Information source on NZ ports of call.

[djwalthour]

I picked three top attractions from Frommers and wrote to several tour operators off the Tauranga tourism site. Mount Classic Tours came back with a detailed itinerary with a ship pick up. They spent much time emailing me when I changed my mind on something and gave us excellent service. We got together a group of six. It was a great day, fun and personal! No "intimate" group of 200. Brian, our guide, did a nice job and was very personable-a former teacher. My husband said he was the best guide he's ever had. We enjoyed the Whakarewarewa Thermal Village, Rotorua Museum, and the Buried Village. I would leave out the museum and add something else. At each stop you can do something similar or just hop in a taxi. I will never do a ship tour again! You can see more attractions, enjoy the small group, and save money. We also did the inexpensive on-off busses in Auckland, Sydney, Christchurch, Melbourne and Hobart.

[Andrea A]

I'm curious, what sights were you able to get to via public bus while you were in Hobart? Were you able to get to the Wildlife parks, anything else of interest?

Thank you

[djwalthour]

Now that you mention it, we went out to Port Arthur while we were in Hobart, which took most of the day. Friends did the ship's tour to the Wildlife Park and enjoyed it. I'm sure you could find another way to get there. The city was walkable from the ship and the Salamanca Market was in progress.

[Andrea A]

I'm still deciding between the Wildlife park and Port Arthur, which I understand is an all day trip, otherwise I would do both. Did you take a Princess Tour to Port Arthur or make own arrangements portside, or in advance. If own arrangements, were you satisfied and who did you use?

Thanks for any info you can provide.

[KiwiIan]

I picked three top attractions from Frommers and wrote to several tour operators off the Tauranga tourism site. Mount Classic Tours came back with a detailed itinerary with a ship pick up. They spent much time emailing me when I changed my mind on something and gave us excellent service. We got together a group of six. It was a great day, fun and personal! No "intimate" group of 200. Brian, our guide, did a nice job and was very personable-a former teacher. My husband said he was the best guide he's ever had. We enjoyed the Whakarewarewa Thermal Village, Rotorua Museum, and the Buried Village. I would leave out the museum and add something else. At each stop you can do something similar or just hop in a taxi. I will never do a ship tour again! You can see more attractions, enjoy the small group, and save money. We also did the inexpensive on-off busses in Auckland, Sydney, Christchurch, Melbourne and Hobart.

Great to hear you had a good time, Brian does a good job. Regards Ian

[MVPinBoynton]

Chet,

Good luck on getting a tour with Mount Classic. Ours was the best tour of the cruise. They do a great job. Enjoy.

[CKforensic]

Chet,

Good luck on getting a tour with Mount Classic. Ours was the best tour of the cruise. They do a great job. Enjoy.

 

Thanks for the advice, MVPin! Where did the tour take you (there seems to be a few options)? Did you do the full- or half-day tour?

 

Thanks!

[MVPinBoynton]

CK,

We did Kiwi 360 to see the kiwi fruit groves; Te Puia with the Maori Cultural Center and show, Kiwi House and geothermal activity; the Longridge Jet Boat Ride; and several other very nice stops. I still can't believe how many wonderful things they were able to fit into one day. But we were able to tour from 9:00 AM till 5:30, where your schedule is not quite as good. We didn't leave Tauranga till 9:00 PM which had a huge comfort factor.

[Sunmail]

I'm still deciding between the Wildlife park and Port Arthur, which I understand is an all day trip, otherwise I would do both. Did you take a Princess Tour to Port Arthur or make own arrangements portside, or in advance. If own arrangements, were you satisfied and who did you use?

Thanks for any info you can provide.

 

AndreaA,

 

We just got home from the cruise last night. The only thing that I regret about the whole trip is that we did not see some of the animals that I really wanted to see. We went to Port Arthur instead of the Bonorong Wildlife Park out of Hobart. We changed tours since we were going to Healsville Sanctuary out of Melbourne and thought we would see the Tasmanian Devil and wombats there. Our tour was rushed so we didn't have time to see them. It was too late for us to change Melbourne tours so we missed out. My parents went to the wildlife park and got to see everything. So...my advice, if you are going to see the animals somewhere else then go to Port Arthur. Otherwise, it was like many other very beautiful locations and you can read about the history elsewhere. We had a nice, slow, relaxed time there but it just wasn't the same as interacting with those animals.

 

Only my 2 cents, hope it helps with your decision.

 

Tami

[Andrea A]

I do appreciate your 2 cents and I haven't made a decision yet. I'm planning a day trip out of Sydney to the blue mountains and there is supposed to be wildlife stops.. and we have breakfast with Koalas, see kangeroos in their natural habitat and I booked an Australian bush walk to see Kangeroos and Koalas in Melbourne. After these 2 experiences, if it seems I've seen everything, then it will be off to Port Arthur in Hobart, if not, then we'll cab it over to Bonorong so we can spend as much time as we like and also have time to explore the city later in the day.

 

Hope you had a great trip and thanks for the post.

 

Andrea

[CAPinBoynton]

We have now posted our review of our fabulous trip Down Under at www.thepreismans.com . I will be linking the review to our EasyShare photo album as soon as I finish uploading the photos. It will have many more pictures and tidbits about the trip. Enjoy ---