At sea en route to Auckland

Day 14:

Today we are at sea cruising through the Bay of Plenty towards Auckland. In the early morning, we were sailing around White Island which is New Zealand's most active volcano. It was quite impressive as it gushed out white smoke or steam. There is also a large breeding colony of Australasian gannets.

The island had been mined for sulphur until one side of the volcano collapsed and swept away most of the buildings and all of the miners. The only survivor was a cat called Peter.

Mid-morning we went to a disembarkation briefing and crew farewell where representatives off all the departments came on stage for applause. They have done a fantastic job and are really helpful and friendly.

We decided to skip lunch since there was to be a special dinner in the evening. We sailed among the islands, including one with a hole right through it, which was called "The Hole in The Wall".

In the evening, we all dressed up and went to the chef's Master dinner which involved all sorts of fancy activity by the various chefs and waiters. The food was good too.

After the meal, we all packed and got our luggage ready to be picked up by the crew during the night. David has a cold so went to bed early. Jack went off to see a scary movie with the other teens. Peter, Tim & Sarah went to see Get Smart in the movie theatre with lots of popcorn. It was silly but funny.

This is the last day of our cruise as we disembark tomorrow morning. There will be more photos to follow but it has been a bit difficult uploading photos using the satellite link.