Our arrival into Auckland Harbour was a bit of fun. As Discovery Princess entered the harbour, we were greeted by water cannons and a small fanfare. The skipper joked over the PA that he’d be pulling the handbrake and doing a 360-degree turn. Whether ships have handbrakes or not, he pulled it off beautifully. The harbour was busy, with three cruise ships in port, including two Viking ships, along with ferries and plenty of recreational craft. All that activity meant we were a little delayed getting alongside, but it made for an entertaining arrival.
Whenever we’re in Auckland, we make time to see my nephew Kurt and his family, and today was no exception. I was especially looking forward to seeing my great-nephew Archer and my great-niece Audrey. They were waiting on the dock when we disembarked around 11.00am, and it was wonderful to see them again. They grow up so quickly.
We chatted about school and sport, and the kids filled us in on what’s been happening since we last saw them in April. Kurt, my brother’s eldest son, told us about work and some study options he’s considering. Audrey is following in his footsteps and developing into a confident young leader at her school, while Archer is excelling at martial arts.
We headed off together for yum cha, which was a highlight in itself. Despite being in their early teens, both kids engaged in thoughtful, mature conversation. Audrey was particularly curious about my eyesight and how it affects day-to-day life, while Archer wanted to know why we live in Canberra. He also shared a recent traumatic experience where he was set upon by a group of youths who stole his shoes. We even found ourselves talking about the economy and gambling, conversations that showed just how perceptive and thoughtful they both are.
After lunch we walked along the pier and through the Viaduct area of Auckland Harbour. Before long, Kurt had meetings to get to and Audrey needed to return to school, so we said our goodbyes. We spent a little more time browsing shops and considering other options, like hopping on a ferry, but in the end we decided to head back to the ship.
Back onboard, we rested in our room for a couple of hours before heading down to Princess Live, which has become part of our regular afternoon routine from around 4.00pm. What followed was one of our most enjoyable trivia afternoons of the cruise.
We took part in five trivia-based events: four standard quiz sessions and a game-show-style event based on Jeopardy. The first quiz, Let’s Quiz Again, turned out to be a winner for us. For the first time this cruise, our team came out on top, scoring 18 out of 20. There was plenty of excitement at the table.
The second event was a gemstones and jewellery quiz, clearly tied to Princess Cruises’ partnership with Effy, the onboard jeweller. This was Bob’s moment to shine. With his background and interest in prospecting back in Western Australia, he knew far more about gemstones than the rest of us. We won again. Normally prizes are things like tote bags, pens or keyrings, but this time we won a bottle of champagne and a discount voucher. The voucher required spending $600 in the jewellery store, which none of us were keen to do, but the champagne was very welcome.
We decided to have an early dinner and enjoyed some sashimi and sushi before heading back to Princess Live for three more events.
The first was a sports trivia quiz, which we thought would suit us. We didn’t do badly, scoring 15 out of 20, but several teams scored higher. Next was the game-show-style quiz based on Jeopardy. For obvious copyright reasons, it’s not called Jeopardy onboard, but the format is identical. Teams choose categories and point values, with harder questions worth more points. The winning score was 6,300, and we finished on 6,000. One more correct high-value answer and we could have taken it out.
The final event of the evening was a British music trivia quiz. An English couple sat down next to us and offered to help, and the gentleman in particular knew his British music. With a bit of teamwork, we scored 39 out of 40. We thought that might be enough to win, but two teams scored a perfect 40, so we came second.
It was a great afternoon and evening, not just for the trivia but for the time spent with Bob, Carol, Jodie and Andy. The banter, laughs and friendly competition between questions made it all the more enjoyable.
After the British music quiz, we called it a night, headed back to our room, did a little reading and turned in. Tomorrow was meant to be our final port day in the Bay of Islands, but our short excursion has been cancelled due to poor weather. Instead, we’ll stay onboard and enjoy a relaxed sea day before beginning the journey back to Sydney over the next three days.
