The Cruising life!
Diamonds are a girls best friend!
My ship finally came in. Well, maybe NOT my ship, per se, but I would love to set foot on it! On a whim, just because I like to follow them from time to time, I got up extra early and went out to a gorgeous beach called Aramoana, here on the Peninsula, in Dunedin. And I mean early. It was before 5:30am, on a clear and beautiful morning. I got to Aramoana just after 6:15am and walked out along the Spit Beach. Heath had some fun, barking and running in and out of the water, causing such a disturbance that he had to be leashed for a while! As you can see, he wasn�t particularly amused!
Let me go, Mum! He was barking at me as I clicked the shutter!
Within a few moments, the huge ship appeared on the horizon, moving at quite considerable speed toward the narrow channel that leads into Port Chalmers and Port Otago. The Pilot would�ve been aboard by now, steering the ship safely through the hazardous areas just outside the Heads.
As you can see by the previous picture, it was a glorious morning. Clear, fine, sunny and warming up nicely!
One of the Princess Lines leading Cruise ships, the Diamond Princess has a tonnage of 113,000, carries 2,600 passengers and 1,100 crew. She makes a seasonal voyage, on about 8 occasions, to enjoy the summer in the Southern Hemisphere. Leaving Sydney, she goes to Melbourne, then across the Tasman to the West coast of New Zealand.
After a day cruising in the majestic Fiordland National Park, then moves around the Foveaux Strait and along the east coast until it reaches here, Dunedin. About 20 minutes after passing where I was watching, and while I walked back to the car, the tug boat would have come out from the Port and attached its ropes.
The drive back around the bays is slow and tortuous, but as the tug started its difficult task, we drew up alongside!
After watching for a moment, we drove on up into the hills, above Port Chalmers and found a safe place from which to watch the difficult task of turning the ship so it could berth backwards!
It was amazing and quite humbling, seeing them man�uvre this hulk and do so, safely!
The tug soon dropped its umbilical cord and allowed the ship to do what was needed to complete its berthing, the water almost still, despite the movement on the surface. What a wonderful way to start a day! I�d recommend it to anyone! Coincidently, the voyage continues from here to Christchurch, then at sea for a day, stopping in Tauranga and finally Auckland. In all, the passengers have 12 days aboard the most luxurious floating village you can imagine! Costs a small fortune but if you've got the money, what better way is there to explore the world?
Most photos taken from a considerable distance away, on full zoom, into the sun, so apologies if the quality isn't as sharp as at other times! I did my best!