For some reason, our cruise itinerary this time took us to Gisborne, instead of Napier (as was the case last time we did this cruise). Well, although we found Napier interesting last time, we’ve never been to Gisborne. Again, we had to transfer to the wharf using the ship’s tenders (apparently our ship is too big to come to the wharf) but there were free shuttles into town – a nice touch, even though the drop off point in town was right in front of an arts & crafts market! I walked back to the ship from town (about 10 minutes), and was very impressed with the number of volunteer guides along the way. In fact, there have been lots of helpful guides in most of the ports. Thinking about it, there are volunteer guides around Melbourne too, but I at least tend not to take too much notice of them.
Gisborne itself seems to be a pleasant town. I’ve read that it’s close to the most easterly point in New Zealand, so is first place in the country to see the sun each day. And the local chardonnay is said to be well known. It’s also noted as the first place in New Zealand that Capt Cook landed at, although he didn’t get a very friendly reception. I had some spare time and am regretting that I didn’t walk to one of the monuments to him; I just wasn’t organised.
The local library is in the same street as the shuttle bus stop, and they were very helpful giving me instructions to log on to the wi fi.
Musings and Mutterings 