Four day escape on the high seas

Day One

It was destination Wellington Thursday morning, and as the shuttle drove to the airport Kien was flanked by us as he held our hands and dozed.

We didn't have any issues with our flight down, perhaps due to John Key being on our flight.

After running around Wellington for a bit so Kien could let off some energy we boarded our ship bound for Napier.

This ship is massive, and it's not until I got on it and walked around did I realise just how big it really is, compared with, say, our yacht (a Tasman 20). This is a floating hotel after all, with a stage theatre for live performances throughout the evenings. We hung out there for a bit whilst the toddler did his typical thing.

We attended a traditional afternoon tea with scones, tea sandwiches and white-gloved service, and Kien was interested only with eating the strawberry jam. He got restless pretty quickly we promptly left before he thoroughly disturbed the peace for fellow passengers.

As the ship left Wellington harbour on a beautiful sunny evening we were enjoying the main pool area. It was fabulous being able to see Kien enjoying himself so much in the water.

I left the guys in the pool as I went to the next level to bid farewell to Wellington.

Even though the pools are heated Kien chills pretty quickly. I took him into the spa spool and we stayed there for ages as we watched the movie they were screening.

It was a perfect first day of our escape.

Day Two

Kien didn't fall asleep until almost 21:00, and it was a 5:30 start yesterday morning. So what's a girl to do at that hour except go and admire the beautiful sunrise over Napier.

After breakfast we ventured into Napier township, stopping at the gardens that acted as the main markets after the 1931 earthquake.

Kien was pretty restless and so we headed to the beach. From here we could see our ship docked all the way down at the port, and looking in the other direction the shore stretching out for miles with the waves crashing violently on the black pebbles.

As we caught the ferry back to the ship Kien fell asleep in the sling - so it was a nice and peaceful lunch for us both!

The ship set off again at 14:30, and to send us on a way was a band playing 1930s music with a precession of vintage vehicles. I was commenting to Jef how if I lived in Napier I would be constantly wearing 1920s attire to the point where it wouldn't even be considered "dressing up in costume" any longer. I mean, what period does this look like to you?

We left the harbour bound for Tauranga.