My Adventure Down Under

We docked this morning at Napier on the north island. Napier is a quaint seaside town (aren’t they all?!) with Art Deco flavor. Their Art Deco festival was the previous weekend but they were continuing the festivities with the worlds longest lunch table. Not sure if they broke the record or not!

Cape Kidnappers is an area where Captain Cook landed and his translator was taken hostage and later killed. It’s also the home to a Julian Robertson lodge and course. Julian is a hedge fund pioneer, went to school at UNC Chapel Hill, and bought several thousand acres in New Zealand and is currently valued at $900 mil in wealth. You drive about 45 minutes out of Napier, pull into what looks like a cattle/sheep farm, buzz the pro shop who opens the gate for you. You drive another 45 minutes through winding hillside trails, switchbacks, until you reach the top of the cliffs.

WOW! That’s all I can say about this location. He took a rolling hillside sheep farm and someone wedged a world class golf course into it. It’s challenging and sometimes you are hitting over a ravine full of fern trees or sheep are running through the green while you are trying to putt. It’s still a working farm! The pro shop retained many of the old sheep farm equipment and is designed to look authentic to the time period. Even the bar stools are constructed of old tractor seats.

The wind was very strong and everyone was prepared for rain. Fortunately, the skies held off and it was a great outing. Perhaps the best part was the ship sent its chef and crew with supplies to the course and grilled lunch for everyone. It was great food and enabled some of the crew to be off the ship. They even managed to hit some golf balls for the first time. We took a golf cart and drove the course and even managed to have a conversation with a foursome who was waiting on some of our players to finish the hole. Turns out it was Mr. Robertson himself out with some US friends. He was so very nice and in this small world we live in, one of his fellow players knew some of our golfers.

The other interesting area nearby is the worlds largest gannet colony. Special 4-wheel drive vehicles transported golfers after the round to the colony perched on the edge of the white cliffs. The smell was horrible, but the sight was amazing. They lay their eggs there, and the young take flight from there. Their first flight is 1600+ miles to Australia with no stops.

After the round, it was back to the ship for dinner and golf awards. The option for dinner in Napier was available, the ship reserves transportation for the crew into town until midnight, but everyone stayed on the ship. Why go elsewhere when the food is five stars here! Many of the crew did spend the day in town, some making phone calls back to the Philippines.

As you notice, there was not much going on after dinner. People were tired and knew they had to get up the next morning for golf. The most I ever saw were a few folks having a last cocktail in the lounge. I’m sure this suited the crew also.

Tomorrow is a repeat of today.