Photo Review of Solstice November 11, 2017 New Zealand & Australia Cruise

[jimbri]

Photos are great! My nephew lives in NZ so I am looking forward to the rest of your review.

[oskarNZ]

Great trip report. I am enjoying reading along.

Lovely Hobbiton pics. It’s such a fun place to visit.

[MicCanberra]

Looking forward to the next instalments.

[FastandFurious]

Cruise Kitty Thanxs for answering my questions. My favorite picture is the table shot of the beer and platter. But who stole the cheese?

[CruisinCanine]

Yeah, fellow LOTR fan! I board in a month and booked post cruise to do Hobbiton. Question-are they still treating the Solstice for Noro? Just a precaution or did you find there were restrictions on your cruise? Looking forward to reading more!

[cruise kitty]

Thanks so much for all the nice comments! To those from New Zealand, or with family there, you are truly blessed to live in one the most beautiful places I've ever seen. :)

 

To CruisinCanine(Kim) We were the first ship in more than a month to be Noro free, so about 4 days in they lifted restrictions, we never did get the usual cabin extras (throw pillows, the little folded throw at the end of the beds, cabins were pretty much stripped of everything that could be removed, & cabins were disinfected daily, the hard work they put in to getting this ship healthy was truly amazing. When we left the ship, they were going through another full disinfect procedure, & I believe they took precautions the first 3 days to make sure that no one had carried it on board... (think about it, our Hilton hotel took the majority of pax from the previous cruise, then we stayed there, easy to see why this is so difficult to contain, the ship can't disinfect the hotels) Anyway, long story short, I wouldn't be surprised if they just stick to the 3 day caution for the NZ/AU season.

 

This is our cabin about 11 days into the cruise, notice there are no extras out, fine by me as I like things tidy. ;)

 

This is one of the disinfect staging areas:

 

 

Attendants were in every restroom on board that I visited, making sure that no-one touched door handles, & making sure hands were washed, it was a very impressive undertaking.

[cruise kitty]

Day 8, Bay of Islands 7am to 6pm, tender port.

 

After the previous off kilter day, we woke to beautiful seas & an amazing sunrise. I personally slept like a log & was feeling fighting fit & ready to go.

 

 

This was a tender port, & we received a message from Rose, the lovely Captains Club Host that she would be escorting some of us down if we wished to skip the lines, we had a quick breakfast in Tuscan Grill, & then grabbed our things to meet Rose at the entrance to the MDR.

 

This is info from the daily:

 

The Bay of Islands is located on the north eastern coast of the North Island, & is an irregular 16km wide inlet, the bay has many interesting historic towns, including Paihia, Russell, Waiting, & Kerikeri. (end quote)

A big draw here is a visit to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, considered to be the brith place of modern New Zealand. Since we had a private tour planned the next day with a Maori guide to many Maori sites, we decided to skip the Museum, & take a boat ride to see dolphins, the bay & the famous Cape Brett Hole in the Rock. We also did some light hiking & took the ferry to Russell.

 

We had prebooked our little harbour cruise, & I have to say, the boat was packed. Most of my photos are of the back of someone's head. Luckily, the weather changed on the way back, rain & wind, so most went below deck while we stayed on top.

 

One of the best parts about New Zealand ports? Free shuttles! I kid you not, completely free, clean buses with local drivers handing out maps & happy to give help & directions. We were driven to Paihai where we wandered & hike up into the hills for a couple of hours before our cruise. There was a lovely little open air market with all locally sourced crafts, we decided we'd come back later to buy some souvenirs.

 

The Williams Family house & grounds, first established in the early 1800's

 

 

 

 

The local public school, I'll bet no one plays hooky when your school looks like this:

 

 

Dolphins playing along side us:

 

View of the lighthouse near Cape Brett, you can stay in the little shack if you hike here:

 

[cruise kitty]

Day 8, Bay of Islands, cont.

 

the famous 'Hole in the Rock', usually the boat can pass through this, but out weather turned stormy & we couldn't make it through that day.

 

 

 

One of the amazing things about New Zealand is the variety of birds, most of which I've never seen before...

 

After the cruise, we opted to be dropped off at Russell instead of Paihai.

 

 

Historic Russell Church & Graveyard:

 

 

[cruise kitty]

We visited the inside of the church, which was decorated with lovely hand embroidered pew cushions, the bibles were printed with Maori on one side of the page & English on the other.

 

 

One of Russell's famous Inn/Restaurats

 

 

 

 

One thing I forgot to mention, on the tender ride over we were lucky enough to be seated next to the most interesting gentleman, who gave us so many tips on what to do & see for the day, we took his tip & hiked up the hill above Russell & Paihai, he turned out to be Mickey, the onboard destination speaker, the best I've ever heard. His lectures were before a full house each time, if you're lucky enough to have him on board, get there early, because it's standing room only. We were to run into him quite a bit on early tenders & shuttle buses, & he always had a helpful tip.

 

 

We shared a light snack & beers in Paihai, & then boarded the bus(Free!) back to the tender area, but decided to walk around the Treaty Grounds for a bit. We decided if we ever go back, we'll hit the treaty grounds next time.

 

 

Dinner that night was in Murano, we had repurchased the 8 night specialty dining package as we weren't in AQ or Suite, just a regular balcony cabin which was fine. Very nice dinner & service, but on this particular cruise, Tuscan had the edge, they were at the top of their game. We had a few glasses of wine in the old Gallery Tastings area (actually I had my favorite beer which they stock there, La Fin Du Monde) this was to become a nightly ritual with Maria, the bartender there providing excellent service & some great stories about life on board.

 

 

Early to bed, as we had a full day private tour lined up for the next day in Tauranga.

[MicCanberra]

Wonderful photos. cheers.

[Barwick Cruiser]

Thank you so much for doing this review and for the wonderful pictures!! I was anticipating your review of Bay of Islands as we're headed there as part of a land trip next month. We're staying three nights in Paihia so we can do a similar boat/snorkel with dolphins as well as a day trip to Cape Reinga. Which tour company did you use for the boat tour? I'm hoping ours isn't as crowded as yours although I understand it's tourist season and they'll pack them as much as they can lol!! Russell looks very interesting as well, might have to ferry over for a walk and a visit to a cafe or two!!

 

Keep up the great work and I look forward to enjoying the rest of your trip!!

Cathy

[MicCanberra]

BTW, that bird looks like a Cormorant, commonly known as a Shag.

[cruise kitty]

Thank you so much for doing this review and for the wonderful pictures!! I was anticipating your review of Bay of Islands as we're headed there as part of a land trip next month. We're staying three nights in Paihia so we can do a similar boat/snorkel with dolphins as well as a day trip to Cape Reinga. Which tour company did you use for the boat tour? I'm hoping ours isn't as crowded as yours although I understand it's tourist season and they'll pack them as much as they can lol!! Russell looks very interesting as well, might have to ferry over for a walk and a visit to a cafe or two!!

 

Keep up the great work and I look forward to enjoying the rest of your trip!!

Cathy

 

Hi Cathy, we booked ours very last minute so there was not a lot of choice, I had been planning on kayaking that day but the weather turned rough... we went through Fuller's Great sights, it was the morning Cape Brett Hole in Rock cruise... it's basically a big Ferry packed with people. I'd recommend something on a smaller boat with less people, we did get to see lots of dolphins & there was great commentary, but a few day later we took a more private sailing tour in another port & it was amazing, everyone had a great view.

[ComputerTravelGuy]

BTW - The best part of this review is Peter Rabbit. Seriously, my wife and I are planning a trip to NZ in 2019. We have two other cruises ahead of our future NZ cruise so lots of time to plan. Looking forward to your next installment.

Russ

[cruise kitty]

BTW, that bird looks like a Cormorant, commonly known as a Shag.

 

Thanks for the info, we really enjoyed the birds, especially in Zealandia !

[MicCanberra]

No worries. Here are few to watch out for that are classified as NZ birds, although I am sure they have many more and some of these are found elsewhere as well. http://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/native-animals/birds/birds-a-z/

[Bimmer09]

Thanks for this review of a beautiful part of the world I haven't set foot in (yet).

Keep the great photos coming!

Loved Hobbiton!

Norris

[Beejay4016]

Fantastic posts and superb photographs. We are on the Solstice out of Auckland on 17 February, and we have four days in Auckland pre-cruise so I've definitely made a note of some of the places you visited. I hope you enjoy the rest of your cruise as much as you have so far.

 

Now, regarding the bird identified as a shag, here is a little poem we learned a million years ago when I was at school. Yes, it's a nonsense poem, but one that once learnt is never forgotten:

 

"The common cormorant, or shag,

Lays eggs inside a paper bag.

The reason, you will see, no doubt,

Is to keep the lightning out.

But, what these unobservant birds

Do not know is that herds

Of roving bears may come with buns

And steal the bags to hold the crumbs."

 

I think it's by Christopher Isherwood, and I hope I have not paraphrased too much.

[Barwick Cruiser]

Hi Cathy, we booked ours very last minute so there was not a lot of choice, I had been planning on kayaking that day but the weather turned rough... we went through Fuller's Great sights, it was the morning Cape Brett Hole in Rock cruise... it's basically a big Ferry packed with people. I'd recommend something on a smaller boat with less people, we did get to see lots of dolphins & there was great commentary, but a few day later we took a more private sailing tour in another port & it was amazing, everyone had a great view.

 

We booked our tour through Carino and it's supposed to be a smaller group so I'll keep my fingers crossed! Thanks again for this great review and all the pics!! 4 more weeks until we fly to Auckland, getting so excited!!

Cathy

[MicCanberra]

Fantastic posts and superb photographs. We are on the Solstice out of Auckland on 17 February, and we have four days in Auckland pre-cruise so I've definitely made a note of some of the places you visited. I hope you enjoy the rest of your cruise as much as you have so far.

 

Now, regarding the bird identified as a shag, here is a little poem we learned a million years ago when I was at school. Yes, it's a nonsense poem, but one that once learnt is never forgotten:

 

"The common cormorant, or shag,

Lays eggs inside a paper bag.

The reason, you will see, no doubt,

Is to keep the lightning out.

But, what these unobservant birds

Do not know is that herds

Of roving bears may come with buns

And steal the bags to hold the crumbs."

 

I think it's by Christopher Isherwood, and I hope I have not paraphrased too much.

LOL, has me thinking what sort of bears they have in NZ. At least here in Australia with the three types in the Koala, Drop and Bundaberg bear.

[H2OH!]

Love the review and pictures! Great job!

 

We are considering this itinerary for our 25th anniversary in 2020! I would love to be in Sydney for New Years Eve and then hope on a cruise- of course hoping my dates line up :D. We still work so getting almost 3 weeks off may be tough but am beginning a little research on this cruise and one to tahiti on paul gaugin...

[Holly2]

Sydney has the best NYE fireworks anywhere:)

[YvonneM1967]

Enjoying your review and photographs.

 

We were on Solstice from Hawaii to Sydney arriving Sydney 20 October - we had notification on the ship about 3 days out of Sydney that Novo was on the ship so I believe that’s where it started and was a problem for several cruises thereafter. The staff were diligent in ensuring hygiene and were constantly cleaning and disinfecting - in the Buffett there was no self service and all items removed from tables (drink menu, salt and pepper etc).

 

We are visiting NZ in March on a cruise (not Solstice [emoji22]) and had researched Russell and Devonport as places to visit so happy to see your photographs and descriptions. It is refreshing to see photos from a tourist point of view rather than pro pics from the tour organisers - it’s more ‘real’.

 

We will again visit NZ on Solstice for Xmas and New Year cruise in December this year.

 

Keep the review and photos coming!

[MicCanberra]

Love the review and pictures! Great job!

 

We are considering this itinerary for our 25th anniversary in 2020! I would love to be in Sydney for New Years Eve and then hope on a cruise- of course hoping my dates line up :D. We still work so getting almost 3 weeks off may be tough but am beginning a little research on this cruise and one to tahiti on paul gaugin...

Book your accommodation for it now, they book up fast and it gets very pricey.

[Beejay4016]

LOL, has me thinking what sort of bears they have in NZ. At least here in Australia with the three types in the Koala, Drop and Bundaberg bear.

 

Oh, those Bundy bears - very dangerous, particularly at this time of year when they're out in huge numbers.