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LIVE from the 2018 HAL Grand World Voyage!

Scrapnana

By Scrapnana,
in Holland America Line

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scluvsrain

scluvsrain

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I can hear noise and sometimes can pick up a tune. Since I am a night owl it does not bother me. Usually, however, I am not in my cabin.

 

 

 

Thanks. I'm going to be down the hall from you. I'm hoping it's far enough back so I don't hear the noise. I'm an early bird.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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kazu "Live from...." Rare

kazu

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Just watched the ship sail into the harbour!! I'm so excited!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I don't blame you a bit. :D. You are in for a fabulous 35 days I am sure :)

 

Have a great time :)

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Wehwalt

Wehwalt

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Regarding the "Lox" trivia question: Lox isn't really the Yiddish for smoked salmon, particularly. It's simply the Yiddish word for salmon. It's also the word for salmon in a lot of Northern European languages. Most lox isn't smoked, anyway. It's brined.

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Scrapnana "Live from...." Rare

Scrapnana

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Auckland, New Zealand – February 2, 2018

 

Since I had done a very good tour of Auckland in 2014, I planned to sleep late (since I have tours the next three days) and then venture out to find the wool shop and lunch at around 11:30. The work crew had a different schedule, however. Promptly at 9 am the hammering on my window started. It was very strange to be in bed and see two men with hammers on the other side of the window! Gave up going back to sleep and got ready for the day.

 

I was off the ship by 10:30 and on my way to New Zealand Fabric and Yarns in the Queens Arcade. It is a very tiny shop but had some of the most beautiful yarns I have ever seen. I finally (I don’t shop quickly for yarn!) decided on wool for a warm woolen hat and sock yarn for my cruise next year. I was able to get some great local yarn that are blends including possum. The very invasive common brushtail possum is very different from the North American opossum.

 

I was hoping to find some odds and ends on my list but did not find what I wanted so I will look again in Sydney since I have no excursions planned. I continued to walk around but did not find any place I really wanted to eat so I headed back to the ship.

 

In my experience the free Wi-Fi in terminals is usually as slow or slower than on the ship. So, I was very pleased to find that Shed 10 (our terminal) had a very good connection. Some people had trouble getting connected but my iPad hooked up right away. I spent an hour going through old e-mails, other blogs I am reading, and Cruise Critic.

 

Finally, I decided I needed to get on the ship and have lunch before the Lido closed at 2. I had a hankering for pasta and ended up with spaghetti. I met Sherita who just joined the ship today (we played trivia together on the Westerdam in 2016 and we will be on the same cruise next year) in the Lido. They have run out of lemonade again and today had a delicious orange/passionfruit/guava drink. After enjoying my lunch and my book I picked up my laptop and took it into the terminal with hopes of updating Windows (the source of my picture woes) and my anti-virus software that has been sending me messages that it needed updating. I was able to update both within 25 minutes.

 

Back on the ship I read by the pool for a few minutes before it was time for trivia. Only four of us played. We had 12 correct and the winners had 14.

1)What are the two official languages of Vatican City?

2)Ben Franklin said, “Time is ____”.

3)What 1958 hit had only one word?

4)What are the two official languages of Greenland?

5)What is the official language of Ruanda?

 

Not many people played Name That Tune at 7 pm. Once again I played by myself and came up with 9 answers and the winners had 13. Jamm usually has a few trivia questions along with the songs so I have a few questions for you.

1)What was The Troggs most famous hit?

2)What musical instrument has pedals, a resonator (sp?), and a pillar?

3)Where was Frank Sinatra born?

4)From what stage show does the song “Mack the Knife” come?

5)What Henry Mancini song was the Grammy record of the year in 1961?

 

A Dutch gentleman who lives in Curacao joined our table tonight. He is on until Hong Kong. I had fruit, a tomato and mozzarella salad, fried chicken, and a cherry sundae for dessert.

 

I skipped the show so I can finish the blog and get to bed early for my tour tomorrow.

 

Tauranga is our next port.

 

 

Afternoon trivia…

1)Latin and Italian

2)money

3)Tequila

4)Danish and Greenlandic

5)French

 

Name That Tune trivia…

1)Wild Thing

2)a harp

3)Hoboken, New Jersey

4)Threepenny Opera

5)Moon River

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DeeniEncinitas

DeeniEncinitas

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Good morning Kathi!

I got 6 triva question right 👍👍

I loved Auckland when we were there.

We took a hop and off bus to explore the town and sailed the bay. It was our start to our Milford Sound hiking adventures! I remember going to a restaurant that looked like the space needle in Seattle where we had lunch and watched people bungee jump from the top of the restaurant!!😱 we did the shot over boat ride which was exciting and would spin around in tight corners of the rivers we went down!

Enjoy your fun Kathi! Glad you got your picks downloaded and your yarn!

Denise:)

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Scrapnana "Live from...." Rare

Scrapnana

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Tauranga, New Zealand – February 3, 2018

 

Probably the biggest tourist attraction in the area is Rotorua, the geothermal reserve, and the second is a visit to Hobbiton, the movie set. Since I visited Rotorua last time I was here and never read Tolkein or saw the movies, I decided on something entirely different – gold mining.

 

I had no idea gold was mined in New Zealand but the tour, “Waihi Gold Experience”, taught me a great deal about it and was one of the best tours I have taken. Although it was a ship tour there were only 11 of us including the ship representative, Carol the watercolor instructor. We had a mini-bus so getting on and off went quickly.

 

Eddie, our driver/guide, picked us up just off the ship and we headed north from Tauranga for an hour’s drive to Waihi. On the way we passed through Katikati where there were murals on many of the buildings (unfortunately I did not get many pictures).

 

We had a morning snack in the Gold Rush Café which included a delicious blueberry muffin, a meat filled pie, and coffee or tea. Afterwards we went next door to the Gold Discovery Centre. They had excellent displays, some interactive, as well as a 12 minute hologram presentation telling about life in Waihi.

 

From the centre we crossed the street to see the Cornish Pumphouse. It was used to pump out the water in the mines below. It was moved about 300 metres to its present location after the ground beneath it was deemed unstable. Next to it is the deep hole which was the original Martha Mine. There was a large rockslide a few years ago that shut down the working of the mine at the present although it is not abandoned.

 

It was about a five minute ride to Waikino where we bordered the Goldfields Railroad. Originally the railroad supplied goods to Waihi and other towns through the area but was shut down in the early 1970s when a more direct north-south rail line was built. About 7 kilometres of track were saved between Waihi and Waikino and now is run through donations and with volunteer drivers and conductors.

 

We had a box lunch and orange juice during the 30 minute ride back to Waihi where our mini-bus met us and took us to the underground mine that is still producing gold and silver. We were able to drive through the area and learn more about the mining process. The gold and silver ore is taken from the quartz rock where it is tumbled (kind of like a giant clothes dryer) with metal balls that reduce it to the consistency of talcum powder. From there it is heated and poured into bars that contain both gold and silver. These bars are sent to Perth, Australia where the gold and silver are separated. Each bar contains roughly 70% silver and a little less than 30% gold as well as trace amounts of other metals.

 

An hour ride back got us to the ship just in time for the muster drill. Due to arriving when the muster drill was already in progress, I did not have time to return to my cabin. Even with scanning our cards, we still had to stand for over 20 minutes.

 

It was time for afternoon trivia when the drill was over. None of my teammates showed up so I joined Jim, Jessica, and Bill (who, coincidentally, were all on the same tour with me today). We had 17 out of 17 and WON!

1)Which country consumes the most wine per capita?

2)Who was the first non-human to win an academy award?

3)Which European country made it illegal to pull your child’s hair in a 1973 law?

4)What was the first Asian city to host the summer Olympics?

5)In what film did Frank Sinatra play a drug addict?

 

Watched the sail-away from the Sea View Pool deck and then came back to work on the blog before dinner.

 

All eight present for dinner. I had French onion soup. Boneless beef rib stroganoff, and crème brule for dessert. Tonight’s show was “Rock Rhapsody”, a trio singing the hits of Queen. I sat with Marilyn and Rodney who had driven to Rotorua today.

 

Napier tomorrow.

 

Afternoon trivia…

1)Italy

2)Mickey Mouse

3)Finland

4)Tokyo

5)The Man With A Golden Arm

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regnig

regnig

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"3)Which European country made it illegal to pull your child’s hair in a 1973 law?" ---

3)Finland"

 



The person who came up with that correct answer sure needs to get a life! ;p:eek::p Why in the world would that be a tidbit of trivia left floating around in one's head? :eek:

 

Love your blog, continue to enjoy your (and ours) cruise.

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kahtrav

kahtrav

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Love those trivia questions.

Glad you were able to find some yarn that you liked.

 

Kathi - so glad you posted about the yarn. We'll be on the QE come Monday and at the last minute my daughter said "IF you want to get me a present . . . and showed me a skein of NZ yarn with possum 😁" I'm thrilled to know there's a place I can get to easily.

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Scrapnana "Live from...." Rare

Scrapnana

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Kathi, it was great to meet up with you. I remember our trivia days on the Westerdam but I am not that great at it. We need Susie back!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Susie's so good I felt like a complete nincompoop! :(

 

I resisted the urge to knock on your door last night after the late show.:halo:

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MMDown Under Holiday Sharing Rare

MMDown Under

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Tauranga, New Zealand – February 3, 2018

 

Probably the biggest tourist attraction in the area is Rotorua, the geothermal reserve, and the second is a visit to Hobbiton, the movie set. Since I visited Rotorua last time I was here and never read Tolkein or saw the movies, I decided on something entirely different – gold mining.

 

I had no idea gold was mined in New Zealand but the tour, “Waihi Gold Experience”, taught me a great deal about it and was one of the best tours I have taken. Although it was a ship tour there were only 11 of us including the ship representative, Carol the watercolor instructor. We had a mini-bus so getting on and off went quickly.

 

Eddie, our driver/guide, picked us up just off the ship and we headed north from Tauranga for an hour’s drive to Waihi. On the way we passed through Katikati where there were murals on many of the buildings (unfortunately I did not get many pictures).

 

We had a morning snack in the Gold Rush Café which included a delicious blueberry muffin, a meat filled pie, and coffee or tea. Afterwards we went next door to the Gold Discovery Centre. They had excellent displays, some interactive, as well as a 12 minute hologram presentation telling about life in Waihi.

 

From the centre we crossed the street to see the Cornish Pumphouse. It was used to pump out the water in the mines below. It was moved about 300 metres to its present location after the ground beneath it was deemed unstable. Next to it is the deep hole which was the original Martha Mine. There was a large rockslide a few years ago that shut down the working of the mine at the present although it is not abandoned.

 

It was about a five minute ride to Waikino where we bordered the Goldfields Railroad. Originally the railroad supplied goods to Waihi and other towns through the area but was shut down in the early 1970s when a more direct north-south rail line was built. About 7 kilometres of track were saved between Waihi and Waikino and now is run through donations and with volunteer drivers and conductors.

 

We had a box lunch and orange juice during the 30 minute ride back to Waihi where our mini-bus met us and took us to the underground mine that is still producing gold and silver. We were able to drive through the area and learn more about the mining process. The gold and silver ore is taken from the quartz rock where it is tumbled (kind of like a giant clothes dryer) with metal balls that reduce it to the consistency of talcum powder. From there it is heated and poured into bars that contain both gold and silver. These bars are sent to Perth, Australia where the gold and silver are separated. Each bar contains roughly 70% silver and a little less than 30% gold as well as trace amounts of other metals.

It was time for afternoon trivia when the drill was over. None of my teammates showed up so I joined Jim, Jessica, and Bill (who, coincidentally, were all on the same tour with me today). We had 17 out of 17 and WON!

1)Which country consumes the most wine per capita?

2)Who was the first non-human to win an academy award?

3)Which European country made it illegal to pull your child’s hair in a 1973 law?

4)What was the first Asian city to host the summer Olympics?

5)In what film did Frank Sinatra play a drug addict?

 

Watched the sail-away from the Sea View Pool deck and then came back to work on the blog before dinner.

 

Afternoon trivia…

1)Italy

2)Mickey Mouse

3)Finland

4)Tokyo

5)The Man With A Golden Arm

 

Sounds like you enjoyed a very interesting tour.

 

I am enjoying your thread, as well as your trivia questions and answers.

 

Congratulations for being a part of the winning trivia team. Intrigued - How did the person know the Finland answer?

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Scrapnana "Live from...." Rare

Scrapnana

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Sounds like you enjoyed a very interesting tour.

 

I am enjoying your thread, as well as your trivia questions and answers.

 

Congratulations for being a part of the winning trivia team. Intrigued - How did the person know the Finland answer?

They had the question on another cruise and got it wrong so they remembered Finland.

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kazu "Live from...." Rare

kazu

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Congrats on winning Trivia, Kathi.

 

Sounds like you had a great day between your tour (which sounds very interesting) and the Trivia win :)

 

I admire your dedication to your blog and am really enjoying it :)

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