Odyssey Auckland to Sydney: The Grass isn't always greener

[Emperor Norton]

Our last stop was the winery where a number of passengers were upset that the cheese pairing (if a chunk of cheddar is considered a pairing) wasn't included. This was the most uninteresting wine tasting I've ever experienced. The owner seemed rather blase and bored with everything (perhaps he was more interested in the hen party that was going on outside?) and didn't have much enthusiasm for his own product.

 

 

 

 

The winery did have a nice view

 

[Emperor Norton]

Sadly it seems that some passengers thought the job of the bus driver was to clean up after them.

.

 

Our next stop was at the bottom of a valley in Burnie. We got to see a lot of cute cuddly animals that made all sorts of interesting howling, screaming and bone crunching sounds.

 

It was a nice looking valley, just a wee bit hot.

 

 

 

Who knew there was a city named Penguin that was populated with lions?

[turtlemichael]

The Real Australians Say Welcome poster you photographed in Hobart is in support of the settlement of asylum seekers in Australia.

Edited April 5, 2016 by turtlemichael

[Emperor Norton]

Ah, thank you for clarifying that.

[ab21au]

The guy at the winery was probably a little embarrassed dishing up the wines. Most Aussies would not look at a wine from Tasmania. Margaret River, Barossa Valley, Mclaren Vale are the top winery regions in Aus.

[Emperor Norton]

The docent had a simple warning: Do not attempt to pet this end of the devil.

 

After walking past some fish, reptiles and pets (Guinea Pigs and rabbits were available) we were again outside looking at some of the other less famous rescue animals. In this case a marmoset or tea-cup monkey.

 

I can't remember what this was, but it had interesting coloration.

 

Yes, yes they will

 

It may look cute but it made some less than cute sounds

[Emperor Norton]

 

 

"Coincidentally" we were there during a feeding time. While the devils are scavengers they get very protective of "their" food. At the start I think they did more damage to each other than the leg of critter they were given to eat. It was interesting to watch them eat as well as hear the cracking sounds as they chewed through a femur.

 

 

 

[Emperor Norton]

 

 

 

 

 

Not the wombats I was looking for (these were the only critters I saw in the wombat enclosure)

[Emperor Norton]

After the devil feeding we were ushered off to a more interactive feeding experience where we could feed kangaroos.

 

I'm not sure if this one was young enough to still qualify as a joey

 

Also a bit of trivia: Volvo created a detection/avoidance system on its cars in Australia specifically to avoid kangaroo strikes.

 

Mother and joey

 

Some were less shy when it came to obtaining food

 

 

 

[Emperor Norton]

Next up was the super high energy interactive koala experience.

 

 

A sulfur crested cockatoo. I expected to see these in the wild but never did.

 

While the swan experience wasn't interactive per se it could become that way if the male felt people were encroaching

 

 

[Emperor Norton]

 

Something that I've only seen at the end of very long tours (or overnights) was the welcome back. I'm not sure if an overnight tour returned here or they're randomly doing this on every cruise for every group now.

 

[TLCOhio]

Back from my time down under it's about time to post up some pictures. If you want to contribute images from this segment - feel free. My trip to Auckland starts were all my trips seem to start: The Buena Vista Cafe in San Francisco. I usually start with a trio of drinks to stave off potential issues. Silly ritual, but tasty.

 

Appreciate all of your nice visuals and details from your "adventure" down under. Brings back nice memories for us from our trip two years ago. In leaving San Francisco, you were suffering!!?? But, NZ's Wellington has lots of those Bay-area touches and feels for being their country's version of SF.

 

You encouraged sharing some pictures. Here goes with just a few of my visuals. We were on a different cruise line two years ago, but things worked well for us. It looks like you got two stops on Tasmania, plus other fun locations where we visited. Looking forward from your pictures for seeing more from Tasmania, Sydney, etc.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Enjoyed a 14-day, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Sydney to Auckland adventure, getting a big sampling for the wonders of "down under” before and after this cruise. Go to:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

for more info and many pictures of these amazing sights in this great part of the world. Now at 139,784 views for this posting.

 

 

From having our final breakfast on the back of our ship as we arrived in Auckland, here is the view of Auckland's historic Ferry Building, plus some other key downtown buildings. This docking area is super handy for having quick and easy access to the city. But, this port area can be very, very congested, especially with lots of luggage after such a long, 14-day cruise.:

 

 

 

From Port Arthur, the historic Tasmanian penal colony seen during our stop in Hobart, here is just one of the many views for some of the sights there. This gives an overview for a portion of this prison site. This location was nearby to the water area as the prisoners would arrive from England for this “visit”. It took six to nine months to make the journey from England to this distant part of the world.:

 

 

 

We started out our day in Wellington by hooking up with an excellent cab driver for a mini-tour and introduction to this city. This included first going up to Mount Victoria for a great overview of the city and seeing many sights around town. Here is an overview for this city from this great location on a wonderful weather day. We could also the residential structures that climb up the hills all around this great, scenic harbor. And, we had a view of the Wellington airport where the top movie/computer operations for Peter Jackson and James Cameron are working their magic for future film releases. Wellington is now the center for this type of film production in the world. There was also a closer view of the Te Papa museum shown below from this vantage point.:

 

 

 

This is the inside of Old St. Paul's church in Wellington. It is the former cathedral in the Diocese of Wellington for the Anglican Church. As an example of 19th-century Gothic Revival architecture, they adapted to colonial conditions and materials. It is at 34 Mulgrave Street, close to the New Zealand Parliament. Its construction was completed in June 1866. In 1964, the Diocese of Wellington moved to the new St Paul's Cathedral nearby. After a significant battle to prevent its demolition, Old St. Paul's was purchased by the New Zealand Government in 1967 and restored. Although not a parish church, it remains consecrated and is a popular for weddings, funerals and other services. It is constructed from native NZ timbers. The interior has been likened to the upturned hull of an Elizabethan galleon. As this picture shows, it has exposed curving trusses and roof sacking. The flags displayed in the nave include the Royal Navy, NZ Merchant Navy and US Marine Corps. Many of our Marines were stationed in Wellington during World War II. My wife is in yellow walking down the center aisle as she absorb the building details. This was a very important and "moving" site to experience.:

 

 

 

This picture gives a sampling for Akaroa, its scenic harbor and nearby areas. BUT, it takes time to get out of here, including to navigate the twisting, slow roads. And, getting back, too!! Notice the "truth-in-advertising" sign about the many "S-curves" ahead. Lots of visual interest and NZ natural charm in this region.:

 

 

 

Here is a picture from our New Zealand South Island JetBoat ride that my wife loved so much. From Akaroa, we did a combination ship excursion that included both the rail trip to the mountains/National Park, plus JetBoat. Notice her hands and those of others in our row super tightly gripping the safety bar? That says so much about the speed and thrills while roaring up and down this amazing stretch of scenic river. We've had lots of great moments on this trip, but one was a unique and special ride in a location that is spectacularly world-class near the NZ Southern Alps. And, perfect weather with good friends adds to the great joy!!:

 

[Emperor Norton]

I was suffering in that Seabourn never could produce a decent Irish Coffee or Bloody Mary (I have never heard or seen so many ultra specific bloody mary orders before that cruise). The jet boat ride looks like fun. Sadly the closest we got to Wellington was IIRC 60 klicks.

[Emperor Norton]

Today was going to be a good day. One of the bartenders was leaving the ship and I was going on the cruises second shopping with the chef tour. The first and third tours were never officially announced (come to think of it - I'm not sure this one was either). Getting on the tour seemed rather sneaky and underhanded, but if that's how they're going to do it from now on instead of making an announcement in the Herald, so be it.

 

Our destination for the day was the Queen Victoria market. Aside from Chef Raj we were also accompanied by Rajs friend and Guenter who was on the cruise but not as the HM (IIRC there were 3 or so HMs on board that weren't acting as HMs).

 

 

Initially the market wasn't very crowded (aside from a lack of parking)

 

 

Interesting choice of attire

 

[Emperor Norton]

Aside from nuts, fruits and vegetables the outdoor portion of the market also had hippy stuff and I guess a very early sale on Halloween costumes.

 

After finishing up the outdoor section we went through the perilous pink pillars and into the interior of the market.

 

 

 

 

[Mr Luxury]

Did Guenter buy some of those Bum Burners

[BrisbaneGran]

Now those are REAL scallops.....even at $40.00 a kilo!

[Emperor Norton]

Did Guenter buy some of those Bum Burners

 

Yes, for the on deck farewell epicurean table event (or whatever it's called now). They weren't as hot as I was expecting but I'm guessing too hot for a lot of the passengers.

[Emperor Norton]

I should add that the sausages with hotter peppers and possibly offensive names were not purchased.

 

After Melbourne (thankfully new barstaff boarded) our next stop was Geelong. I opted for a ships tour today which included a few wineries and some other stops. (after my last winery experience on this cruise I was tempted to cancel).

 

After passing by all the former sheep/export/customs buildings we drive by Corio Villa a pre-fabbed house made out of cast iron. No picture stop here. The next no stop no picture building we saw was a tower that was part of the Australian equivalent of the CDC.

 

After a bit of a drive we went past some very nice looking Victorian buildings. We stopped to see some lighthouses and never really got close to the Victorian architecture.

 

I would have liked to have been able to spend time in that part of town o'er yonder

 

Our destination was a pair of lighthouses

I really hope they meant gun shooting, though who shoots over someone elses occupied and fortified land?

 

 

 

 

[Emperor Norton]

Our next stop was for coffee/tea/juice and scones. The place is in the middle of a bunch of olive trees as it produces its own oils.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a nice stop and we had the place to ourselves which was nice.

[2SailingNomads]

...

 

After Melbourne (thankfully new barstaff boarded) our next stop was Geelong.

 

Just curious was there a problem w/ the Bar Staff? I spent over 70 days on the Odyssey last year and some were definitely better than others.

[Emperor Norton]

I felt a few of the staff were wrong for bartenders in general and very much so on Seabourn. I'm used to bartenders (on land and at sea) conversing with customers/passengers when time allows. There were a few on the ship that made zero effort to do more than serve a drink. On one day when the bar was actually full the bartender left the bar and spent twenty minutes speaking to a passenger from a previous segment. Needless to say when outgoing, talkative bartenders came on it was a nice change.

[2SailingNomads]

Interesting as the worst we had were talkative but the problem we experienced were more a lack of paying attention. One night we were meeting the folks with the most nights on Seabourn - they had their drinks before we arrived - once we were seated the bartender paid no attention to our table until I went to the bar - this was in the Club. I won't mention his name but had a huge opinion of himself.

[frantic36]

Posting on the right thread now.

Hi Emperor,

 

Really enjoying the pictures and posts of the cruise. It is bringing back good memories for me. I ate some of the hot sausage in the picture in the Epicurean event and I agree, it was only mildly hot to me.

 

Did you meet Sandro? He came from Sojourn to help out and is one of our favourites.

 

Julie

[Emperor Norton]

Our next stop was another winery where the owners/employees seemed to lack the exuberance I'm used to getting from Napa. This winery also employed a gunshot simulator to keep the birds at bay. I guess it did that but it made for one of the least pleasant tastings I've been to.