Our delayed arrival means we can sort of sleep in and not worry about the morning departure. We’re carrying our bags off, so we can get off first, which will be a bonus since we’re late. But, even though the alarm is set for 7:30, I’m awake at 5:15, and don’t really go back to sleep. Sigh. So much for sleeping in.
We eventually get up before 7:00, check to make sure we are still sailing (I actually did that around 5:30 – what can I say? We’re a tad paranoid now) then prepare for our day.
Last morning in Moderno for breakfast – we will miss all the guys – but particularly Apple, who has been the best hostess. She is a doll. We have our standard fare – me the buffet for prosciutto, fruit and this awesome almond croissant pastry thing; Ed the steak and eggs. Last day – we don’t know when we’ll eat next – might as well go for it.
After breakfast we organize and finalize the suitcases, then watch our sail in. We’re 2 piers down from the normal cruise terminal because the World and the Seabourn Encore are already in port and taking up the good berth space. Ah well. It only means an extra 2 block walk for us. Just add it to our morning exercise totals.
We are actually earlier than planned, so we call Joseph to take us down to Ginza to wait for disembarkation (yes, we called the butler…are you kidding? We tell him everything now, and let him help with whatever he wants!). He takes us to the front of the line (bless his heart) and we hang out for a while, then say goodbye after getting his email address to stay in touch.
The gangway gets settled, the equipment goes out, and we get escorted to the front of the line to get off the ship. It is the best benefit of being in a suite – any port (well, ok, so we only had one this cruise, but on a “normal” cruise) you get priority disembarkation – and today, it helps a lot. Especially because as we bing bong off the ship and head down into the terminal, not 1 piece of luggage has been off loaded from that ship. Oh…this is going to get ugly quick. We’re on our way up the street by 9:30 and we are sure there won’t be anybody else off that ship until 10:00 or 10:15 at the earliest.
So, we begin our long, slow slog up into the Auckland CBD. We remembered it was all uphill, and we made the commitment to walk, instead of taking a taxi because a) we had no NZ money, and b) the Hertz office is only 1Km away, and b) we figured no one would take us. What the heck, we didn’t go to the gym today – this will do it. And do it, it did! The first part of the walk was just a slow steady incline, not too taxing, and since we had to cross streets, we got breaks at the traffic lights. We found an ATM along the way and got the cash we needed, passed some huge fire/police/rescue situation going on up on Wyndham Street – 4 or 5 fire trucks, cops everywhere, street closed. Pretty crazy, but we kept moving on, going all the way to Victoria street to walk uphill – here is the hill we remembered – to get to Hertz. My biggest fear was that the bungee cord holding the small suitcase would break and it would fly downhill, never to be see again.
Fortunately, that didn’t happen, and the two of us and our bags made it to Hertz safely, if not a little sweaty. We got our car, a Mazda 3 hatch – just like our car, just reversed. Suitcases packed in the back (we know just how they fit), we head off on the left side of the road for the Northland.
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