May 20, 2025
MANZANILLO, MEXICO
We heard about a baby turtle release party and made arrangements with our tour agent from the Boat charter to pick us back up at 6:40 pm and take us to the turtle shelter. When we got there, we found about 30 babies were going to be released, they had all grown to 45 days old, in the shelter and sadly only 1/3 of them will make it once they hit water. Most of them seemed to be struggling directionally in making it to the waters edge, before the waves came in and washed them around. The volunteer would turn them over and set them up on the right path to the ocean. Very cute and we pray some of them make it to adulthood!
After the turtle release we went back to the Port where the locals were putting on a welcome show for us!
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!
Rotorua, New Zealand is known for it's geothermal activity ( geysers, mud pools, hot springs) and rich Maori culture . I saw lots of that last time I was here in 2016, so this time I wanted to see their Redwoods in Whakarewarewa Forest. John and Colleen joined me in exploring. Their redwoods are smaller than the ones in Muir Woods California, but still impressive. Both are planted forest dating back to around 1908.