To Auckland on Noordam, Holland America Cruise line

 To Auckland on Noordam, Holland America Cruise line

Noordam, Holland America Cruise LIne. Stock photo

We flew into Auckland, New Zealand on November 1, 2017. At the airport, we were met by Nizam, Salma’s son.Salma is our first cousin, and her son lives in New Zealand. He came to receive us at the airport and  drove us to the apartment we booked for three nights where we planned to stay before embarking on our ship, Noordam, Holland America Cruise line for our New Zealand, Australia cruise. It was a centrally located, cosy, one bedroom apartment with basic amenities, such as a small refrigerator, microwave, and a stove. With Nizam’s help we settled in, got the internet connection, and got adapters from the front desk. Since this apartment was part of a hotel, they provided the adapters.

Nizam left promising to come back to take us for dinner to a restaurant. He returned on time, and very thoughtfully brought milk, sugar, and teabags for breakfast, for the following morning just in case we wanted to stay in. He then took us to a Hyderabadi restuarnat for a great dinner. Nizam is one of the  large group of people from Hyderabad, India living in Auckland. This Hyderabadi diaspora has carved a niche for itself in the food business in Auckland. And it was a treat for us to be so far from home and yet enjoy great home food. We returned after a great evening,  and delicious food with Nizam. The journey had wiped us out. We went to bed and had a good night’s sleep.

We got up fairly early, and just as we got ready Nizam was there to make sure we were alright, and to help us with the breakfast. Instead of staying in for breakfast, we decided to go for breakfast to a Dunkin Donut. We found a satellite dunkin donut and had donuts that were lot smaller, seemed like it must be in keeping with the size of the place. Even coffee sizes were smaller and  didn’t taste quite the same as in the U.S. which was a normal experience while traveling to different destinations.  After breakfast we went to the War Memorial museum in Auckland. Museum’s collection concentrates on New Zealand’s natural, regional, and military history and  beautiful construction gives it the satus of New Zealand’s finest heritage buildings. There were extensions built after the World War 11 to house all the memories including the names of all those who lost their lives.

On the ground floor of the museum a gallery which contains artefacts dating back to the time when Maoris came to New Zealand from Polyneshia and settled. There is a magnificent carved wooden gate to the meeting house in the gallery which contains host of objects for presentation of Maori everyday life. Maori people have been able to retain their ethnic identity inspite of the modern pressures and influences. We were able to see the Maori Haka dance they perform twice every day at the Musuem. Haka dance is a ceremonial dance performed before going on to the battlefield, and also after the peace  was accomplished. It was very interesting, and was a fierce display of pride, strength, and unity. Their fiery actions of foot stamping, tongue protrusion was accompanied with women’s delicate action of constantly fluttereing  their fingers in the manner, as if they were humming birds, was awesome. All the while they danced there was a loud Chanting and body slapping by all the dancers.

We stayed in Auckland for three days, and Hyderabadi  restaurant became our regular haunt, except a few times, when we had lunch at the food court in the mall, or grabbed something quick from a fast food joint to save time for sight seeing which included One Tree Hill, a volcanic peak in Auckland, NZ. The idea was to go up for the view across the Auckland area. I opted to stay in the car because of what seemed like gale force wind  I can never deal with. Jaffer and Nizam decided to climb the mountain but, of course, they quickly discovered it to be impossible as it was too windy and they returned promptly. We had a light meal at a fast food place before returning to the apartment.

One Tree Hill Monument, stock photo

In the morning, we went out and spend some time driving around, had lunch before getting dropped off at the port. Our cruise ship was to set sail at 6:30pm and we had to be on board before 3:pm.

 All went smoothly with the boarding process except Jaffer and I got separated in the commotion of security as we got on board. I experienced a few minutes of panic because all my stuff was with him including my passport. I had visions of getting arrested and never to see the light of day. Yes, it sounds like exaggeration but it can happen? Anyway, all went well when we found each other. We headed to our stateroom 7145 which was one of the Neptune suites with wrap-around aft balcony. Even before we settled in, there was loud announcement calling all passenger to go to an assigned deck for a safety drill. Obedience was exacted saying that those who don’t follow the rule will not be able to go on the cruise. The deck seemed crowded but they made everyone fall in line with a military discipline.It was done fairly smoothly and quickly. We were all back in our cabins planning the exploration and fun. We set sail at 6:30pm from Auckland.The evening progressed according to the timetable given to the passengers. we sailed away from Auckland to our next port of call, Taurranga (Rotorua).

View from the Ship

Click here for Tauranga (Rotorua)