August 22, 2024
Medieval Chester Daytrip
Five of us, David, Wendy, Tracy & Karen ( sadly cut out of picture) set off Monday morning to explore Chester. An easy 45 minute train ride from Liverpool. Chester has the most complete city walls, oldest racecourse and largest Roman Amphitheatre in Britain, plus a 1000 year old Cathedral and tons of shopping. David's app gave us a narrated tour from atop the city walls. Which we wonder for a couple of hours before the drizzling rain drove us to seek a warm cozy spot for lunch. Then we did some strolling & shopping and returned to Liverpool in the late afternoon. We rested a tad and then regrouped with other for a Thai dinner. An easy fun day!
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CHRISTCHURCH, was my favorite city last time I visited New Zealand in 2016, and it didn't disappoint, for a second time! We had a gorgeous day to take in all the sights. Christchurch is on the other side of the volcanic mountains, from the charming port town of Lyttelton , a quick 20 minute uber ride through the tunnel. The area was devasted by an earthquake in 2011 and is still rebuilding, but the progress has been striking since I was last here.
We had a beautiful sunny day to explore Wellington ! Was a very nice change from the stormy, big swells weather we have had the last two days! Wellington is the Capital city of New Zealand and the CBD is nice and big with lots of shops and museums. We didn't make it to the LOTR studios due to the time crunch but we took the cable car up to the top, for a scenic overlook of the port and then leisurley walk down through the Botantical Gardens, parks and historical cemetary.
Rotorua became a bonus city for us. Our Port stay in Tauranga got cut down to one day, due to NZ biosecurity regulations and since we really wanted to do Hobbiton, we decided to get off the ship and stay in hotels and get back on the ship, in a few days. Due to a variety of factors, the Ship ended up doing a quick pick up of us in Tauranga, three days later. The Kiwi's we encountered along the way, who helped with all our last minute details, were amazingly kind, hospitable and generous. Below is our tired, chilly group huddled at the security shed, outside the Port in the wee hours (1:30 am) Monday morning, awaiting our final hurdle of getting back on our Home. Home sweet home! What an adventure!