March 4th, 2020 Day 60 of 128

Good evening from Waitangi, New Zealand. Another place I fell in love with today. The land, the people, the culture of the Maori, the spirit and the faith that is here, the weather, I could go on and on. I am very happy to put this on my, I want to return here, list. We visited the town of Kerikeri and visited two of the oldest buildings in New Zealand. We saw wineries, kiwi orchards, persimmon orchards, citrus orchards, acres and acres of land filled with cows and a few with sheep. Next we drove out to the Puketi forest and learned about the Kauri tree that is the second tallest tree in the world, the tallest being the California Sequoia. The trees were almost wiped out in the 19^th century as they were used to build in New Zealand, Auckland and San Francisco prior to the 1906 fires. They were also used to build masts for the large ships. Last, we visited a traditional Maori marae, or meeting place. Here is where the tribe meets for all major events and is the center of the community. We were greeted in the traditional ways that have not changed and it was very ceremonial. We were told how to enter to show reverence, we were prayed over, they sang to us and then we returned a “gift” to them in singing a song back to them. This house is built in honor of the ancestors that have passed on before them. We were treated like family and told that we had brought the blessing of rain with us as they have been experiencing a drought here since before Christmas and we brought the rains with us. I did get choked up when at one point the elder mentioned that there was one in the group that came into the marae with a heavy heart saddened by the loss of a loved one and it hit me where it hurts. It took everything I had to not just start crying right there and then and it was probably needed, but I stuff my emotions to not draw attention upon myself. Probably more then I should. They served us cookies and juice at the conclusion of the ceremony. Since we didn’t get back to the ship till 3:00pm that wasn’t ideal for the day, and with the food restrictions we could not bring anything off the ship. I will definitely mention that tidbit to the excursion department tomorrow. So as I mentioned we did bring the rain. It did not affect most of our day till just as we arrived at the tender port to head back to the ship and the skies opened. In the short time we had to walk from the covered end of the pier and onto the tender boat, we got soaked. So it gave us a chance for warm showers when we got home to the Amsterdam. We opted for dinner in the buffet this evening as we had a Kiwi themed dinner with local foods celebrating the New Zealand culture. Tonight we set the clocks back another hour so we will now be 20 hours ahead of California time….or just subtract 4 hours, it’s easier. We are also expecting 13 foot swells tonight and into tomorrow so I am going to make sure I get an anti nausea patch onto Valerie and we’ll just hold on for the ride. I am looking forward to two days to relax at sea. Mom and I have massages tomorrow. Four excursions in three days have been tiring. Next stop, Sydney, Australia. We are all healthy and at peace with the world right now. Lots of deep breathes, sunrises and heart stopping sunsets. Love and peace, Debra

We started our day by watching dolphins playing around the ship

Bus selfie of the day.