First, watching the coverage is much easier down here. Because of the time difference Trump was declared the winner just before 9:00 PM. No staying up until the wee hours of the night required.
Second, the network media down here is just as liberal as back in the states.
Third and most important, the US is still relevant to most of the world. Hopefully we'll start acting like it matters because it does.
One other thing. NEVER try to explain the electoral college to a foreigner!!!
Our first post cruise stop is a six night Airbnb stay in Russell which is in the "Bay of Islands". This area is north of Auckland and is made up of 144 islands. I'm not sure of the Webster's definition on an "island" but here it is defined as any land mass that is out of the water at high tide. Sounds like a good definition to me.
They range from tiny uninhabited "rocks" to large mountainous islands with cities and villages and work together to form a really magnificent setting.
Russell itself is a fairly sleepy little village but with a colorful past. Mostly it revolves around the abundant marine life in the area. It was an active whaling village in the 1800's frequented by a rough crowd of sailors. It was also made famous in the 1920's by American author Zane Grey who referred to it as the "swordfish capital of the world".
I'm not going swordfishing but I am looking forward to going out on a charter tomorrow. Seems like the snapper have been biting, hope it continues!
Where we are staying is out of this world. Actually the house is very comfortable and nice, it's the location and views that are over the top. Hopefully I'll be able to attach a few pictures.
While we mostly sat and stared at the views yesterday we did pry ourselves off the wrap around porch today and took a boat trip around the bay.
We enjoyed learning some of the history along the way but mainly just enjoyed the magnificent views.
One thing they really marketed was their dolphin viewing. Because we see dolphins frequently when we're at the beach in Florida we didn't think much of it. Boy were we wrong! It was really fun having a pod of 20+ dolphin swimming along with us for about fifteen minutes. Their jumping and other antics had us acting like tourists seeing these awesome animals for the first time.
We also went through the largest "hole in the rock" in the Southern Hemisphere. It's over 60 feet high and on calm days like it was today boats can pass right through it which we did!
The boat company we were with had been running boats in this area for over 100 years. They started by delivering and picking up supplies including cream from the farms. The trip is still billed as the Cream Trip. While they no longer pick up cream they do still deliver the mail to some of the islands. Today was mail day on one island with a mom and her two kids coming out to the dock to hand off and pick up their mail. I never knew watching mail being exchanged could be so much fun!
 |
| This was our first Air B&B-Gonna Be Tough to Beat! |
 |
| Loved this view, morning, noon and night! |
