Volendam day two 25/10/11

Departed around midnight last night and awoke this morning just off the north of the Coromandel peninsula. The ship folowed the coast towards Mercury bay then did an about turn and headed back out to great Murcury Island, close enough to spy on the well heeled residents. Breakfast presented us with innumerable choices, from the mundane to the exotic. 10:30 am and as we now have all the passengers aboard we have another safety exercise for us all. Maybe necessary as we are passing pretty close to some sharp looking rocks. Carol hadanother dose of "Sam the computer man" telling her all about digital camera basics. I decided I knew enough. Met up again for the golf challenge, where we had to chip 3 plastic golf balls over the swimming pool and hit the dolphin sculpture. We were both competent and closer than most. I was close enough to win a prize of a lapel badge with the ships name on. Not entirely sure what occasion would warrant wearing it though.  We now headed off out to sea and then arrived at White Island, the most active volcanic area of NZ. Really just the top of a volcano peeping above the ocean. Excellent weather for our visit, and the volcano was quite active with loads of steam venting out of the crater. The wall of the crator had collapsed on one side and as we approached very close we could look straight in. The ship spent two hours pirouetting near the entrance and circling round the island for everyone to have a photo opportunity. We then moved off to find somewhere to waste a few hours before arriving at Tauranga, all of 50 miles away in 12 hours time! Royal Dutch afternoon tea in the dining room consisted of vol au vents, cakes, biscuts and scones and filled in another hour or so. Dressing for tonight's formal evening made change being smart after three weeks of casual. Popped into the theatre for our Captains toast (free drink attraction!) And his introduction of the ships principal officers. A stroll along the ship and up and down ( can't go the whole length on the dining room deck as the kitchens are in the way) brought us to the queue for dinner. There was a great spread of what people thought was formal. One man in a tee shirt had to be provided with a jacket so he blended in a bit better. Dinner was excellent and we joined a table of 4 independent lady travellers, one of whom was a real kiwi, her ancesters having emigrated in the 1830's. Quite a lively and interesting conversation ensued. One lady fromTexas was keen to find out all about Rotorua and what was worth doing as she was thinking of getting a car and driver to take her there so we were able to help there. Next we poked our nose into the theatre again just in time for the end of the finale of the Broadway show. Never mind, I'm sure it will come round again, everything does.  Up to the crows nest disco which was pretty empty, although it filled up quite quickly. We tried the cocktail of the day - some concoction of orange and champagne whilst we watched people trying to remember how to do the twist - and a few wondering what their parents did on the dance floor to that sort of music. Quite noticeable that anyone under 40 is most likely crew or entertainment staff!
And so to bed - towel sculpture tonight, a lobster, we think.