Ooh, you gotta love Christmas on a cruise ship. The decorations, the festivities, the atmosphere. And to be fair, they didn’t seem to go overboard with decorations in Auckland, making it all the more magical when we stepped onboard Seabourn Odyssey.
It felt like I’d been working right up to the 11th hour. But with Christmas Day not until Monday, we still had Christmas Eve to wind down and let it all seep in.
Overnight, we’d cruised north, way north, and north a bit further, almost to the tip of the North Island of New Zealand. And so it was, on Christmas Eve, we dropped anchor in ‘Bay of Islands’, a stunning collection of 150 or so little islands, peninsulas and inlets. From there, we began a carefully choreographed set of maneuvers involving tenders, ferries, and buses – in order to go for a walk.
We were up and away on the first passenger tender, eager to get going (and more importantly to get back and make a start on the festive eating and drinking). Waiting for us at the dock in Waitangi was a shuttle bus to the nearby town of Paihia. Despite the initial choppy seas and angry looking overcast skies, the weather held up as we took to the coast path and beach trails from Paihia to Opua.
A short ferry hop took us to Okiato and our terrain changed to dense, steep rainforest. Proper Lord of the Rings stuff, very cool. Weird and wonderful trees, gigantic ferns and creepy strangler vines. Bird calls from another planet competing with the overpowering white noise of cicadas (or whatever Antipodean equivalent they have over here). The humidity was palpable, and the effort intense.
Having run out of water way earlier, we were mightily relieved to emerge from the jungle to a road with signs of life. And more importantly, an oasis of a petrol station. Nine miles in (with just a couple more to go) and somewhat dehydrated, we sat on the curb downing Gatorade and tucking into a well deserved chocolate chip cookie. At which point a friendly bus driver filling up with petrol took pity on us and offered us a lift into the nearby town of Russell. He didn’t have to ask twice!
Another ferry ride, shuttle bus and tender completed our Christmas Eve outing, at which point we were pretty glad to see our ship. The rest of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day really was all about enjoying Christmas.
There are some pivotal moments that I feel warrant a mention, even though I don’t have any photo evidence… Resting our aching muscles in the hot tub on the back deck, for one. With champagne, because it’s only right to have bubbles in the bubbles.
And then one of my favourite activities, which I’d been building up to big time, really looking forward to it: a Singalong Christmas Carol session. Darren on the other hand, took a bit of persuading, said he’d meet me there, and just about made it in time for the last chorus of We Wish You a Merry Christmas at the end. I was festively decked out in my Santa hat (brought with me all the way from home), swinging my mulled wine and singing with gusto. And somehow not a single photo to memorialize it.
Merry Christmas all!