Cruise Ship Parade

Catch-up; Well that was a very long week. So much for getting my blogs up-to-date. Much to my (and David's) horror, my laptop crashed just after the last blog and it has taken all week to resurrect it. 

Initially David spent 2 days trying to get a spark out of it and when that didn't happen, we took it to an IT shop. They were able to extract the data which, because of  the amount of photo files I have waiting in the wings, took them over 12 hours to download before they could even look at the laptop. They also failed to bring it back to life.

Back home David worked on it for another day and finally, just as I was thinking a new laptop was in the wings, managed to get it going, albeit with no data and an older Windows 8 programme. Don't ask me what the issue was, it flies right over the top of my head. All I know is that David has earnt this year's full quota of brownie points in one go and I am a very lucky lady to have a husband who has quite a bit of computer knowledge and a hell of a lot of patience. 

Thankfully I had a complete backup, although there were a few bits and bobs that had happened in the previous week which I didn't have but was able to extract from the data the IT shop managed to download. Of course backups are fine but there's still heaps of work to do loading and sorting out data, home screens, icons, other programmes, favourites and bookmarks etc in the new empty Windows programme. I've spent the last few days doing all those things you take for granted when you open up your computer to a familiar screen. 

(And I spoke too soon, it crashed again as I was writing this blog, but this time David has got it back up and running within 4 hours. I'm a little worried though; there's definitely something going on in the inner workings somewhere....watch this space.)

Anyway, I'm back up and running (for now), so here's the next blog; a parade of cruise ships that visited Mt Maunganui during our stay at the Mount Holiday Park.

First up on a rather bleak morning is the Norwegian Jewel (well actually 2nd if you count Golden Princess who had her own blog). The flotilla of  fizz boats are not heading out to welcome her to port; being a Saturday morning, they're keen fishermen off to their favourite spots out in the bay.

Living up to her name the Norwegian Jewel's paint job brings a splash of colour to an otherwise grey day.

The cruise ship berths at Mt Maunganui wharf are in an ideal position for visitors; the boardwalk along Pilot Bay starts just outside the gates, Main Beach is 10 minutes away and it's just a short 5 minute walk to the shopping centre.

Maasdam visited the next day, here she is leaving port on Sunday evening.

I must have slept in on Sunday morning as I have no arrival photos, I suspect it was raining.

Unusually for the Bay of Plenty, the whole weekend was grey and bleak. Cheerio Maasdam, come again soon.

Three days later and another Holland America Line ship, the Amsterdam arrives in port.

Next up- and on a more typical sunny BOP day- is Radiance of the Seas. 

Did you spot this lady in the photo above? What do you think it says on the front? I'm not so sure, unless they had binoculars, that anyone would be able to read it. I couldn't and I was just above her.

I caught sight of the front as she rushed off to get to the gate before the ship berthed. It says 'Welcome Radiance'. I thought the Captain might have been her son, but locals tell me she is a regular, welcoming many of the cruise ships into port. 

I took this shot of Radiance from the lower slope of  Mauao (Mt Maunganui) in the afternoon. You can see the entrance to the holiday park and parts of the Ocean and Pilot(top section) Camps in the lower left of the photo. We're in the Harbour Camp which is around the corner to the right.

Later in the evening as the sun went down, Radiance of the Seas departed Tauranga harbour.

Early the next morning (it's a tough life being 'Johnny on the spot'), I was back at my favourite spot overlooking the Entrance, in time to see the sister tugs Tai Timu (ebb tide) & Tai Pari (flood tide) heading out...

...to meet Nordam, the third 'dam' ship to arrive from the Holland America Line within a week.

Big Toot...

Once the tugs had finished escorting Nordam to her berth, and just 30 minutes later, they headed back out...

...to bring Sun Princess through the Entrance. I also moved down to the water's edge.

The calm waters here at the Entrance belie the fact that it can be a treacherous stretch of water. Tauranga Harbour is a large estuary with a tidal range of 1.98m covering an area of over 200km².  Approximately 290,000,000 tonnes of water flow through the Entrance at each tide change which can generate currents of up to 7 knots. If the tide strikes an opposing wind, the waves can be huge. We've had a few hairy rides through the Entrance during our boating days. 

Tangiroa challenges Sun Princess...

...as she sails by.

On this stunning summer's day two cruise ships are welcomed to the Mount.

Later that evening a group of us watched from near the boat ramp as the cruise ships prepared to leave port.

After Sun Princess departed, I headed along the Base Track a short distance to capture Nordam leaving too.

I was a little disappointed to miss the biggest cruise ship of them all, (well the biggest to visit NZ waters), Ovation of the Seas wasn't due in for a week or so but if I was lucky and timed it right I might just catch her in Napier.