Cruise Crusade

You could be forgiven for thinking I have a thing for cruise ships. Not as much as for flying, but I do admit to having a certain fascination for these huge monstrosities. A kind of fascination of the bizarre really - all these thousands of people (and crew) cooped up in a small environment for a few days or weeks, living quite an artificial life, removed from reality. But then I suppose that is the point, to get away from it all.
Anyway, its a busy few days in Auckland, with Chinese New Year, the hotly contested World Cup cricket match against Australia tomorrow, the first contestants of the Volvo Round-the-World yacht race due in, and two more cruise ships. It's all on....including the weather, these black clouds emptied in a great downpour just seconds after I got home from my bike ride - first time back on the bike and it felt good.