Auckland, N.Z. 3-5-2003

By Bob Van Leer
(Auckland, New Zealand, March 5, 2003) - As our ship, Amsterdam, approached New Zealand, the country was subjected to what was to them a devastating blow. New Zealand lost the America's Cup to, of all countries, landlocked Switzerland.

  In a best out of nine series the Swiss boat won the first five. There is some bitterness over the outcome because the winning Swiss team was actually composed of New Zealanders, the team under Russell Coutts that successfully won for New Zealand in the last challenge in 2000.
  The syndicate that put up the Swiss boat, Alinghi, wanted a winning team so they put up enough money to hire the winning New Zealand team. The mood in the newspapers is "let's get on with it". In the Herald, "This should be a time for marveling at the benefits of the Cup, not regretting its loss, says Jim Eagles". New Zealand has benefited from holding the cup since 1995.
  One area of Auckland harbor near where we were docked has been transformed from decaying tank farms and warehouses to a vibrant neighborhood of new apartments, restaurants and shops. This area is adjacent to the dock sections devoted to America's Cup teams.
  This is not a sport for the fainthearted. From what we were told, the minimum price to mount a serious challenge was $50 million, and more was better. And this was all outgo. There is no income.
  The new village will suffer some now that the money is moving out, but is well enough done and it should survive.
  We went on a tour of Auckland, which is New Zealand's largest city with a population of 1,090,000 (2000). This is in a country with a total population of 3,829,600. The population is 75% European, 14.5% Maori and 5.6% other Polynesian (2000). New Zealand is composed of two major islands, North and South, with South Island by far the larger but with 75% of the population living on North Island.
  The Maori were the natives populating the island before European arrival. Maoris were fairly well developed when the Europeans arrived and were not completely overwhelmed as were indigenous natives in other areas. The Maoris had not been in new Zealand that long before the Europeans came. Tradition has their arrival date as between 952 and 1150 A.D.
  This is not a third world country. Per capita income is $14,008 (1999), life expectancy (1996) was 73 for males and 79 for females and literacy is 99%. A feature of the Auckland skyline is a communication tower with an observation deck. Our guide said it is 1076 feet high and is the tallest structure in the southern hemisphere (although I recall a guide in Melbourne, Australia, saying the same thing about a structure there).
  Much of the economy of the country is raising livestock. Sheep numbers are down substantially, but a news report said sheep still outnumber New Zealanders by 10-1. And dairy cows are catching up. A newspaper story said there are now 3.7 million dairy cows in the country. They are expected to outnumber people soon.
  Another major export is raw logs, especially radiata pine. These are shipped to Asia and the U. S. Our next port of call is Christchurch, the largest city on South Island, which is far enough away that we have a day at sea to get there.
SOUTH ISLAND
(Christchurch, N. Z, March 7, 2003) - We arrived here this morning after a day's sail from Auckland. Actually, we didn't arrive at Christchurch, but at Lyttelton, its port city, which is about five miles away over a 1500 feet high ridge.
  Christchurch itself is on the large, flat Canterbury Plain. It is a classic English city, the largest on South Island with a population (2000) of 341,000, set down in the South Pacific. It is a community planned by the English with an emphasis on the Church of England and is centered around Cathedral Square. It is called the "Garden City", and it is. Inside the city limits are many manicured parks and gardens, some public and some private.
  The slow-moving Avon River wanders through the city and parks. Even some private businesses have outstanding gardens. The English brought along their flowers, but also some pests such as gorse and Scotch broom.
   We took a bus tour from Lyttelton to the city and went over the tortuous road over the top of the ridge, which is really the rim of an extinct volcano crater. On our return we went through the tunnel dug through the ridge which, I would estimate, cuts the driving time by about 80%.
  The hills surrounding Lyttelton harbor remind us of the Wedderburn Hills at home. Tonight we will leave the harbor for an overnight run to Wellington, situated on North Island on the Cook Strait that separates the two islands.
(Wellington, New Zealand, March 8, 2003) - Instead of a tour, Betty and I spent much of the day in the National Museum - Te Papa Tongarewa. The museum is outstanding. We had been there before and wanted more time to visit it. It has wonderful Maori collections as well as much of the history of the Europeans in New Zealand.
  A special exhibit when we were there was the Lord of the Rings collection. The movies were made in New Zealand. On display were many of the costumes and artifacts used in the movies as well as background notes on how they were made and used.
  In the evening, Filipino members of the crew put on a special show of native dancing and skits. One that fascinates me is the Bamboo Dance. Two bamboo poles rest on a support about three-four inches above the floor and about 18 inches-two feet apart. Two men, one on each end, move the poles to a beat. Three times they tap the poles on the support, and on the fourth beat they slam the poles together in the middle. Dancers dance on each side of the poles and between them. If the dancer's timing is off and their feet are still in the space between the poles when they are slammed together, this would be very painful.
  Tonight we will be underway on a two-day run to Sydney, Australia.
(At Sea, March 9, 2003) - Tonight we attended an Awards Dinner hosted by the captain. Holland America has a loyal clientele. Pins and medallions were presented for accumulating days of sailing on Holland America trips ranging from 25 days to more than 700. Betty and I received red pins for more than 50 days which makes us short timers on this trip.
  The other six people at our dinner table all had medallions which, depending on the color, were for more than 100 to more than 500 days. Five persons were awarded the President's Club medallion for more than 750 days. The cruise director said each had more than 1400 days. Do the math, and this is just shy of four years on a cruise ship.
  The cruise director joked that President's Club members also received appointments to Holland America's board of directors. There were at least a couple of hundred passengers who received awards for more than 100 days, and there are only about 450 passengers on the ship.
  This will end the tour for Betty and myself. The ship will continue on north along the Australian coast. It has been an interesting and relaxing cruise but it is time to go home. On the ship, we have traveled 11,774 statute miles and more than that by air so it has been a long trip. We know more than when we started and this is always a good measure of a of how our time was spent.
   One thing we were interested in was any evidence of anti-Americanism and we personally saw one instance in this area of the world. In Lima said we saw a peace demonstration of 50-100 in front of the U. S. Embassy, which our guide said was unusual. Most of the people we met were in the tourist business, so they had a vested interested in being polite. Still, we saw no other signs or protests anywhere and heard nothing except for the one demonstration in Lima.