June 28, 2025

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, USA

I flew from Philadelphia to San Diego on the morning of Sunday June 15th to rejoin the Ship. It was a gorgeous sunny day and after carting my bags to my room, and unpacking a little bit, I got out to explore the City. Sarah joined me walking around the port area. We did some shopping at the outdoor farmer markets and caught up. Our Ship was docked between two icons - the USS Midway Aircraft carrier and the Star of India the world's oldest active sailing ship. Both are currently museums. Sarah and I posed like the        Farewell Kiss statue and did a selfie for Sarah's boyfriend Bob.

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Day 2 in San Diego I had Moh's Surgery on my forehead to remove two basal cell spots. Juan, the office administrator genius at SCRIPPS CLINIC totally hooked me up ! I had Dr. Hubert Greenway, who did the first fellowship with Dr. Moh's himself as my surgeon. Dr. Greenway doesn't even typically work on Monday's but came in to help me out. He has trained 81 fellows in the dermatology surgery and his 81st graduate was also involved my case - she froze off a third spot Dr. Greenway noticed to prevent any further damage developing. While waiting for the lab work to clear the surgery margins I walked in Scripps Zen garden over looking the golf course and coast of Southern California. Once Dr. Greenway was convinced they got all the margins I walked down the street to the plastic surgeon offices at Scripps. There Dr. Christopher Bergeron did his magic and closed up the skin on my forehead. Everyone I met at Scripps was amazing and a special shout out to my wonderful, compassionate nurse and hopefully future Ship resident!

We also enjoyed the margaritas at Miguel's port side restaurant on both Sunday and Tuesday afternoons. The house mix was yummy, they had a nice long Happy Hour and we struck up a conversation with local Hypnotist Motivational Speaker, Jim Lutes and his buddy Luke who was a Martial arts specialist.

WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND

By Patricia Patrick • March 4, 2026
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 CITY HIGHLIGHTS - NEW ZEALAND

By Patricia Patrick • March 3, 2026
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

By Patricia Patrick • March 3, 2026
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.