QENZ Tour – Leg 02

Are you legless yet? I hope so! I’ve got a pitcher of martinis ready to go as I write this. So if you were with me yesterday you know this is the photo roundup of the Molli Sparkles QENZ Tour. QENZ officially stands for Queen Elizabeth New Zealand, but it also stands for us big ole queenz getting tipsy topsy turvey on the open seas. So let’s do it all again!

High tea was a near daily occurrence held in the Queens Room. It’s like they knew we were coming! Look at those beautiful surroundings of glass chandeliers and stained glass windows. Most importantly though were those people in the white jackets: they had the cakes. And the cakes were good, y’all. If you’ve never had a Cunard scone, you really haven’t lived. They are a thing of legend, and Mr. Sparkles is on a mission to find their recipe. If anyone has a hot tip, send it my way!

Britannia Club was our dedicated restaurant, where we were treated like the royalty we are! ::hair flip:: We got a private dining experience with separate waitstaff–Alexa and Joshua, who you will meet later–and an improved menu. We could come and go as we please, but no denim, and jacket and tie required. Dressed to the nines, the tens and the elevens!

As we left Picton, the pilot boat pulled up beside us to collect the extra ship pilot. For the uninitiated, they are used for water ways that may take some extra-special attention to detail. It was about this time we also saw a pod of dolphins! That was super exciting to see them riding the waves right along with us!

Ahem. Mr. Sparkles and I like to buy artwork when we are travelling around the world. It’s a way of getting a really fabulous keepsake that lasts forever, and has a little more pizazz than a fridge magnet. We bought two pieces that were available on the Queen Elizabeth by Sir Salvador Dalí! Be still my melting heart. I have been enamoured with Dalí since childhood, so to now own two, hand-signed and numbered pieces is magical. These are Dalí etchings created in 1977, inspired by the Los Caprichos series by Spanish artist Franciso Goya. Dalí used Goyas original pieces, but added some Dalí-flair (you’ll notice the melting clock). Cinco o seis por lo menos translates to “five or six at least.”

We had a lovely, full weekend in Wellington! What a beautiful city. It felt easy to navigate, cool, calm, and collected. Everyone talked about the wind, but we didn’t experience any of that! Blue skies everywhere we looked. And the Beehive! Beyonce called and wants it back, y’all! This is a divisive piece of architecture, and I’m sort of okay about it!

But really, the pièce de résistance were these cupcakes that made their way to a little shindig I had the honour of hosting at Busy Bee Quilt Shop. Sidebar: What’s with all the bees? You see, my friend, Wendy Hatley (Wendy, windy, Wellington? It’s just all too much!) had invited me to come on over to Busy Bee Quilt Shop to do a meet and greet. She had the blessing of shop owners Sue and Shanon to have me discuss my quilting journey and latest projects. That I did, and then some! Gurrrl, what a great day! I’ll tell you more in a Sunday Stash post–because you know I bought some fabrics–but I even had a few of the cruise sit and sew ladies show up too!

Like I said, Wellington was fabulous. Their LGBTQIA+ pride festival was in full swing while we there. The rainbows were out in full force. I know all of you love a rainbow quilt, so I was uber-excited to see rainbows ev-ery-where. They were on the cross walks, the window displays, the flags, the electrical metres … even the stops lights were changed from “walking men” to “drag queens.” This city knows how to roll with the rainbows!

We managed to do a few touristy things in Wellington, as well. The cable car was a simple, and yet delightful way to experience the uphill hike to the botanical garden. There is also a cable car museum at the top (and gift shop) to get your knowledge and shop on. Cute cute cute!

Don’t forget to look under your feet! There were so many mosaic pieces here and there and everywhere. This star and flower mosaic was just hanging out outside an op shop. Divine! Wellington has lots to see and I implore you to go check it out for yourself. I know I sound like a member of the tourism board, but honey, I’ll gladly take a discount if it means spruiking this fabulous place!

I’ll leave you today with this image of this hottie, mc-hottie, Mr. Sparkles. This is us, with the beautiful New Zealand landscape in the background, all loved / liqueured up, with probably too much food in our bellies. At this stage we’re about half-way through our adventure, and there’s so much more to come!