the rocks and then found the local Hector's dolphins.

 

 

 

 

 

[Emperor Norton]

We also saw some local seals

 

 

Speeding away from the ship only to return via tender, I wonder if the boat we were on could've dropped us off at the ship and removed the need to return via tender.

 

Tonight was one of the Keller dinners in the Colonnade. It was the chop house menu with the chopped salad, beef, asparagus, horseradish smashed potatoes, Humboldt fog cheese, Marshall honey and chocolate silk pie. Also Kellers sauces. I'd recommend those on the side. The asparagus this time around wasn't very good and they forgot to add any horseradish to the potatoes (which were corrected the second time they offered this dinner).

 

 

[Jay23]

Thank you for all these photos. Lovely dolphins.

 

However.... The Keller menu is a worry to me I appreciate that food is personal taste but the photos certainly do not do it for me, and I would not be ordering that beef, and I like my beef gently cooked. The presentation of that particular dish was really unappealing.

Who is Keller? Of course being a Brit I have never come across him until he appeared on here.

 

Even the cheese and toast is a tad casual.

 

Judith

[Mr Luxury]

Was the beef actually cooked?

Now I like it medium to rare but this is definitely rare to raw

[Emperor Norton]

Thank you for all these photos. Lovely dolphins.

 

However.... The Keller menu is a worry to me I appreciate that food is personal taste but the photos certainly do not do it for me, and I would not be ordering that beef, and I like my beef gently cooked. The presentation of that particular dish was really unappealing.

Who is Keller? Of course being a Brit I have never come across him until he appeared on here.

 

Even the cheese and toast is a tad casual.

 

Judith

 

 

The beef is cooked to order, I ordered it one step away from Mooing. The presentation is poor as this meal is served family style and you serve yourself from the serving dishes (so I did the plating:eek:).

 

Click here for information on Thomas Keller

Edited March 14, 2016 by Emperor Norton

[2SailingNomads]

When we had this meal back in October when they were first rolling it out we ordered it medium rare, it came out cooked as requested. As EN said you request how you'd like it cooked. Not sure how that works when everyone at the table wants a different degree of doneness.

[wally_bushy]

Enjoying your photos (better than ours from 2 years ago!)

[Emperor Norton]

When we had this meal back in October when they were first rolling it out we ordered it medium rare, it came out cooked as requested. As EN said you request how you'd like it cooked. Not sure how that works when everyone at the table wants a different degree of doneness.

 

As I wanted ultra rare and the other person wanted medium rare they asked us to split the difference (that on my second visit). I'm not sure what they'd do if it ranged from rare to well done.

[2SailingNomads]

Yeah not sure how they would handle a very rare and well done couple.

BTW, great pix as always!

[GUT2407]

As I wanted ultra rare and the other person wanted medium rare they asked us to split the difference (that on my second visit). I'm not sure what they'd do if it ranged from rare to well done.

 

Pop them on to cook at different times.

[newlondon]

Keller is Thomas Keller chef extraordinaire and owner of The French Laundry in Yountville, CA and Per Se in NYC. I have been to The French Laundry and both DW and I consider it our culinary moment. We have also been to 2 (3*) Michelin restaurants in France, one in Denmark and many 2* across the world. While Mr. Keller is truly an artiste, so is Jacque Pepin for Oceania and it will be interesting to see if TK will bring Seabourn to the same level. At the moment with much experience we consider Oceania the best at sea.

[Mr Luxury]

I'm hoping that the TK food will be much better than the JP food on Oceania as on land these two chefs are not even in the same league.TK is a world above JP.

Ymmv