review & trip report: Solstice Australia/New Zealand January/February 2015

[AntjeG]

I left Ayers Rock Resort the day after the sunrise/rock paintings tour with another airport transfer bus for my flight to Melbourne. Arrived there at 4 PM and took the public airport bus to my downtown hotel. In the evening I walked to the Eureka Tower. This is a 86 storey residential building which has a viewing platform on the 86th floor. It is situated near the Southbank Promenade which is a modern promenade at the Yarra riverside with lots of restaurants and cafés.

The view from the Eureka tower is really nice.

 

The next morning after breakfast I phoned the company I had a booking for a 3 day bus tour to Adelaide with to ask what my pick up time for tomorrow would be. They didn´t find a booking and promised to call me back. I was not worried at this time as such a thing happened to me with almost every tour company. My name is just too complicated for English computers, I suppose. So I left the man at the phone with 3 different options how they could have spelled my name and went on my city tour with the HoHo-Bus.

 

I started the city tour at Federation Square which is a central place for both locals and tourists. It has very modern architecture (seems like it came with a time machine from the 22nd century) but I somehow came to like it after having been there some time. On the other side of the street is the old cathedral.

 

Around lunch time the tour company called me back to tell me that they had cancelled the tour as the tourguide was sick. That´s why they had not found my booking. They claimed to have notified my hotel yesterday but when I asked at the hotel reception if there was any message for me they said no. Now I was really shocked. I had another tour from Adelaide booked from Jan 20th and also had no chance to stay in Melbourne longer as all the hotels were fully booked from tomorrow due to the Australian Tennis Open. Besides, I wanted to see the Great Ocean Road and Grampians National Park and there was just no way to find another tour just by myself. The travel agent at home was of no help as she was, of course, asleep in the middle of the German night. I told the tour company that it was of no use for me right now that they promised to process a refund of my money to my travel agent at home. Some time later they called again to offer a booking with another tour company on a similar itinerary – just the hotels would be hostels and in other villages. They would refund the difference in the price. I had no other option than to agree to this.

 

This whole matter took nearly 2 hrs. After having received a text message to confirm the new details I went on the second half of my HoHo-Bus tour through Melbourne which took me to St. Kilda. St. Kilda is the beach part of the city.

 

When I returned to Federation Square there was a little party going on with lots of people dancing twist. Fun to watch!.

Last for today was a 1 hr boat tour on the Yarra river which I was able to enjoy again.

 

Here are the pictures:

[AntjeG]

As this was a tour company who only offers hostel accomodation (shared in a dorm with 10 other people of both sexes in the same room!) or camping I had argued the original company into giving me a guarantee for a single room. I am already too old for that kind of accomodation!

Anyway, it was nice to have a small bus (that´s what the original tour would have been, too). There were 18 passengers half from Britain and half from Germany.

 

For the itinerary the 1st day was nearly as I had booked with the other company. We took the famous Great Ocean Road out of Melbourne with lots of photo stops. The sun was shining, the views were great and I enjoyed my day.

 

We met some Koalas in the Eukalypt trees along the road. Lunch was at a beautiful lighthouse which has a café and supper with a take away pizza at the beach at Loch Ard Gorge.

 

We saw the sunset at the 12 Aposteles before heading to the hostel.

 

As the hostel didn´t have single rooms I stayed at a nearby comlex with holiday apartments.

 

The next morning we had one last photo stop at the Great Ocean Road at the so-called London Bridge before heading inland to the Grampians National Park. We had some nice photo stops and even met an Emu and his young ones

 

We had a sandwich lunch at a picnic ground in the Grampians.

This is were the changes in the itinerary (compared to my original booking) began and nobody had bothered to notify me about them. I don´t think I would have booked this if I had known about all that was following. It was not the actual tour company´s fault as their itinerary was exactly as we did it. However, it was very different from now on from what I had booked.

 

The tourguide announced we should now put our hiking boots on as we would do a 4 km uphill hike to a viewpoint! I am handicapped and can´t walk long distances. Of course I was not able to do it. I had to stay at the bus and wait for the group to come back. I did a little walk around the parking lot on myself and that was my afternoon. After the group was back from the hike we went to the lodge we were to stay for the night. The lodge had a campground and log cabins (1 cabin for 5 people but I had my own). Unfortunately the bathroom in the cabin was not really clean.

We had a BBQ dinner with Kangaroo steaks which was nice.

 

The next morning after breakfast we were scheduled to do a 200 steps downhill hike to a waterfall. As this was also in my original tour I had been able to do some research before starting the trip. I found out (thanks to the internet) that there is a hiking trail which goes on the other side of the parking lot 2 km on even surface to the top of the waterfall. There were signs at the spot to find this trail easily. So I did that while the rest of the group went down to the base of the waterfall. The tourguide didn´t even know that this trail exists. A tourguide who claims to guide groups there every week doesn´t know about a public trail to a viewpoint….

 

We then continued by bus to the village of Horsham were we had a sandwich lunch on a picnic ground at the riverside. After lunch the tourguide then announced she would now start heading back on the highway to Melbourne (!). I would be dropped off at the local bus stop to take the public bus to Adelaide.

Again I was not told before that this tour was normally going back to Melbourne. My original tour would have been on day 3 to go from the Grampians to see the Adelaide hills and the village of Hahndorf before being dropped off at my downtown Adelaide hotel.

I had to wait for the public bus for nearly 1 hr. As I had all my luggage with me I was not able to do something like have a walk or find some coffee or go shopping. I sat at the bus stop. At least I had been equipped with a ticket and a reserved seat for the bus. It took the bus 5.5 hrs on the highway to go from Horsham to Adelaide Central Bus Station. No guided drive through Adelaide hills, no stop in Hahndorf, no tourguide. No hotel drop off, of course. I had to take a taxi to my hotel.

 

The hotel was just what I needed after this. My travel agent had found a deal for me to stay in a 5 star luxury hotel for the price of a nearby 3 star hotel! The room was big, the bathroom even had both shower and bathtub, there was a spa with a pool, sauna and gym and I had free WiFi so I was able to send my travel agent an email to tell her about my Melbourne to Adelaide trip. The local Adelaide tour company had kept their promise to notify me in advance about tomorrow´s pick up time (no need to call and explain my complicated name) and I had a relaxing evening in the pool and sauna.

 

The city sightseeing bus picked me up at the hotel at 8.30 AM (no HoHo-Bus this time as Adelaide doesn´t have one). I had a 3.5 hr guided city tour. I really liked Adelaide. Very nice houses (not so many skyscrapers) and lots of parks and gardens.

 

A tour of Haigh´s chocolate factory was included in the city tour – yummy!

 

In the afternoon I took the tram to Glenelg. Glenelg is Adelaide´s beach part. I had a relaxing afternoon there with a little beach walk with my feet in the water, some souvenir shopping and just sitting in the sun.

 

Back at the hotel I spent the evening in the pool/sauna again.

 

The bus picked me up the next morning at 6.15 AM at the hotel for the ride to the ferry terminal at Cape Jervis. The landscape we drove through was nice. Arrived at Cape Jervis 8.30 AM, boarded the ferry and left Cape Jervis at 9.00 AM. The trip to Penneshaw on Kangaroo Island was very beautiful and took 45 minutes.

 

In Penneshaw another bus was waiting to take the ferry passengers on a guided day tour of the island. Kangaroo Island consists of partly farm land and partly a national park and is also a bee sanctuary. The coastline is quite spectacular. We had a guided walk at a beach with a national park ranger to meet sea lions and fur seals.

 

We then continued the tour along the coast with stops at different lookouts. We stopped to see the Remarkable Rocks and Admirals Arch.

 

We saw Wallabies and Koalas along the road. In the late afternoon we went back to Penneshaw to catch the ferry to Cape Jervis where the bus to Adelaide was waiting. Back at the hotel at 9:30 PM and I then had to pack again.

 

pictures here:

Great Ocean Road:

Grampians, Adelaide, Kangaroo Island:

Edited February 15, 2016 by AntjeG

[AntjeG]

I left Adelaide on the public airport bus at 7 AM the morning after my Kangaroo Island tour for my flight to Sydney. Arrived in Sydney around lunch time.

One of my friends has a daughter who had worked as an Au Pair in Sydney last year so I got lots of info from her about what to see and how to get around.

Based on her advice I bought a weekly ticket for the public transport which included trains as far as Katoomba in the Blue Mountains.

 

I stayed at an IBIS hotel near the World Square shopping mall. This is only a short 2 stops train ride from Circular Quay. So after unpacking I took the train to Circular Quay. First thing I did there was collecting my pre-ordered tickets at the opera house. I then had a nice little walk exploring The Rocks, which is the historic harbour quarter.

 

Back to the hotel to dress up and then I went to the Opera House for what they called a Projection concert. They showed the silent film „The Artist“ and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra was playing the film music live. This was really a great evening. I liked the film, the music and the architecture of the opera house.

When I left the opera house to go back to the hotel I had a magnificient view on the harbour bridge and opera house.

 

The next morning I did another one of my beloved HoHo Bus tours. My first stop was at the famous Bondi beach. On the way back to the city there were some nice views.

I found Sydney to be a fascinating city with a mixture of historic architecture and modern buildings.

 

Late in the afternoon I took the harbour ferry to Manly to have the view from the water. I´m so glad I did this because when I left Sydney on the Solstice the weather was awful and the view not half as nice!

 

Pictures here:

 

The Blue Mountains are a national park just 2 hrs by train from Sydney. The inhabitants of Sydney love to spend their weekends there. As this was also a long weekend with Monday being Australia Day and it was the last holiday weekend it was quite busy in the Blue Mountains.

 

I took the train at 7:20 AM from Central Station and arrived in Katoomba in the Blue Mountains around 9:30 AM. I had another pre-booked ticket for the Blue Mountains Explorer (the local HoHo Bus). At the tourist information I bought tickets for the Scenic rides and then off I went on my tour through the Blue Mountains. The HoHo Bus stops at various lookouts where you can also go on short or long hikes.

 

From a distance the Blue Mountains look really blue. I was told this is because of the Eukalypt oil coming up from the leaves in the heat.

 

I took all the Scenic rides which are ropeways and a steep railway.

 

I left Katoomba with the 5 PM train and was back to Sydney by 7 PM.

I really enjoyed the Blue Mountains and in my memories I enjoy them even more as I now know that it was the last day in good weather for a long time.

 

Pictures:

 

The night after my trip to the Blue Mountains a thunderstorm brought rain and cooler temperatures. It was still raining the next morning when I made my way to the promenade between Circular Quay and the opera house. For Australia Day there are several events taking place on the water between harbour bridge and opera house. I was there early and was lucky to find a spot in the front row.

There was a boat parade which engaged everything that was able to swim – harbour ferries, sailing boats, motor yachts, military ship, police boats, tug boats, firefighter ship, harbour cruise boats, tall ships, and 3 P&O cruise ships. Many boats were decorated. Fun to watch even in the rain.

 

Next was the Ferrython which is a race of the harbour ferries ending under the harbour bridge.

After that (at 11.55 AM) the military ship rang the typhoon and the canons based on the North Sydney shore gave a 21 shoot salute. A kids choir sang the National Anthem and „I am Australian“. And then 10 sailing boats danced Ravel´s „Bolero“ and Pontichelli´s „Dance of the hours“ together with 2 tug boats and 2 helicopters. Very impressive! I have a friend who is a sailor and she says it is not easy to turn sailing boats exactly in the same moment.

 

After this I had to go back to the hotel to change into dry clothes – I was soaked in spite of wearing my rain coat. Rested my feet for a while and then back on the train to Darling Harbour. Lots of street artists there and the place was packed with people even in the pouring rain.

 

Back to Circular Quay at 6:30 PM to board the harbour cruise boat. Some cruise critic members from the US had arranged a harbour cruise with buffet dinner to see the Australia Day fireworks and of course to meet the people we had been chatting with for several months pre-cruise. It was a fun evening. Met some nice people, enjoyed a tasty dinner and saw impressive fireworks. Unfortunately it was still raining so my pics of the fireworks didn´t come out too well. The fireworks were actually more beautiful than they seem on the pics.

 

I read later that this has been the wetest Australia Day for Sydney in 50 years. Yeah, and I was a part of it! (Kidding, of course. Would have been much more enjoyable with better weather – even a heat wave would have been better).

I felt sorry for the people who organized all this only to see it be washed off by the rain.

 

Back at the hotel very late and packed to board Solstice tomorrow.

 

The rain not only continued but even got worse the next day.

In the morning I went to the opera house again. I had a ticket for a guided tour. The tour was called the early bird tour and started at 9 AM. Good for me because I could easily fit it in before baggage drop off at the cruise terminal. And the ticket even was discounted (they discount all tickets for the 9 AM and 10 AM tours).

When I arrived at the opera house I was already soaked. Everybody else on the tour was, too, of course.

The guide was really great – knowleadgeable and passionate. I learnt a lot about architecture that morning!

 

Back to the hotel to check out. No chance to change into dry clothes as everything was already packed and I was 10 minutes before last check out time. Besides, dry clothes would have got wet after 2 minutes again. I felt it was raining cats and dogs that morning in Sydney.

 

When I arrived at the Overseas Passenger Terminal I was soaked, my baggage was soaked and I was all of a sudden very exhausted. I had planned to drop off the baggage and then go to Mrs Macquarie´s Chair which is a lookout in the Botanical Garden. This lookout can be reached with a long hike (nothing for me) or with a train-like public transport system which circles the Botanical Garden. This thing only runs if it is not raining – no lookout for me this morning. Next plan had been to go to the Australian Museum if it was still raining. There was an interesting exhibition about aboriginal people of Australia announced. But, beeing wet and cold and exhausted I didn´t feel like going anywhere except the ship this morning. I wanted something hot to drink and dry clothes. So I checked in fully – only to find out afterwards that due to new Sydney port authority regulations I would not be allowed to leave the ship again until the next port.

 

OK, as this was a new cruise line and a new ship for me I thought it should be fun to explore the ship until everybody would be on board. Had a hot drink and some lunch at the Oceanview Cafe before the cabins where announced to be ready. A hot shower and dry clothes later I was ready for a ship tour. I really liked the ship, as you can see from my review posted at the start of this thread.

 

To be on the outside deck to watch sail away is a must when cruising from a city like Sydney but as it was still raining heavily it was only half the fun. Nice views, though.

 

I had opted for the late dinner seating. I normally tend to eat dinner much earlier. But with the early seating starting exactly at sail away time most days I felt I would miss an essential part of my cruise if dining earlier (I love to watch sail away). I was assigned to a table with 5 other solo cruisers from Australia, the US and Britain. I really enjoyed spending some hours with these people every evening. We had a lot of fun.

 

After dinner there was a comedian at the theatre. As I don´t really like comedy shows and also felt I would not get most of the jokes when attending comedy in English I went back to my cabin. My suitcase had arrived there by now (after passing security check) so I unpacked and went to bed.

Edited February 15, 2016 by AntjeG

[AntjeG]

The first full day of the cruise was a sea day. I love sea days especially when I need a rest. There is nowhere to go and nothing else to do than being on the ship so you have no choice but relax!

 

Unfortunately I woke up in the morning with a bad headache due to neck problems. I guess it had just been too much the previous days – especially Australia Day. I sat on my foldable crutch when watching the boat parade and yacht ballet and most of the time I use my shoulders to stabilize myself. Outcome of this are bad headaches – I somehow expected this to happen.

So at least I knew how I got the headache – and I knew how to get rid of it! The spa had anounced special prices for massages if you take the last available appointment of a day. So I took a headache pill and went upstairs to the spa. I was lucky the special price appointment for today was still available.

 

Later in the morning I listened to the 2 guest speakers in the theatre who talked about Tasmania´s history and about Mamals of Australia and New Zealand. Very interesting although I had some problems to understand everything the naturalist was talking about.

I treated myself to lunch at Bistro on 5 which was nice and then spent some time at the gym and the Solarium. Later in the afternoon the rain stopped and I sat at the aft bar looking at the back wave for some time. I was already quite relaxed when I went to the spa to get my massage. The massage was very good and the neck headache didn´t come back until I started to work again.

 

When I returned to my cabin to get dressed for formal night I found my very first towel animal sitting on the bed.I don´t know which animal this is supposed to be but I liked the gesture. One of my friends claims it is supposed to be a snake. I kept it sitting on the couch the entire cruise.

 

Formal night was fun. Everybody really dressed up for dinner & theatre. After dinner the Captain gave his welcome aboard speech followed by a Broadway style show. I really liked the show. They have a live playing big band for their shows – no music from a CD like on other cruise lines.

 

We docked in Hobart the next morning at 8 AM. I disembarked early to meet my tour group at the pier at 8:30 AM. I went on a private tour organized by cruise critic members. We went on a 10 passenger van with a local guide to explore Tasmania.

First we went to Mt. Field National Park. We went on a walk there to see the Russell Falls. We then went to the Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary. This is a little zoo that also works as a sanctuary. They especially care for the endangered Tasmanian Devil. We also saw Kangaroos, Wallabies, Wombats, snakes and some birds. Very interesting especially as we were guided by a staff member who explained the animals to us.

Our next stop was Richmond. In this village you can explore Australia´s oldest jail which now is a museum and Australia´s oldest bridge. We had lunch at a local bakery which was nice, too.

 

Back to Hobart and we had a city tour with stops at various lookouts before heading back to the ship.

 

Tasmania pictures:

 

This was a very nice port day. I´ve seen & learned a lot and spent the day with a friendly, knowleadgeable guide and in a funny group of fellow passengers. The good thing about a small group tour is that it is customized. If you want the guide to spend less time here and more there she just does it.

 

From now on I would run into most people from this tour group on board the ship frequently and have a little chat or spend an hour here and there with them.

We were lucky it didn´t rain when we were in port. The rain started again just in time for sail away. (This is my cruise with the smallest number of sail away spent on the sun deck I ever had so far – but I would only realize that at the end of the cruise when I tried to find out if I even had any nice weather for sail away!).

 

We left Hobart at 6 PM (in the rain). I went to the theatre after sail away to hear the Australian Popera singer Daniel Mallari and the Solstice Orchestra performing. Great show – Mr Mallari has a very good voice and the music was a good mixture of opera arias, musical songs and pop songs.

 

Dinner after the show and when I returned to my cabin I found the invitation to attend the cruise critic meeting tomorrow and an official letter stating I had to go to the NZ immigration officers at 10:15 AM tomorrow morning.

 

Wind started to blow more in the later evening and I had quite a rocky bed that night.

Edited February 15, 2016 by AntjeG

[AntjeG]

During the night the wind had grown into a real storm which was so heavy that the outside decks were closed for security reasons until lunch time the next day.

 

After breakfast I attended the cruise critic meeting at the sky lounge. It was really fun to meet all the people I had been chatting with on the internet for so long. I spent some more time in the following days with some of them.

My NZ immigration appointment was shortly after the forums meeting. There was a line up for immigration as there were some people who didn´t pay attention to the time given on their immigration letter. Waited in line for about 30 minutes and left the place with an „approved“ stamp on my arrival card after 5 minutes!

 

I spent a lazy day at the solarium interrupted by listening to the speakers. I tend to not move around so much on a ship in rough seas. Even though I don´t get seasick it is not easy for me to keep my balance if the ship is moving in all directions due to my walking issues.

Dining room was more than half empty in the evening. I guess there were several people who got seasick. Theatre this evening was an Australian comedy actor – I didn´t attend it. At my dinner table was a man from Australia who told me at dinner that he was ashamed of that comedian being supposed to represent his country that evening!

 

Went to bed early as I felt tired (from doing nothing all day!). The night was rocky again.

 

I spent the next morning listening to the speakers again and chatting with some people I had met the previous days. After lunch there was an extra performance in the theatre with Daniel Mallori again – the Australian Popera singer. When I left the theatre the wind had calmed down a little bit, outside decks were open to the public again and we even had about 1 hr without rain. I went up to the Lawn Club to watch the glass blowing show which I really liked.

Evening performance in the theatre was an Australian string duo who made some sort of comedy out of their music. The Cello player had some good moments but all together I didn´t enjoy this show too much.

 

Another slightly rocky night and in the morning I woke up with a running nose and itchy throat – a cold came up. I tried to ignore this and went on the outside deck to admire Milford Sound early in the morning. There even were some sunny moments! I guess pics like these made for NZ being called the land of the long white cloud.

When the ship turned to leave Milford sound the rain started again. I went to the Sky Lounge for the rest of the day to watch cruising Doubtful Sound and Dusky Sound. Late in the afternoon shortly before we left Dusky Sound the sun came out for a few moments and I was able to take pictues on the outside deck.

 

pictures from Fiordland NP:

 

Tonight´s show at the theatre was a dance show which I really liked.

 

We docked in Port Chalmers at 9:10 AM the next morning which is 10 minutes later than scheduled. I knew in that moment I would not make it to the public Tairi Gorge train which left Dunedin at 9:30 AM. But at the end of the day I was quite happy with what I got from my excursion organized by cruise critic members:

 

The tour company´s bus took us to the railway station just to admire it (the train was gone, of course). Well worth the stop as the railway station is really impressive. After that a tourguide entered the bus and we drove through the lovely countryside to Pukerangi with the guide explaining lots of things.

The train turns in Pukerangi so we were able to board the train there for the journey back to Dunedin. This way I was able to see both – the road side and the train side! We had to wait in Pukerangi as the train chartered by Celebrity was late! I saw more than the people on that train and paid about 50% less.

During the train ride the landscape is really spectacular.

 

Back in Dunedin the bus picked us up for a 45 minutes city tour. It started to rain again now after a dry and partly sunny time at Tairi Gorge.

You can see that Dunedin is a Scottish settlement. They even have a Robert Burns memorial.

 

30 minutes to explore the city centre on my own (I explored a pharmacy to get some medication for my cold) and then it was time to go back to Port Chalmers to board the ship again.

 

On board I took some pills to fight my cold and went to bed for a nap until dinner. I didn´t go to the theatre show but I don´t think I missed much. Today´s show act was a hypnotist.

I woke up in time for dinner which was nice and went to bed again afterwards as I knew I would have to get up very early the next morning.

 

pictures Tairi Gorge and Dunedin:

Edited February 15, 2016 by AntjeG

[AntjeG]

Before the 2010/2011 earthquake the cruise ships docked in Lyttelton which is Christchurch´s harbour. Lyttelton cruise wharf is still in ruins (people there have more important repairs to do of course). So since the earthquake the cruise ships go to Akaroa. The wharf there is too small for the big ships and they can´t make it bigger as the water is too shallow. Plus, they plan on the long term to get the ships back into Lyttelton.

 

The Celebrity Today announced yesterday that passengers who want to go on shore independently would need to get a tender ticket. They had announced that they would start issuing tender tickets at 8 AM. I had to be at the wharf for my Scenic Mail Run by 8.45 AM so I really had to catch tender No 1. I arrived at the ticket desk at 6.45 AM (!) and was not the first person to wait there. Several people had had the same idea. A nice early morning chat until at 8 AM I was able to get a No 1 ticket. I heard several people complain that they had been there at 8 as scheduled and were assigned to tender No 15. The early bird is catching the worm, as we say here. I had a pleasant ride on the tender boat (it was sunny this morning) together with other cruise critic members and met the Akaroa postman at the wharf at 8.45 AM. Tender No. 2 and we would have missed our tour!

 

This really is a unique tour. The postman takes up to 8 guests with him on his 120 km / 5.5 hrs tour around the Eastern Bays. We really got some first hand insights on the daily life of the people there as there was no „tourguide speech“. We would just ask questions and he would answer them. We also met local people who were waiting for their mail. Some of the narrow roads we went on no big tourbus would have been able to take.

 

Around lunch time he would stop at a lookout and we would have tea and crackers and relish (home made by his wife).

 

I really loved this tour!

 

I had some time after the tour for a little walk in Akaroa itself. The postman had told us that the first settlers here had been French. The streets still have French names (which the locals pronounce English – sounds a little bit funny).

 

Akaroa pictures:

 

As for the weather: the sun was shining when tendering in the morning. Some rain during the mail run and the temperature rushed down from 18 to 10 °C in about 10 minutes. The postman told us that if you don´t like the weather in NZ you should just wait for 20 minutes as it will surely change. Back on the ship my dinner table mates told me that the Akaroa clothes shops had made their business of the year on coats and jackets that day! Many people had left their coats on the ships as it had been warm and sunny when they entered the tender boat. Upon arrival at the wharf they found themselves in the rain and cold so most people bought some new coats.

 

I was back on the ship by 5 PM and as it was cold and raining and I still suffered from my cold I decided to skip sail away again and take a nap. Up for the theatre show at 7 PM which was great tonight. Another Australian singer and instrumentalist, Hayden Smith, performed together with the Solstice orchestra. It was a mixture of musical songs, pop and jazz and I really liked it.

 

Went to bed directly after dinner again which helped to fight the cold.

 

We docked in Wellington at 8 AM the next morning. I had planned to take the local HoHo Bus which started at 10 AM at the tourist information. There was a shuttle bus from the cruise pier to the tourist information run by the city of Wellington for a few dollars which was great. The walking time from the pier to the tourist information was estimated at 30 minutes so I was grateful for the ride. After a good night´s sleep and not having to get up too early again my cold was much better and I left the ship at a few minutes past 9 AM. I didn´t pre-order the HoHo bus tickets for Wellington as their website only accepted NZ dollars payment. The company who runs most HoHo Busses worldwide (but not this one) accepts Dollars and Euros. My credit card charges me for payment in foreign currencies so that I assumed I would be better off buying at the tourist office. As we say here, it is good if you are able to read. They day I prepared my day in Wellington I obviously wasn´t. The Wellington HoHo Bus is no open top double decker but a small 10 passengers van which sells out quickly. They stated this on the website and I didn´t take notice of it.

 

Long story short: the 10 AM bus was sold out when I arrived at the tourist information and I got a seat on the 11 AM bus. One hour to hang around at the tourist information and explore the surounding area.

 

The good thing was the tourist information had 30 minutes free wifi so I was able to check my email (hadn´t been able to do this since embarkation in Sydney as I didn´t buy an internet package from Celebrity).

 

There was a photo stop at the Mt Victoria lookout where I feared to get blown away by the strong wind. We were told by the guide that strong winds are somewhat normal in Wellington and that the city is called Windy Wellington.

 

We then drove by the Weta Caves Film Studios. Some people hopped off there to take a guided tour but I stayed on the bus.

 

The downside of the small bus is that you have to confirm a pick up time if you want to hop off. If you are not there in time, the next bus may not have a seat for you. So when I hopped off at the cable car I decided not to ride it but have a walk in the Botanical Garden. My confirmed pick up was at the main entrance of the Botanical Garden and there is a marked downhill walk from the cable car to the main entrance. I would not have had enough time to ride the cable car and walk down to catch the next bus. The walk was lovely although it was still very windy and sometimes difficult to keep my balance.

 

I had a little lunch in the Rose Garden before the bus picked me up to continue the city tour. The tour finished at the Te Papa where I spent about 2 hrs exploring especially the history of NZ section.

 

A short walk back to the tourist information to catch the port shuttle bus and I was back on the ship a few minutes to 5 PM. As it was still sunny altough windy I decided to watch sail away on the outside deck at 6 PM which was great.

 

Wellington pictures:

 

I attended the 7 PM show at the theatre which was a show with songs by Neil Diamond (performed by a singer from the ship´s show ensemble). I really liked the show.

 

The next day was a sea day. I had a nice sleep in in the morning, had breakfast on the outside deck, spent some time listening to the speakers in the theatre and spent the rest of the day in the sun on the outside deck. The first day on this cruise without rain and/or storm! In the evening I even skipped the theatre show as I wanted to spend more time outside.

After dinner there was a drum showdown in the Atrium between the drummer of the orchestra and the drummer of the jazz band. Great performance!

 

The ship was scheduled to arrive at the port of Tauranga the next morning at 6.45 AM. I was supposed to meet my tour operator for the tour to Rotorua at 8.30 AM and therefore had decided to take things slowly. When an announcement was made at 7 AM I didn´t really pay attention to it. I assumed it to be the usual „the ship has been cleared by the local authorities and you may proceed ashore now if you wish“.

Arrived at the breakfast restaurant a few minutes later and found the place to feel like a beehive. Asked some people what had happened and was told that we were not able to dock now. The wind was so strong that the harbour master had refused to let the big cruise ships (there were 2 of us waiting) in. We would be in a holding position until 10 AM when the harbour master had promised an update.

The cruise director repeated his announcement every 15 minutes until 9 AM and then he had to change it: The harbour master had decided to close the harbour for the entire day! The ship´s program would be re-planned for a sea day and we would make our way to the Bay of Islands now.

 

Of course I was very disappointed but better be safe than sorry – I wouldn´t have wanted the Captain to risk a shipwreck either. People who had booked a shore excursion with the cruise line got a refund on their on board account immidiately. I had booked a tour with an independent local company but they had a cruise guarantee policy. When I checked my email later from Auckland I found a message from them stating they had already refunded my money in full. Wow, that was quick! From what I read after the cruise, some people booked on other local companies had some problems.

 

After an hour or so from turning away from Tauranga the wind calmed down. Some crew members told me that the wind only was that bad in the coast area near Tauranga. This at least made for a nice sea day. I listened to the speakers in the theatre again, was able to spend some time on the outside decks and attended a „band talk“ with the leader of the onboard jazz band. All in all a pleasant day. I was lazy and avoided the pool and the gym (using my cold as an excuse).

 

The show in the theatre had an Italian tenor who sang opera and musical songs and Italian folk songs. I liked his voice. After dinner I listened to the jazz band for a while before bed time.

 

The next morning was sunny and there was no wind to speak of in the Bay of Islands. We arrived early so at 7 AM the tender boats were ready to go ashore. I had shore excursion ticket with the cruise line for the Historic Hokianga tour. As they tender their own tour guests first I didn´t have to stand in line for a tender ticket this time.

The bus drove for some time from Waitangi wharf to the Waipoua forest. I liked the landscape we saw during the ride.

 

At the Waipoua forest we met a local Maori guide who took us to Tane Mahuta, the Lord of the forest. I really enjoyed this walk with him as he shared some Maori legends and songs with us.

 

As this was a rain cruise it was of course raining in the forest. But we were lucky to have the sun for the rest of the day.

Our next stop was at the Opononi Hotel were we had lunch followed by a harbour cruise at the Hokianga harbour by boat. Very enjoyable cruise!

 

We then went to the Waimate Mission House. The volunteer ladies who run the place told us that they could not afford to keep it alive without cruise ship passengers coming there! They said it was a shame as the place is important for NZs history as the 2nd signing place of the treaty of Waitangi. They have arranged with the cruise companies to have several bus loads of passengers during the cruise season to come there for afternoon tea and visit the museum and the church. I really enjoyed the visit.

 

After the tea time at Waimate we went back to the tender wharf near the Waitangi treaty grounds. As I had one more hour until the last tender boat was scheduled to go back to the ship I took the public shuttle the community of Pahia runs to get the people into the town´s centre. They have a crafts market there on cruise ship days and the place itself is nice to have a little walk. After buying some souvenirs I went back to the pier and from there took the tender back to the ship.

 

pictures from the Bay of Islands:

 

Unfortunately my trip was moving towards it´s end so I had to pack this evening. I finished packing while we were sailing away from the Bay of Islands, placed my luggage outside the cabin and went to the theatre for the final show. 4 young lady singers from Australia performed songs from souls & swing to rock & pop. I really liked their voices.

Went to bed early as my assigned disembarkation time for tomorrow would be 7.15 AM. I had asked for the early time as I wanted to make the most of my time in Auckland.

[AntjeG]

Disembarkation was quick and easy. My luggage tag number was called 15 minutes early so that I found myself and my luggage outside the Auckland cruise terminal at 7 AM. Took a taxi to my hotel at Emily Place. Emily Place is in walking distance but uphill and I would have had to drag my suitcase so the taxi was a matter of comfort. Dropped off my luggage at the hotel and walked back to the ferry/cruise terminal. There I bought my tickets for the HoHo Bus and for the Airport bus. I was 20 minutes early for the first HoHo Bus.

 

Shortly after boarding the bus I hopped off at Bastion lookout.

My next stop was the Auckland War Memorial Museum. As I didn´t have too much time I had booked a package there with a 1 hr guided tour and a Maori cultural performance (to replace the one I had missed in Rotorua).

 

I had lunch at the museum café and then continued the bus tour. Hopped off at Mt Eden where the city council runs a free guided shuttle from the bus stop to the peak. I really enjoyed the view.

 

I finished the bus tour at the ferry terminal and then took the ferry to Devenport. Nice view on the city from the water. The ferry passed my former cruise ship which was still docked there and I was jealous for the people who had just boarded to do the return trip to Sydney!

 

I had dinner harbour-side in Devenport before I took the ferry back to the city. Back at the hotel at 7 PM after a long but interesting day of sightseeing.

 

The next morning I was able to store my luggage at the hotel´s reception desk and took a 20 minutes walk to the Skytower. I really enjoyed the great views from there. A pleasant way to end my visit to Auckland.

 

Auckland pictures:

 

Back to the hotel, grab my luggage and walk to the ferry terminal which is also the departure point for the airport bus. Arrived at the airport after a 1 hr bus ride to find out my flight to Hongkong would be 1 hr late. Was a little bit nervous about making the connecting flight to London in Hongkong but everything went well and I arrived in Hamburg the next morning after a mere flying time of 23.5 hrs and a total travelling time of 36 hrs. It took me several days to get rid of jet lag (time difference between NZ and Germany is 12 hrs).

 

This is the end of the translated blog and i hope you like it. Again, please excuse any mistakes in my English as I am not a native speaker.