Today was mostly spent in Tauranga New Zealand with many people taking shore excursions to Rotorua. Having been to New Zealand many times, especially to Rotorua, we decided to simply walk around Tauranga and do some shopping. Ran into Geoff and Marg from Brisbane and hadn’t even realised they were on the cruise so good catching up with them briefly in the main street.
Did some shopping, new walking shoes as I had somehow left mine at home, some souvenirs and a few toiletries before we sat down for a nice latte. It was interesting watching all the tourists and crew from the two, yes two, cruise ships visiting Tauranga today. As well as the Volendam, the Dawn Princess was berthed in the harbour. Very impressive seeing the two ships together and the local economy must be pleased if not very busy today.
Back to the ship for a late lunch and I read the newspaper while Max tried out the pool and spa which wasn’t too crowded with most still on shore. Then he went off to his digital camera and photography lessons while I caught up with my email and writing this blog.
While we did the touristy thing in Tauranga, Rosemary, Richard and Perry gave talks to the Tauranga branch of the New Zealand Society of Genealogists. I had almost forgotten about the onshore seminars, so I hope that some of the New Zealand attendees write a blog or two about the various seminars being held in each port we visit.
Tonight we had dinner in the Rotterdam dining room with the rest of the UTP cruisers before heading to the Hudson Room for the evening seminars. Originally I was a bit sceptical that people would turn up for night sessions as usually the ship has a competitive evening program or people are simply tired after a big day ashore. I spoke to an almost packed Hudson Room which proved me quite wrong but that was ok as I much prefer to talk to an eager audience.
I gave Asylum Records: A Place to Look for Missing Ancestors (there is a version of this talk on my website Resources page, scroll down to Presentations). Rosemary followed with a talk on Directories and Almanacs which I didn’t stay for as we wanted to catch one of the ship’s evening events. I also had thought this was a talk I had heard before but it was a brand new one so I will get a copy from Rosemary over the next few days and view her slides. That’s not quite the same as hearing a speaker’s commentary but it is still a useful way to gain an understanding of a topic and to learn new URLs and so on. That’s the primary reason I put copies of my talks on my website, the commentary is missing but people still learn something which is the main purpose.
It was going to be an early night as we have a big day planned tomorrow in Napier, friends from the first Unlock the Past cruise in March 2011 are picking us up to show us around Napier and surrounding vineyards which should be good. However, long time friend Perry and I took the opportunity to have a couple of drinks and catch up for a good talk as usually we only get to say hello, how are you and a few other things when we meet at expos, conferences or wherever. It’s hard to think that nearly thirty years have gone by since she first wandered into the Queensland State Archives reading room and found me on research duty!
Before we disembark in Napier, Chris Paton is doing Discover Scottish Records (which I heard and reported on at the Auckland seminar) and Richard Reid is talking about Key Irish Documents.