Day 3 in Napier
The day greeted us with strong southerly
winds and showers. Not that the ship
noticed as it sailed down the coast toward the port of Napier. The temperature
when we docked was only 17C, a bit different to the past few days.
Cunard offer complimentary transfers from
the ship to the centre of the city and return. Plenty of shuttles we available
so it was only a matter of minutes before our Shuttle arrived to make the short
journey into the city.
We needed more New Zealand dollars so needed
to find a bank to cash some currency. A
tip for those that don’t know this but the ASB Bank do not charge the NZ$5.00
fee to change currency that most other banks seem to do.
Off to the Library to post my Blog online.
We were using Starbucks previously but so many are trying to get on the net at
the same time it’s not easy or quick to do so.
The Library charge just NZ$2.00 for 30 minutes Wi-Fi use or the use of
their PCs.
As we had been to Napier many times before
we decided there was nothing else we particularly wanted to see so took the
Shuttle back to the ship to have lunch. Then
it was unanimous from all two of us that we first enjoy a nice cold beer at the
English Pub on board called the Golden Lion. When we sat down we noticed they
had pub food menu available at no charge.
The menu was things like Steak and Kidney Pie, Steak and Ale Pie with
Mushrooms and Mushy Peas, Cottage Pie, Fish and Chips and Cumberland Sausages
and Chips or a Curry. Needless to say
after a beer we thought while we were comfortable we might as well enjoy lunch
there…..and we did. So we have several choices of venue for lunch, the Golden
Lion Pub, the Lido Buffet, the Burger bar or in the main Britannia Restaurant.
The crew are all so chatty and we seem to
always attract them to our table for a chat. The barman today was Jason from
Brazil who has worked for Cunard on this ship only for four contracts which
equals just over 2 years. He brings his surfboard with him and when he goes
ashore he finds somewhere to surf and wants to surf everywhere the ships docks
in the world where possible. He’s excited about this itinerary because there’ll
be lots of places for him to surf along the way. A pint of beer at the Golden
Lion Pub is only US$5.60 including the gratuity.
We haven’t tried the famous Cunard afternoon
tea in the Queens Ballroom yet. It was
on the plan for today but we’ve only just finished lunch and Afternoon Tea
begins in just of 30 minutes so will have to make it another day. Afternoon Tea
is available in the Ballroom every day at 3.30pm whether at sea or in a port.
The Entertainer last night was a guy from
Wellington by the name of Ben Makisi. He
was a Maori with a wonderful voice who specialised in Opera mainly, but also
sang a few Show tunes and finished off with ‘Now is the Hour’, a lovely song we
haven’t heard for years, pleased we could both still remember the words so sang
along with others that did too.
Napier really does know how to welcome ships
into their port with such enthusiasm.
Outside on the wharf at the moment is a wonderful Jazz band playing and
several vintage cars with their owners dressed in the same era as their
car. Of course because Napier is very
Art Deco they love the fact that the Queen Elizabeth is as well.
Once again this is a maiden port of call for
Queen Elizabeth into Napier today.
We saw a group of ladies and gentlemen being
shown around the ship this morning and they were dressed in clothes of that era
and really suited the elegant style of this ship. There are many paintings and
photographs of life on board ships in that era around the ship. I’m sure they
took a lot of photos for their home albums.
Some onboard look like they’ve been eating
their way from Southampton or Los Angeles. I know the food is delicious and
there is plenty to choose from but you do really need to have a little self-control
otherwise zips won’t zip where they should and buttons can pop off anywhere
anytime and I’m sure the Queen Elizabeth would still like some water left in
her lovely swimming pools after some have jumped in… ;)
Those of us who joined the ship in Auckland
have been invited to the Captain and his Officers Welcome cocktail party on
Sunday night. It’s our first Formal night so looking forward to that.
As I type this we are sailing away from
Napier and would you believe the sun is now although it is still quite chilly.
I've added some photos of various places on the ship. You'll see old photos which are a reminder of the voyages of yesteryear. My photography was not so good trying to take these, sorry.
