Connected to the world in the Tauranga Public Library

We are in tiny Tauranga, a New Zealand North Island harbor town a few hours drive from Auckland. This is the second fastest growing area in New Zealand after Queenstown where our former home sits. Our ship came in early (I think I heard it docking at about 4:00 am) to begin the repairs. It was available for passenger disembarkation at 5:30, although these passengers weren't ready. We got up at our now typical leisurely 9:00 and had breakfast, then jumped on the 11:00 shuttle bus into town. The shuttle (a city bus with a "charter" sign in the destination window) took us into downtown Tauranga from the harbor of Mt. Mangatui. We stopped right in front of the public library, a very new and modern library, where we sit with fellow passengers working on the internet for the reasonable sum of $4 NZ and hour.

We have become friends with our table mates on the cruise. Bill and Lori are about our age and come from Delaware. Chris and Denise, also about our age are from Michigan. Carol is a young grandmother traveling with her oldest granddaughter, Katie, who at 21 is a recent graduate celebrating with her grandmother. Katie is one of the most attractive girls on the ship, where there really aren't many people her age, so we all have the entertainment of watching the interest she creates among the men. Last night was Chris and Denise's 36th anniversary, which we celebrated with champagne, photos and a serenade by one of the Chinese waiters with an incredible voice. It was a very nice evening.

Our day at sea yesterday was quite lazy. All of the best intentions to keep up our work out schedule have been lost in the rolling seas of the work-out center. We had one successful workout at the beginning of this trip, but the rough seas have turned us away. We have tried, but it is hard to work an elliptical when you are hanging on for dear life. We are working on our contingency plan of extra workouts when we hit land again.

Tomorrow we will be in Auckland and I will write again before we hit the two day dead zone as we cross the Tasman Sea back to Sydney.

Deanne