February 26, 2026
The QM2 anchored in the aptly named Bay of Islands around dawn. Cunard seems to have a knack for selecting great places to stop.
Once again, we went ashore in a tender, and the view from it was very nice.
Here’s a view from inside the tender. These things look like they could take some very heavy weather.
Ashore, the bay has lots of beaches, but they look a bit more like gravel than sand.
Our excursion of the day was on a boat that toured the bay, and served us lunch. We got the choice of venison, lamb, or fish, and we could choose rare, medium, or well-done for the first two. Mal ordered venison, rare, and they did it. If you asked, they would cook it medium, and if you wanted well-done, they simply threw you off the stern.
Here’s what lunch looked like, and here’s the grill on which they prepared the food for 35-40 passengers, and they got it right. You can see that the venison was rare. You can also see what look like greenish potatoes at the top of the plate. They’re New Zealand sweet potatoes, which are a bit softer and sweeter than the US kind, and very good.
They took us by some interesting islands and rock formations. New Zealand has lots of volcanos that cause some interesting formations.
The most important part of the cruise was a visit to a village called Russell, where we went to an ice cream shop. With luck, you might be able to see that one of the listed flavors is Hokey Pokey, a New Zealand favorite. It’s vanilla with honey and bits of honeycomb, and it’s delicious.
Kids were swimming off the pier where we transferred from our cruise boat to the QM2’s tender, and Dottie got this picture.
After some discussion, Mal talked her out of joining them,
Dottie and Mal
