AKAROA
First stop on the south island, Akaroa which means "long harbour". It's located on the East Coast of the island and has a French connection. Akaroa Harbour is an old crater of an extinct volcano. We were tendered into town from the ship. It was a pleasant day to walk around this quaint coastal town. Most of the walks have spectacular views of the harbour, especially from the hilltop above the town and from the Memorial park. Many tourist shops, historic houses and landmarks are on the town's main street . We picked up a sandwich from a local market and had lunch at a park overlooking the harbour.
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Tender boat
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Langloirs-Eteveneaux Cottage
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The Giants House
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The town park
 | Barry, the painter and Nieves
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War Memorial and Grounds
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Overlooking the harbour
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| View of the harbour & the lighthouse |
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Harbour view
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A nice day spent with good friends Barry and Nieves
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DUNEDIN
Our ship docked in Port Chalmers, Otago Harbour, on the East Coast of New Zealand's South Island. Riding the Taieri Gorge Railway from Dunedin is one of the world's great train trip and also Dunedin's top tourist attraction. Unfortunately, all tickets for the train ride were sold out for the day we arrived in Dunedin. With another Princess (mega) cruise ship docked next to our ship the same day, we estimated more than 6,000 tourists in town and many excursions, the train ride excursion was fully booked. Another popular excursion is the tour to "Lord of the Rings" filming locations in Queenstown that we did not take either. Instead we visited Dunedin Central with its beautiful Gothic churches, ornate mansions and grand buildings of Edwardian and Victorian architecture. The city is considered a small version of Edinburg of Scotland.
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| Municipal Chambers (Town Hall) |
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Statue of Robert Burns - Dunedin Central Park
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First Church of Otago
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Inside First Church of Otago
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St. Paul Cathedral
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Beautiful Victorian Homes on Geoge Street, Dunedin Central
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The Dunedin's Law Courts
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The Railway Station in Central Dunedin
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Marble Floor inside the train station
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Two Princess ships at Port Chalmers
Our trivia club teammates: Nancy and Diane had done some modeling on previous cruises with Princess. They were telling me all about the fashion shows and encouraged me to apply for this fun event. And I did.
The ship's jewelry store had a fashion show the evening we left Port Chalmers. There were twelve of us who wore clothes and jewelry from the ship boutiques to advertise their merchandises. The diamond necklace and bracelet I wore cost over $20,000. Nancy's jewely was the most expensive, over $100,000! We had a lot of fun playing dress-up and walking the runway!
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Diane, Tien and Nancy
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Ready for the fashion show
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