Australia/New Zealand Review Jan 5-21, 2018

[mertziek]

Part 1

 

I love reading cruise reviews and always learn things from others’ experiences. This is a long review but I will try to do a lot of paragraphs, break it up into different parts, and won’t be offended if you don’t read all of it. We planned this trip for nearly two years and were so excited once it was time to leave. The preparations made in advance made all the difference in the world for us.

We decided since Australia is so far away for us we would spend a few days in Sydney first. And we also decided to break up our flights there to minimize the trauma from the long travel day. We left Wisconsin on Dec 30th in the midst of a very cold spell. We had subzero temps (-25F) and were very happy to leave that behind. We flew to LA and stayed at the Embassy Suites North near the airport. Good choice since they provide an airport shuttle and LAX is a very busy place. We settled in to our hotel and went over to another hotel for dinner - just quick sandwiches - and returned to go to bed early. The next day we woke to dense fog that burned off and took an expensive taxi (nothing is nearby in LA) to Westwood Cemetery, the burial site of Marilyn Monroe and Hugh Hefner. Interesting Cemetery in the middle of a city block and surrounded by high rise buildings. It is only 2-2.5 acres in size and easy to walk around in. Following that, we took another taxi to Santa Monica pier and walked around there. It was nice to see the ocean and all the wave action. We had our pictures taken at one of the kiosks but got tired and decided to return to our hotel for a long nap before going back to the airport for our flight to Sydney.

We booked Business Class seats with Virgin Australia and they lived up to their reputation. Seats were very comfy and when put in the lay flat position, we had a great sleep following our dinner. The flight staff were very accommodating and eager to satisfy every request. My only minor negative is their choice of entrees. Would like to have at least one basic American meal to select. We felt very rested the next morning and both had a minimum of 6-7 hours of uninterrupted sleep during the flight. Their ovens broke during the flight so breakfast was cold but very tasty. No complaints and if we had to do it over again, we would definitely fly Virgin Australia.

We arrived in Sydney about 9:30 am and had a car scheduled to pick us up. Customs was a breeze and all of our bags came through. So off to the Four Seasons Hotel following a brief tour of the area and then we had early check in. We upgraded to a corner room on the concierge club level and it was worth every penny! We had a view overlooking Sydney Harbor and found ourselves mesmerized many times during our stay by the busy harbor traffic. How all those ferries, boats and ships manage to maneuver around without colliding is beyond me. We also had a fantastic view of the bridge and the Opera House, both sites we were planning to visit. Our hotel was about 1 block from the port and easy access for boarding.

We went out to a hamburger place in the Gateway and tried to figure out if chips were chips or fries. They are fries but somehow it was lost in our translation when ordering. We did more walking around and just enjoyed the beautiful sunny day and the Circular Quay. There is a train station located there so very convenient for people coming to and leaving the cruise ships. Someone said there is only a 12 minute train ride to the airport from there. Very busy train station, too. What a busy place the ferry wharfs are. Boats constantly coming and going. We looked in the shops, too, but were tired and went back to rest up for our evening dinner cruise.

I had booked a dinner cruise with Captain Cook Dinner Cruises and upgraded us to the gold package. Again well worth the extra money. Unfortunately we had a light rain but that did not stop us from having a great time. We were given a window table for two on the third deck (the majority of people were on deck two where the meal was simplified and not as fancy choices of wines but looked good, too) and had a 5 course meal with different wines served for each course. We were also entertained by a piano player. The meal was very good as were the wines. During the cruise, we sailed around the harbor, under the bridge, past the Opera House and around the various sites. Very enjoyable and able to get outside on deck to take pictures once the rain ended. We disembarked after about 2.5 hours and felt it was money well spent. A good way to experience the harbor and see the sites up close.

The next morning we woke to sunshine and had breakfast in the business lounge. From there we were met by our Viator driver for a tour to the Blue Mountains and Featherdale Sanctuary. We had a brief wait for one couple. My pet peeve is when people are late for tours and hold up everyone else! So rude. Our first stop was Featherdale Sanctuary. We were there early and got in line for our pictures included in our deal. We were supposed to have breakfast with the koala but that was cancelled. No problem because we were interested in getting close to the koalas and got to do that. The koalas were so docile and soft. Ours just kept eating his eucalyptus leaves. They sleep for 20 hours and eat the other 4. Next we saw kangaroos and were able to try to feed them. They weren’t hungry and just liked being pet like a dog. We saw wombats, Tasmanian devils, crocodiles, dingos, lots of birds and more kangaroos and koalas. A fun experience for us. We stopped in the gift shop and found something for our grandkids - stuffed kangaroos and koalas.

So next we were off to the Blue mountains where they very rarely get snow. The mountains are loaded with eucalyptus trees that give off oils that reflect blue and block other colors so the mountains actually look blue from a distance. Found that to be interesting. We saw some beautiful valleys as well as the 3 rock formation known as the 3 sisters and several picturesque lookout points. We drove on the highway criminals forged through the mountains in the 1840’s-1850’s. They worked 5 years and if they stayed in good standing they were given pardons and then also given parcels of land to own and work. We went to a restaurant for lunch and I had an Aussie beef pie with pastry crust over mashed potatoes and peas. Hubbie had pizza. Both things were really tasty and uniquely Australian. We then shared another Aussie treat for dessert - pavlova - meringue with fruit and cream and named after the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova who visited both Australia and New Zealand in the 1920s. It was really good, too. We ate overlooking a huge canyon with rock formations and valleys and a waterfall. We never realized this kind of landscape was in Australia and had we not gotten away from Sydney, we would still be in the dark. We drove through what they call the “Bush” which is a lot of trees. They burn it if natural fires don’t burn it at least every 7-8 years and it regrows within 2 1/2 years. We stopped at a Mount Banks view area and our tour guide served us champagne to celebrate our tour day. And then our last stop was an overview of Sydney basin. Again, we were surprised at how beautiful it all was.

 

We got back to our hotel about 4:30 and decided to just have appetizers at the club lounge and not eat out for dinner. Then hubbie went out to find a paper and we are just chilled in our room. I had searched high and low for my pj’s in our room and could not find them. I’m sure they are in one of our suitcases but I finally just got out the second pair I packed. We are ready to get on the ship so we can finally unpack all of our clothes and find everything.

 

We saw a Royal Caribbean ship in port from our room and tomorrow another Princess ship came in. It’s fun watching the ships come in from our room. The harbor is a really busy place and interesting watching how all the ferries and ships navigate around each other.

 

So early to bed and then tomorrow morning we do the Sydney Opera House tour and tomorrow night at 6 pm is our Sydney Harbor bridge climb. So far we were very happy with the things we have pre-planned and feel we are getting a good overview of the area

A new day. We had an absolutely wonderful day here today. We are constantly being amazed by how everything has exceeded our expectations and feeling very fortunate to be here.

 

So after our breakfast in the lounge this morning, we came back to our room and rested a bit. Then we decided to walk around a bit before our opera house tour. So we went to walk around The Rocks, an area near the harbor with a lot of eclectic shops and restaurants. We did a lot of window shopping then headed over to the Opera House. Our tour guide was really good and very interesting. We were amazed at how long it took for them to get the design settled. And did you know those sails from the opera house roof look white and solid but are actually off white and buff colored tiles? The place is huge and has several different venues available. We said too bad we did not know how great this place is so we could have booked an evening event here.

So after the Opera House tour, we decided to do a little shopping and found uniquely Aussie things for our daughter, son-in-law and grandkids. Then we decided to eat lunch at one of the sidewalk restaurants along the Circular Quay and ordered another Aussie specialty of fish ‘n’ chips and an Aussie beer. Both were sooooo good and tasty.

We then got back to our room and both slept a couple of hours to rest up for the bridge climb. We walked over there about 5 pm and met the couple from our Cruise Critic Roll Call I have been emailing with the past few months going on the same cruise. The BridgeClimb was absolutely the neatest thing we have ever done! I was so worried about the incline but the guide kept the pace slow and told us several stories that made the time go by really fast. He was very good with our group. We ended up with sunshine to start (rain this am and then turned into a spectacular afternoon and evening), then sunset and twilight. What an experience! We will be talking about it for a long time and this definitely exceeded our expectations! The getting ready for the climb was quite a process, too. We are so glad we did this and I was so thrilled I was able to complete the hike up there. The only drawback of the twilight climb were those HUGE gray fox bats that were flying around. You would avoid that during the day and they told us the twilight climb is most preferred. Have to agree seeing the sunset from the bridge was pretty spectacular.

After the climb, we bought a couple of t shirts and got the photo package on a usb drive. We finished our climb about 9:15 and walked back to our hotel but decided we were hungry so a quick stop at McDonald’s for something to eat. Then as we were walking back to the hotel we commented on how we should have done something at the opera house. We stopped by the concierge and actually booked a Cabaret show “Limbo Unhinged” in the Studio there for the evening we get off the ship and our last night in Australia so we will get to see something there. How cool!

 

We were back to our room by 10:15 pm and decided to finish packing in the morning. We are going to try walking over to the port by ourselves with our bags and think we can handle it. And might be another interesting story.

 

So less than 12 hours and we finally get to board our ship. Plus we really are ready to finally unpack all of our clothes. We finally repacked our bags this morning because we could not find anything. After repacking we were able to relocate everything we could not find the past 5 days.

I’m going to stop here for Part 1 and resume later the actual cruise boarding and trip.

Edited January 24, 2018 by mertziek

[mertziek]

Part 2

 

We woke on Friday to sunshine and were able to watch Jewel arrive to the port. How cool to see that.

 

Well we made it on board by 11:30 and had a great lunch. But before we boarded, we had breakfast in the hotel club lounge and schlepped our suitcases ourselves to the port and dropped them off. Then went back to our hotel and got our carry on bags and checked out of our hotel. Hubbie sat along the pier where our ship was docked to people watch before we boarded and I took a walk over to the Opera House to pick up our tickets for the Cabaret show we are going to on January 21st. It is amazing how much busier the port area was today compared to earlier in the week. And it was a gorgeous sunny day with temps in the 70’s. Once we got onboard we had lunch in the Moderno restaurant reserved for a Haven passengers. So we are removed from the masses of humanity and can eat in peace. Hubbie had a swordfish sandwich and I had a burger. We also had shrimp cocktail first and finished up with a chocolate brownie with macadamia nut ice cream. And of course we started with their drink of the day.

 

After lunch we checked out the spa and hubbie set up a haircut and shave for late in the afternoon and a hot stone massage for the next morning at 8. Next stop was The Internet cafe but it was closed until 5:30 so I had to wait to upgrade my internet coverage. Got it taken care of after our muster drill. They gave me $125 credit for the 250 minute internet package I received as a perk. All of our bags were delivered to our room and we were unpacked - FINALLY- by 3:30 pm. Then I went to the back of the ship as we left port and toasted to our sail away. Hubbie joined me there after he finished with his shave. It was a beautiful evening under the Harbor bridge and past the Opera House. What a view!

 

We went to the buffet for a light snack and then went to the Welcome Aboard Show. Very entertaining. Tomorrow is a sea day so I plan to have a lazy day just reading and relaxing. We do have dinner reservations at the steak place tomorrow night and always look forward to that.

 

The ship was clipping along but not much ship movement. I fell asleep quickly and had a long night of uninterrupted sleep.

The Ship and Our Room

A lot of people say the Jewel is showing her age but we found all areas to be just fine. We stayed in an Owners Suite (darn we did not get that upgrade to the Garden Villa) on the 10th floor and like it better than the ones on deck 9. We liked having our table off in an alcove. There is a guest bathroom to the left as you walk in and the walk into the living room. There is a couch, a chair and a chaise lounger. Next to the balcony was our coffee maker, frIg, and cabinet with glassware, extra soda, water, etc. our liquor was there and our butler got us our mixers. Our bedroom had a king bed with extra pillows and blankets I had requested. There is a chair with ottoman as well as a desk and two side tables by the bed. We also had a pair of binoculars but the computer was not there. Not a problem since I had my iPad. Plenty of storage in the desk drawers and bedside tables. The bathroom has a walk-in closet with two safes and two separate clothes rods and storage dressers. The vanity has a set of lights as well as the magnifying mirror we gals like to use but the light in that was way too dim. Thankfully the lights around the mirror were bright enough. There is a bathtub with a window looking out to the side balcony and a tv above the tub. There was a bench below the second window that looks out the side of the ship. There is a deep ledge you can use for storage, too. Two sinks with storage below. Lots of room and plenty of storage! Only complaint - the locking mechanism on the safes needs upgrading. We spent way too much time getting them to lock! I think the front balcony may not be quite as deep as on deck 9 but we had more than enough room and even had 2 guests out there with us on the sound cruising day. The side balcony had 2 sets of tables and chairs and once the second set was removed I had lots of room for the chaise lounger.

We had Edward for our butler and very nice man, very accommodating and brought us so many snacks. I’m not sure how he thought 2 people could eat all of that. He checked to see what we like and did a great job bringing those things. Francis was our room steward and likewise very nice and accommodating. I asked for a chaise lounger on our side balcony and he went to get it right away. He moved the second small table and chairs from the side balcony along the wall in our living room that we used for setting things down. And he also got us extra hangers. We also sent our first bags of laundry on embarkation day since we had been gone from home 6 days and had accumulated dirty clothes. Caesar was our concierge. Very helpful but not overwhelming. He changed dinner reservations for us without a problem.

The different venues seemed well kept to us. We did get to the Stardust theater more than once and don’t think there are any bad seats. We used a few of the bars but stuck to the Champagne Bar on deck 6 most times. Bartenders there very friendly and boy, could they mix drinks! Drinks from the Casino bar also great. As to the casino itself - machines seemed tight but as the cruise went along, we did win some. Unfortunately we lost more than we won. The casino is not real big but it was never crowded so I don’t think this was a gambling crowd for the most part.

The Restaurants

We managed to go to all of the specialty restaurants other than Chin Chin. But I must say there were a lot of empty places in all restaurants on various nights so thinking this was not a big specialty restaurant crowd. Quite a surprise because we had problems booking added dinners once onboard on the Jade transatlantic a year ago. Cagney’s did not disappoint and Teppanyaki was fun with great food. We mainly had the tenderloin in Cagney’s but hubbie had grilled shrimp one night and loved it. Salad was crispy and baked potato soup was yummy. Different desserts on different nights and all good as was the service. Moderno was good but we were full and had a late seating so we did not eat a lot there. What we had was delicious, especially the chicken. And great service. Le Bistro was ok not great. I had a tenderloin and the mushroom soup. No dessert. Seemed slow to us. La Cucina was just ok, too. I had the Parmesan chicken but the garlic shrimp hubbie ate was way too salty so he did not finish it. A wasted order. We did not do the Sushi Bar either.

We had two meals in O’Sheehan’s and both times very good. I finally had the fish and chips and it is as good as advertised. I also had the corned beef sandwich which was also good. Hubbie had the meatloaf both times and loved it! Service was mixed - first time poor and slow, second time really good so it’s hit or miss there.

We had dinner one night in Azura and had the beef stroganoff. Very good despite the chunks of beets and pickles in it. The soup was also good. Obviously the ambiance of the restaurant can’t be beat. It is a beautiful dining room and we like the open airiness of it. I’m sad to say they no longer offer the steak and lobster dinners we enjoyed so much on the Jade a year ago. Sorry to see that go.

The buffet was always busy regardless of the time of day. I am always amazed at the numbers of people who butt in and line jump. Like they won’t get enough to eat? We seemed to have a lot more of this than I am used to seeing on prior cruises. I also was sitting at a table eating when a group of 3 sat at the table behind me and proceeded to clear dirty dishes and napkins from their table and piled them on mine while my hubbie was off to get food. What the heck?! Could people be any more rude or tacky? So sometimes good manners are not on display during the cruise. We ate breakfast, lunch and dinner there and always found something to eat. They do different specialty foods on different nights but we stuck mainly to the foods we are used to. Had good pizza and burgers there on more than one occasion and some good soups. Salads were hit and miss and they really need to do something about their desserts. Most were flavorless.

We did not do room service so cannot address that. Also did not eat at poolside or at The Great Outdoors but assume food is similar to the regular buffet.

We did have breakfast and lunch in Moderno as part of our suite perks and always very pleased. The staff were so great and quickly learned our names. My faves for breakfast are the Eggs Benedict and Steak and Eggs. There is a buffet table with cereals, breads, pastries, etc that was more than adequate. And need I say anything about the pressed coffee? Hubbie loved it!

The Entertainment

We went to most shows with singing and dancing. Burn the Floor is phenomenal. Such high energy! Le Cirque was excellent as was Band on the Run. Great performers. The Welcome Aboard show was a good introduction to the entertainers on board. The closing show was on Friday night (we got in to Sydney on Sunday am) and glad it was not the last night at sea. Again high energy and great dancing and singing. We did not do the juggling or violin shows so cannot address those. Overall, I was very satisfied with the entertainment.

The Spa

Hubbie had a spa pass and had massages done there. The gal was way to rough and he was more sore after the massages so after 2 he did not go back. He did have a shave and haircut and was happy with that. The hot tubs in the spa had variable temperatures and a couple of days were too cold to use them. We kept getting phone messages to set up more appointments so I think this was a group not into the spa services. They were always looking for new bookings.

Edited January 24, 2018 by mertziek

[Clarea]

Enjoying this excellent review!

[mertziek]

Part 3

We had our Meet and Mingle on our first sea day which was the day after we departed Sydney. It was wonderfully organized by our leader Carol and was held in the Fyzz Cabaret and Bar. We had several officers and representatives talk to us. And there were some refreshments but we had just had a big breakfast so did not imbibe. A lot of people showed up but some were missing that I had hoped to meet. I know some were sleeping off their jet lag. Missed you Dropanchor! You were a great source of info on our cruise roll call and looked forward to meeting you. Our gift exchange was fun and I enjoyed seeing what people brought for the exchange. I received some nice tokens from St. Louis and hubbie got a bag with things from the Blue Mountains area we had visited. All in all a nice time.

 

The Ports

Melbourne - We decided to do the ship excursion The Best of Melbourne. As with all ship excursions, you are dealing with herding cattle. We did get on the first bus and went first to Belgrade where we boarded Puffing Billy. We arrived earlier than our appointed time and waited around for 30 minutes for our train. This was time we could have used later in the day. The train ride went through some beautiful areas and we rode the train the way you are meant to - sitting on the ledge of the car. And we were lucky to get on the steam locomotive since the day before it was too hot and the train did not even operate.

 

When we got to our stop, we got back on our buses and went to lunch at a winery where the two of us almost never got served. We thought this was a poor reflection of the way they run their business since they do it every day and should have it perfected. Plus when we finally got our meal, the chicken was warm but the cous cous and veggies were cold so obviously our plates were sitting out while they prepared more chicken. Very poor organization! We finally were served as everyone else was already done eating their main course. Dessert was so so and nothing great. We did get a glass of wine with our meal. After eating we did a wine tasting that was rushed due to the numbers in our group. I felt this could or should have been eliminated since no one had time to even consider buying their wine.

 

Back to the bus and on to the Healesville Sanctuary. We started with our group but 50 people is too many people to keep together as a group so we took off after 2 stops and toured the zoo ourselves. We saw all the animals we were interested in seeing. We saw more koalas, kangaroos, emus, echidnas, parrots that we actually got to feed, the reptile house, platypus, wallabies (a kind of kangaroo), pelicans, lyrebirds, Tasmanian devils and wombats. But no holding or feeding the Animals here. A lot faster and we did what we wanted to do. So I am happy to say we got to see all of the animals we had on our list here. And we had time to shop in the gift shop. So back to the bus for an hour long ride back to the ship. So after an hour drive, we were back on the ship.

The Sounds - We woke that morning to fog and low lying clouds and had the opportunity to view Milford Sound from the 14th deck in the Haven. We did not stay there long since our view at the very front of the ship in our Owners Suite was the best view in the house. Beautiful waterfalls, islands and cliffs. The day was overcast with low hanging clouds over the mountains and quite ethereal. We sailed in to the sound and saw spectacular waterfalls that dropped quickly to the sea. We also saw Mitre Peak which was used by Sir Edmund Hillary to practice Mountain climbing before he summited Everest. So we turned around from there and headed to our next sound.

We went to lunch with our new friends from NYC I met on our cruise roll call and then all returned to our balcony to sail into Doubtful Sound. And the sun was out so a totally different experience. This time we sailed in one arm and did a circuit coming out the other end. We did not see any of the great wildlife but again had spectacular views against blue skies and cruised around past the different arms of this sound. More spectacular waterfalls, too. We were out of it by 1:45.

So then time to rest and at 3:45 we cruised into the Dusky Sound. There is a Long Island that is 7-8 kilometers long and 1 kilometer wide in there as well as several smaller islands. We did see seals basking in the sun on one small island/atoll so we weren’t totally skunked with no wildlife.

All in all, a very enjoyable day almost like another day at sea and very spectacular scenery!

Dunedin - We woke at 6:30 and dressed for the day. It was overcast and windy and cool. Guessing about 60 but no rain! Watched as we sailed into Port Chalmers and first thing we noticed was how shallow the Bay was. We saw a lot of exposed mud flats. This area has a lot of Scottish influence and very interesting architecture. We ate quickly in the buffet and met with our private tour group of 14 and disembarked together from the ship. We got a bus to go to the Dunedin train station for our Taieri Gorge Train Trip organized by Carol (thank you!) This was our first ever private tour and we loved it. Small group in a van and no waiting for people. And we did virtually the same train tour as they did from the ship but we actually got to do so much more at half the price! We are convinced if you do proper planning and research, setting up your private tours at ports is the way to go.

Dunedin is New Zealand’s oldest city and is very quaint and very hilly! The Maori actually settled here over 400 years ago and liked the green hills with deep valleys and a long natural harbor. I have to say it was quite stunning. The Scot’s arrived in 1848 and named it Edinburgh Dunedin. A lot of the buildings reminded me of Edinburgh. They found gold here in 1861 and the rest is history.

So we got to the train station, an ornate building in Flemish Renaissance style nicknamed “the gingerbread house,” which is the most photographed building in the country. It is very ornate! The interior has a mosaic floor and an art gallery on the second floor. We got our tickets and our group was in one of the old wooden cars built in 1937. They had a lunch counter on the train and viewing ports between cars. We traveled from Dunedin to Pukerangi. We traveled through the most beautiful gorges and craggy mountains. We also saw wild pigs, goats and a lot of sheep along the way. We had a sandwich and chips and I tried one of their New Zealand light beers. Very mellow. When we got to the end of the line, the diesel locomotive switched and went to the back of the train and took us back to Dunedin via the same route. There were 10 tunnels and several rail viaducts we traveled through/over. And we saw several notches of stone along the route. The landscape looked very primitive and the gorges were so steep I’m not sure anyone could climb the mountains although a few goats figured out how to get up and down.

So once back in Dunedin we had a city tour. There are two breweries here and believe it or not, this is the home of Cadbury chocolate although they are moving the chocolate manufacturing to Tasmania but keeping the corporate offices in Dunedin. Apparently they will be losing over 2,000 jobs in a city with a population of just over 100,000. The population is around 125,000 when the university is in session. We drove past the Botanic Gardens and their Chinese Garden which is a tribute to their early Chinese settlers. This is a big university town and we drove through that. The university is on vacay until mid February but we did see the villas the students live in. Very nice. We also saw a very unique High school with unusual architecture. We drove around the octagon which is their main shopping area with a lot of restaurants, too. We drove up to a high lookout point and were able to see all of Dunedin and the harbor. And we went to Baldwin Street which is the steepest city block in the world and it was steep! We just looked at it and did not climb it! Thank God!!!

We were back to our ship by 4:30 and came back to the room and rested. Another great port.

Akaroa - We woke around 6:30 to rain and fog but already nearing Akaroa. The scenery outside our balcony was absolutely spectacular in spite of the cool day. And we saw some of the most breath taking sites today on our ride to Christchurch.

We went down to the tender transfer area at 8:15 and since in the Haven, we did not need a reservation. We were transferred to the port of Akaroa, a quaint French influenced port town, that is actually out on the Banks Peninsula. (The tender ride was quite long at 15 minutes.) The peninsula is made up of 2 extinct volcanoes with a lot of coves and bays. Very picturesque. We found our meeting point for our tour but were early so we walked around Akaroa and just enjoyed the beautiful scenery. The Maori were in this area for about 800 years until Captain Cook arrived here in the 1770’s and the French established the settlement in 1840. I did collect a small rock from the tidal mud flats for my rock collection at home. Now I just need to remember to write the place on it. Hubbie found a really nice jacket in one of their shops (he forgot his at home) and I found something for our family back home. A lot of quaint shops. We had a small coffee break and then headed back to the meeting point for our tour. There were 45 of us with several small kids. (I misread how many would be on the tour so this was similar to the herding cattle of ship tours. But still a good value since we saw several things for half the price of the ship sponsored tours.) All I could think of was how tough 6-7 hours of being mostly in a bus would be for these small kids. They were good for the most part to start out but got very fussy as the day went on and they got more tired. I’m not sure their parents really thought it through carefully about doing all day tours with small children.

Anyway, off we went and we drove along the coast part of the way but eventually drove into the most breath taking Mountain passes and valleys. The sheer cliffs were amazing, too, as well as the sheep that were along the mountainsides. How they got up those sheer cliffs is beyond me but we did see a lot of sheep up on those cliffs and mountains. They graze side to side up the mountains and we could actually see the patterns on the mountains from their going back and forth. We saw a lot of cows and horses, too, but they were on the flatter areas. After the mountains we actually drove along a flat farm area of Canterbury plains. They refer to the mountains we drove through as the Southern Alps.

We drove past two really huge lakes that had black necked swans on them and also a lot of mud flats so the tides must affect them, too. As we approached Christchurch (the oldest city in New Zealand) we heard more about the two earthquakes they had here and how difficult it has been to rebuild but they are doing just that. They had several buildings totally collapse and used shipping containers for people to sell things from to restart their businesses. 189 people were killed. Their main cathedral was severely damaged and they are still restoring it. They actually built a cardboard cathedral to try to replace it but decided to restore the architecturally beautiful old cathedral, too. We saw their old fashioned Tram train cars going around the city on tours. We stopped at their Botanical Gardens and their Canterbury museum, too, and wished we could have spent more time there. We saw the Antarctica displays and they also had an area displaying National Geographic’s 50 most famous photographs. We recognized several of them. We lost time here waiting for some guy to return to the bus but we think he got separated from his family (one with 3 kids along for the day) and just got confused about the meeting point. But every time one person shows up late, it makes the rest of us late and our schedule was really tight today. Always something!

Our last stop was the Antarctica Center and we started out with a ride in their Hagglund vehicles used in Antarctica by explorers and scientists. These are amphibious all terrain vehicles. They took us out in an area set up to mimic different situations such as traveling on inclines and going across crevasses. It was a very bouncy ride and we had to be strapped in but it really gave us a good idea of what riding in the Hagglunds is like. Next we had a sandwich with chips in their cafe and then saw the little blue penguins they have rescued and keep there. These are the world’s smallest penguins and they seemed quite content just swimming around and preening. Next up was a 4D movie about Antarctica that showed many of the things I had experienced when I was there. The film had special effects where our seats moved and we got water sprayed in our faces. After that we went to the Antarctic storm experience where we were dressed up and put in a snow room. Then the temps dropped to -18 degrees C with winds blowing against us. Yup, we were cold even though we had big parkas on. After that we returned to our bus and did the ride back to Akaroa in reverse. Somehow we forgot to look at/buy the picture they took of us at the Antarctica Center. Duh!!! On the return, we stopped at an overview of the harbor from the mountains and were able to take some spectacular pictures. We got back to Akaroa late (about 5 instead of 4:30) and waited to get our tender back to the ship. There was a line so it was nearly 6 pm before we got back and the tender ride was actually quite long at 15 minutes but that’s the closest they can bring the ship into the port. The ship left the port a bit late, too, but guess there was some medical emergency and they had to take someone off the ship. There are a lot of old, slow moving people on here so not surprised someone got sick. Plus people were lined up way behind us to return via tenders so there was no way the last tender returned at 5:30 pm.

Picton - This was our day off with no tours scheduled. So today we were in Picton built around a sheltered harbor and full of shops and cafes along its beautiful harbor. We woke about 7 to clouds that eventually burned off and decided to sleep in longer. Remember this is our day off. After lolling around for a while, we decided to get moving and skipped breakfast. About 9:15 we got on a shuttle into Picton and were dropped near the main harbor area. We just walked around and looked in the shops. I found something for our grandkids and bought myself a Kiwi t shirt. The kiwi is the national bird of New Zealand. We then walked through a craft fair down by the harbor Quay and along the harbor. There were some very large yachts there and a lot of tours you could take on many of them. By this time it was close to lunch so I asked one of the locals where to eat. She steered us to Escape to Picton and it was a great place. We were able to sit outside and it was a partly cloudy day with temps 70-75. Very pleasant day. I had a local Tui beer and hubbie had a ginger beer which was really just ginger ale. We ordered their garlic bread that was absolutely to die for! Then we had their fish and chips that was also absolutely delicious and of course all low cal! NOT!!! And by this time we were getting full but had seen a sign advertising milkshakes one street over so figured we would do that for dessert. The milkshake left a lot to be desired. It was around 1:45 so we got our shuttle back to the ship. Since it was our down day, a siesta was in order! Our butler delivered a lot of snacks and sandwiches again. Not sure where he thought we would put all that food!

 

 

Wellington - We woke about 6:30 to some clouds but felt like a nice day ahead. Made it to breakfast right after 7. As we were eating we came into the harbor Aotea Quay Wharf in Wellington known as the Windy City. They often have sustained winds in excess of 45 mph here. Today was not one of those days!

So back to the room and we got ready for our private tour. Got off the ship and met out tour guide Tony who is an actor and was one of the Haradin oliphant drivers in the Lord of the Rings movie. He was in the scene where Legolas climbs up the oliphant and shoots it with 3 arrows, killing it, while slicing the straps so the cage of Haradin drivers falls to the ground while the oliphant slides and dies in front of Gimli who says to Legolas “That only counts as one!” He was also in Avatar and the last King Kong movie. We talked about how long it took for his Haradin makeup and they got it down to just under 4 1/2 hours. It took 9 days to film that sequence he was in. The one Orc leader took 12 hours to get made up. Hardly worth taking it off after a day of filming! Those Orcs were really scary looking characters.

So there were two tour vans of 12 today and we went with the second one but waited over 20 minutes for a German couple. Unbelievable! They said they were in the area but I think I would have been asking where my ride was before making all of us late. So did not start off well. Once we got going it was okay other than our guide had a problem turning down the air conditioning in the van. And it was hot today! Fortunately we sat in the seats right behind the driver so we had some cooling air.

As we went into the city we went past their Westpac Stadium, a big sports complex, and their Railway Station. We drove to the Beehive (a building shaped like a beehive) and Parliamentary buildings. Fascinating building structure. From there we drove through the Victoria University section and then on to St Paul’s Cathedral, the oldest church in Wellington made entirely of native timbers and a great example of timber Gothic Revival architecture. The interior was unique with beautiful stained glass windows and arched timbered ceilings. During WWII over 20,000 US marines were stationed in the Wellington region and the cathedral was used by them to connect with Wellington families. Speaking of timber, when we came into port both today and yesterday, there was cut timber, mostly pine, waiting to be loaded and shipped to China, Japan and India. We could really smell it both days. I guess it is one of the major industries of New Zealand.

Wellington is built into the mountainside so we went up to the top of another mountain to get a cable car ride down to the bottom to Lambton Quay. There is a cable car museum at the top and another Botanical Garden. There are a lot of those in New Zealand. We had time to look around the museum, see an old cable car, and see how this unique funicular works. We were able to get pics of the harbor from up there but never got to the Botanical Gardens. The views from up there of the harbor were breath taking and the color of the harbor water was a brilliant blue. The ride down was fun. We actually went through a tunnel of flickering colored lights. The cable car was begun in 1902 to ferry people up and down the hills of the Kelburn suburb. There is a point where the car going up passes the car going down.

Then more driving through the city. Wellington has a lot of houses built up on hillsides and along their beautiful harbor. Some of the homes have elevators or small cable cars from the street level up to their homes. Quite the set up! Many of the streets were very steep and had switch backs going up the mountain sides. We went along the Oriental Parade which is really a beautiful drive along the harbor. We stopped at Scorching Bay for lunch and drove past Peter Jackson’s house (director for Lord of the Rings). It wasn’t that magnificent or big but it had the best view over the harbor. That part of Wellington is called Wellywood because much of the movie making business is located in the area. Jackson has been buying up big sections of the industrial areas to convert into uses for the movie industry.

So at Scorching Bay we sat at a table together and each ordered what we wanted. Hubbie and I both had “Swimming with the Fishes” which was a baked mild white fish served with some kind of salad/leafy greens on top with cauliflower puree (lots of puréed things this trip!) and some other chopped green stuff over it. The fish was really tasty and mild. Not too heavy and we had the most delightful view down to the Scorching Bay Beach. By this time it was getting really hot out but it felt good to be in the sun. We know once we are home again we will be wanting this weather back again! And they had really great WiFi there.

After lunch we drove past a big sign over Wellington that said Duh - Wellington. I guess they were trying to copy the Hollywood sign. So next was on to Weta Caves where the movie studios are located. I was surprised they were not more overwhelming. A lot of the editing, etc for Lord of the Rings was done here. We visited Weta Caves Museum and saw a big Orc, trolls, and Gollum replicas as well as a lot of smaller replicas of characters from the movies. Interesting experience. We did not buy anything there.

We then drove past a lot more of the beautiful harbor, rocky bays and multi million dollar homes. Some spectacular views! Next we drove up to Mount Victoria for a 360 degree overview of the city and harbors. WOW!!! We were 196 meters above the city with stunning panoramic views of the city and harbor. When we looked across the harbor we could see our ship docked. Cool!!! This trip has given me a lot of climbing opportunities and Mount Victoria was no different. Once we got up there we had to climb up several steep steps to get to the viewing platform. Good thing we were getting enough to eat with all this exercising! And we drove past one place where they filmed the scene in Lord of the Rings of Frodo and the other 3 Hobbits hiding from the Ringwraiths.

So at this point it is about 2 pm and our guide gave us the option of going back to the ship or dropping us at the Te Papa Tongawera Museum with lots of interesting exhibits. Half of us got out to do the museum and the other half went back to the ship. The museum is a free admission and had some very good exhibits. We did the Gallipoli exhibit first and it was overwhelming with the massive recreations of soldiers they had in there. I was at Gallipoli in Turkey so I found this exhibit to be a nice compliment to that trip. From there we went to the top of the museum to the viewing terrace. Great city views but this time from a lower perspective. Then we went through the Pacific Peoples exhibit with a lot of early canoes and weapons and the world of the Maori. We saw a video about the green stones that are sacred in the area. Ngai Tahu are the guardians of NZ pounamu (greenstone) and the only source of genuine raw stone. The stones are treasured, valuable and with spiritual significance. Used by Maori, they denote status and authority so of course I had to go to the museum shop to look for some. Had to miss some other great exhibits but you can’t do everything. In the shop I found two pieces - one for me and a more primitive piece for our daughter. Our guide returned to pick us up at 3:30 and get us back to the ship. We were ready. So we got back onboard by 4:30 and just relaxed and had snacks in our room.

Napier - Our Prinsey’s Private tour organized again by Carol (thank you for doing that) was to leave at 9 so we met the rest of our group in the casino and disembarked by 8:45. Our guide was there nearly right away. And again there was the overwhelming smell from cut pine timber waiting to be loaded and exported. It is obviously a major industry for them here.

So off we went in our mini van. Napier is located in Hawke’s Bay and on the Northern Island of NZ. Yes, there is a southern and a northern island and this is our first stop on the northern island. Napier is sister city to Hastings and are referred to as the bay cities. So Napier was pretty much destroyed in 1931 by a massive earthquake that lasted 5 minutes and was a power of 7.8. One fascinating event was the raising of the Ahuriri Lagoon/swamp over 8-10 feet resulting in the creation of new land known now as the Marine Parade where elaborate waterfront parks and picnic areas are found as well as a black rock/pebble beach. And we were able to see the original sea wall and amazed by the amount of land reclaimed. So I guess they are still making more land! The city was rebuilt in the Art Deco style after the earthquake and is quite unique. Street after street had Art Deco decorated buildings so reminiscent of that era. They even have vintage cars set out to give rides to tourists.

As with most other ports, the Hawke’s Bay Area was first settled by Maori in late 1200 and then discovered by Captain Cook in 1769. He saw a massive stone cliff wall and named it the “Wall.” We drove past it from the port into Napier and it is a huge rock wall! Eventually the traders and missionaries arrived and soon thereafter came the sheep. Sheep were the main industry for several years but now orchards and farming are very important as is the winery business and sheep farming is on the decline. I guess the climate is well suited to growing grapes. We also saw corn, squash, olives, onions and apple orchards all within a mile on our drive. And the area is well known for restaurants, bars and cafes but it is the Art Deco style buildings we noticed most. Very unique.

We drove around the city and then headed up to the Hastings area. This is the area of the famed Cape Kidnapper, a headland with an infamous story. The headland was named after an attempt by local Maori to abduct the servant of a member of Cook’s crew aboard The Endeavor during a landfall there in October 1769. The crew member was Tiata, a Tahitian accompanying Cook's interpreter. Cook's journal states that Tiata was in the water near Endeavour when a Māori fishing boat pulled alongside and dragged him aboard. Sailors from Endeavour′s deck immediately opened fire on the fishing boat, killing two Māori and wounding a third. Tiata promptly jumped overboard and swam back to Endeavour, while the remaining Māori paddled their craft back to shore. A cannon was fired after them from Endeavour′s quarterdeck, but the Māori boat was soon out of range. Cook described the cape as having steep white cliffs on either side, with two large rocks resembling hay stacks near the headland. So that was how the area got the name.

We went to a local winery for wine tasting and had a delightful time. We sampled 7 different wines and managed to buy a couple of bottles for ourselves and one for our daughter and son-in-law. Then we walked out to see the vines and surprise - the majority of grape roots are from the US. Even in Europe most of their root stock is from the western US. Who knew? They showed us how the vines are trimmed so no leaves overhang the grapes and allow for rotting if not exposed sufficiently to the air and sun. Fascinating. There were a lot of wineries and we visited a small 50 acre one that produces a lot of different varieties of wine. Obviously the climate is well suited to grape growing.

Next we drove up to Te Mata Peak and wow! What a view. We were able to get a 360 degree view and the switchbacks were scary! There are all kinds of biking and hiking trails up to the peak and we got to see platforms they use for hang gliding off the peak. Not too sure I would ever be able to do that but the views of the Hawke’s Bay Area from up top was spectacular! Like I said - every time we turn around there is a more spectacular view to be had.

Back down the mountain and back along the harbor until we went to Mission winery for a quick stop. It was a missionary but now the biggest winery and quite impressive. They have a hillside amphitheater that has had many famous acts there.

Then we headed back to the ship where we got out and decided to eat lunch and get our wine purchases stowed away. After lunch we took the shuttle back into Napier to just walk around. We started walking along the Marine Parade and saw the most incredible emerald green water. It was windy so we saw white caps and waves breaking on the beach. Quite a vision. Then we headed up to Emerson Street, their main shopping area to window shop. Hubbie found a few things for himself and we also found something for our son-in-law. I got a couple of t shirts for our grandkids and one for myself. By this time it was getting really hot so we stopped at one of their sidewalk cafes and had some tasty desserts. Then we walked over to their park area Clive Square and enjoyed the shade, fountains and flowers there. Hubbie went to find newspapers and then we headed back to get our shuttle back to the ship. Back onboard by 3:45. Another great tour day and a lot less expensive than doing a ship tour.

Tauranga - We woke about 6:30 after a great night of sleep (no problems with sleeping this trip at all!) and a cloudy day. We had breakfast in the restaurant - steak and eggs and really yummy! We got into Tauranga, where there is a huge inactive/extinct volcano/Mountain named Mount Maunganui, about 10 am and then got off the ship for our Hobbits and Geysers tour organized by Veny (thank you for doing that) with 8 other people. We were a good group and stuck together and were all on time. We met our tour guide Simon, a real character - delightful and quite the story teller, at 10:15 am and off we went to tour. We drove through part of the city and then stopped along a beach near Mount Maunganui. The beach was wild and windy but as usual, one majestic vista after another. And because it was a windy, partly cloudy day indeed, the wave action was incredible at the beach. I got to ride shotgun with Simon in the van and enjoyed talking with him. Plus I had the best view for pictures! Works for me.

There is a long Maori story about this Mount Maunganui and involves a low class boy ending up there alone without his beloved princess. There are Maori legends for just about everything but they make for good story telling and our tour guide Simon was quite the story teller with a witty sense of humor.

So Tauranga is located in the Bay of Plenty on the north island of NZ. Maori settled here in the 13th century followed by Europeans in the early 19th century. In 1826, the Herald came to Tauranga Harbor. Missionaries arrived in 1835 but trading was more important. Trading here in flax was a big thing and by trading flax for muskets, the Maori obtained weapons. Eventually small shrunken heads became a desired commodity and the Maori sold off their ancestors’ heads, then they sold off slaves’ heads and other warring tribe members’ heads. Apparently Maori were warriors because when they first arrived here, there was plenty of food but then it became scarce and the tribes starting fighting and killing each other off and eating each other. Oops!!! There are few pure blooded Maori left here now and many are more proud of their European heritage.

Next we heard about all the volcanic activity of this region and the numerous volcanic craters. One we drove through was 20 miles across. There are still active volcanoes here and they expect an eruption near here at some point in the future. But no one seems worried about it.

We drove past kiwi orchards and learned the kiwi in NZ goes mainly to China and Japan while we get ours in the US from Chile. And there are different colored Kiwis from NZ in pink and yellow not just the green ones. Who knew? We drove through rolling countryside to the Natural Thermal Valley of Te Puia to see Geysers and bubbling mud ponds. We walked along the Whakarewarewa terrace past the bubbling mud pool Nga mokai-a-Koko named for a famous chief from the Te Puia settlement. Pohutu is the largest geyser here and in the Southern Hemisphere and we were able to see it erupt. There is a second smaller geyser Prince of Wales Feather geyser right next to it that erupted just before the big one. We saw steam venting from the ground throughout the park area and could smell the sulfur rotten eggs there. We got sprayed by the geyser as it erupted. We also saw their cooking pools where they cook food in flax baskets. They also have natural steam vent cookers. This area was a fortified settlement of the historic and sacred area which was home to Maori for hundreds of years. They have a restored Maori meeting house here and several other buildings in typical Maori design. Fascinating. We decided to eat here and had a hamburger. Then we looked in the gift shop and I bought some mud soap. Wonder how that will work? Hubbie also found a cap for himself. There was a kiwi bird display but we did not get to that.

So off we went over the rolling countryside of Rotorua on to the Hobbiton Movie Set. The landscape was just like you saw in the movies. Deep green with rolling hills and valleys. Very picturesque and understandable why they filmed the movies here. We arrived at The Shire’s Rest and got to buy souvenirs before we did our Hobbiton tour. I just got a snow globe and a tea towel but sure was tempted by the Hobbit feet slippers! They told us how Peter Jackson sent teams out to locate ideal areas for filming Lord of the Rings and actually located the Alexander 1,250 acre sheep farm area by helicopter from the air. They found the site and landed, knocked on the farmer’s door and the rest is history. After the Lord of the Rings movies were done filming, they started to tear down the movie set but a storm moved in and it was delayed. In the meantime local people recognized sites near them from the movie and convinced Mr. Alexander, the farmer, to offer tours. The original tours were of partially deconstructed movie sets. When they later did The Hobbit trilogy, the sets were rebuilt with long lasting building materials in great detail and the Alexander family negotiated keeping the sets intact for future tours and have a 50-50 partnership of the movie set with New Line Cinema as well as maintaining their working sheep/cattle ranch. They originally did have a lot of extra detailing to do on the farm and had to haul in dirt and originally built 39 facade Hobbit Holes out of untreated timber and polystyrene. There are now 42. The big oak tree overlooking Bag End (Bilbo’s big house overlooking Hobbiton from up on the hill and the biggest Hobbit house) was brought in from a nearby Matamata and had all leaves removed and rewired with artificial leaves from Taiwan. The Mill and double arch bridge were built from scaffolding and polystyrene. Their thatch roofs on the Mill, Bag End and the Green Dragon were from cut rushes on the farm itself. When they readied for filming The Hobbit trilogy, all of the buildings were constructed out of permanent materials according to actual building codes. Most of the Hobbit Holes are outside facades only but all of the details and outdoor gardens are carefully maintained. We saw people working on the site getting rid of weeds and general maintenance things. They even have a special process to age the fences. It was a real thrill to tour here and overlook the entire village from Bilbo’s house. We saw the big party tree and the pond and ended up at The Green Dragon where I had a dark ale and hubbie had the light ale. What a great day but touring the area was not easy because we had several hills to climb up. They do have great clay paths to walk along but several are quite steep. And we did get our picture taken inside one of the completed Hobbit Holes. A real treat and a wonderful day.

We left The Green Dragon and headed off to the Kaimai Mountain ranges that represented the Misty Mountains in the movies. When we got to the top, we stopped and were able to get pictures of the entire valley. However, it was too misty/foggy to see Mount Doom in the distance for us today. We got back to port about 6 pm and dropped things off in our room. Another great touring day and again we saw more sites by doing the private tour at about half the expense!

Bay of Islands - Disappointing news here. The seas were too choppy to go into BOI so we had an extra sea day. This was a tender port and our ride would have been longer than at Akaroa. Plus I would not like being fished out of the cold waters! But darn, I did not get to see those Glow worm caves and the Hundertwasser toilets.

Auckland - We woke this morning about 6:15 to rain, wind and fog and were nearly into port at Auckland. Auckland is in the midst of volcanic fields and a nasty day here for us!!! Think drenching downpours, sideway rain, heavy winds and an inverted umbrella. We got soaked! But we push on and accept some days are better than others when on vacay. And so it is with life, too.

Auckland is home to the largest Polynesian population in the world. The surrounding hills are covered in rain forests amidst the volcanic cones. As with most places in New Zealand the Maori were here first around 1350 followed by the British in early 1830’s. Cook was here first in 1769. He sure got around a lot! They talk a lot about the Waitangi Treaty signed in 1840 that established a British Governor of NZ, established the authority of the British Crown (Queen Victoria), considered Maori ownership of their lands and other properties, and gave Maori the rights of British subjects. There are two versions of the treaty written in English and translated to Maori so therein lies the problem. Apparently there are major discrepancies between the two documents due to difficulties with the translation with the original no longer anywhere to be found. The English and Maori versions of the Treaty differ significantly. For example, the English text gave Britain sovereignty over New Zealand. Comparatively, the Maori text allows the Crown a right of governance without Maori giving up authority over their own affairs. But it is considered the founding document of NZ despite parts of the treaty to this day still being contested in the courts by some Maori tribes.

After our breakfast, we organized ourselves for the day. Then we got things together to meet our private tour group for the day. We got drenched walking over to the next wharf but eventually got on our tour, albeit a bit wet! Once we met our tour guide, we did dry out a bit but no doubt our tour will be somewhere modified. It was definitely miserable for all of us.

We saw the 630 foot tall Sky Tower in Sky City from our balcony. It is the highest point in Auckland and has a revolving restaurant near the top with a casino at its base. No, we did not visit there. Think in terms of Seattle’s Space Needle. At times today, the top of the Tower was encased in clouds and other times visible to us. We did a brief drive through town and heard about how Auckland is ringed by 48 volcanoes, some dormant, some extinct. This volcanic field has produced 90 volcanic eruptions from 50 volcanoes over the past 90,000 years (the last eruption has been thousands of years ago) and Auckland is the only city in the world built on a still active volcanic field. We drove past Victoria Park and over their Harbor Bridge. Victoria Park is a park and sports field area in Auckland, opened in 1905 and named after the queen who had died four years earlier. It lies on reclaimed bay land in Freeman’s Bay but does not have direct connection to the foreshore anymore on the reclaimed land. The bay started to be filled in as early as the 1870s although the bulk of the reclamation appears to have happened after 1901. The Park was finished around 1912, the area to the north (called the Western Reclamation) dates from after that. Auckland has a narrow isthmus that has the Pacific Ocean on one side and the Tasman Sea on the other but, alas, we could not appreciate that today given the horrid weather. Our NYC friends were going to be climbing the Auckland Bridge today and wonder if they made it because the day is absolutely miserable for doing that! It is considered one of the city’s most famous landmarks and towers over Waitemata Harbor on the Pacific Ocean side that was virtually unviewable today due to the rain and wind. Not only can you climb the bridge but you can bungee jump off of it! Reminds me of jumping off the Statosphere in Las Vegas. The area along the harbor is a residential, commercial and entertainment precinct.

So next we drove past spaghetti junction which was a cluster of intersecting roads at various levels and past Grafton Bridge, the oldest bridge in Auckland. The spaghetti junction is a multilevel structure (three traffic levels crossing in several locations) and has been described as a "fiendishly complicated, multi-layered puzzle of concrete, steel and asphalt". Carrying around 200,000 vehicles a day, it is one of the busiest stretches of road in New Zealand and if you take the wrong route you are likely to end up somewhere other than where you were headed.

Then we did the Auckland Domain (or park). It is the city’s oldest park and has been developed around the cone of an extinct volcano. We drove up to Mount Eden, the dormant volcano that has a sacred site on it and is the highest of the volcanoes. We did not get to climb up there due to the nasty weather and foggy day. No sense getting all wet and then not be able to see the view from there. We did view the Pukewawa crater. This is a natural amphitheater with first class sports fields seen from overhead as we were driving up/down the crater side. We did see the Auckland War Museum up there. It is an historic building and houses a great museum we did not get to visit today. This was also the location of the Pukewawa crater. Originally, the crater floor was filled with a lava lake, the western half collapsed slightly and became a freshwater lake which later turned into a swamp and slowly filled up with alluvium and sediment, before being drained by Europeans for use as playing fields and parkland. These origins are still somewhat visible in that the Duck Ponds are freshwater-fed from the drainage of the crater.

The Wintergardens was our next stop where we did get out and walk around the beautiful cool and hot houses with incredible foliage. The Wintergardens consists of two large glasshouses, one non-heated Temperate House and one Tropical House (heated to an average of 28 °C - about 85 F) and in between the two glasshouses there is an ornate courtyard with several neoclassical statues and a sunken pond in the centre. Off to one side is the Fernery which is situated within the site of an old quarry. We finally got to see the silver fern, the national emblem that is silver only on the underside of the fern. We saw some other incredible plants and flowers there and enjoyed their beautiful pond in the central courtyard. But it was still raining so going inside the houses was a welcome respite from the rain. Our favorite plant was the pitcher plant. So unusual.

Next up was One Tree Hill Domain (park). If you want to ramble through wide green spaces, One Tree Hill Domain and the neighbouring Cornwall Park form the largest area of parkland in Auckland City. The pastoral Cornwall Park, grazed by sheep which we saw there and cattle, gives you the impression you are in the countryside. It is a wide open space in the midst of Auckland. Maungakiekie/One Tree Hill is Auckland’s largest and intact volcanic cone where you get extensive city views from the summit. Well we saw a few sites but kind of foggy. The 183 meter volcano has three craters and a lava field that extends to the Manukau shoreline. The area was the largest and most intensively settled place in Auckland, and was the centre of the Maori occupation during the 18th century when tribes of the region were united under the paramount chief Kiwi Tamaki. It is also associated with many of Auckland's influential figures.

Next was Mission Bay, a seaside suburb of Auckland. The suburb's beach is a popular resort, located alongside Tamaki Drive. The area also has a wide range of eateries but it was raining and windy so we did not stop. The park area looked very picturesque along the beach. We drove through Parnell, a very exclusive suburb overlooking the harbor. Homes there are in excess of $4-$5 million. One was over $20 million and both Of us said it did not look worth it. We did see some stunning rose gardens in a park there and had the day been nicer, I expect we would have walked around there.

Bastion Point overlooks the Waitemata Harbor. The area has significance in New Zealand history for its role in 1970’s Maori protests against forced land alienation by non Maori New Zealanders. The point is the location of the Savage Memorial for the first Labor Prime Minister of NZ Michael Savage, whose crypt we were able to see. And at this point it was still raining and we were so wet, we really just laughed about it.

Next we went past Holy Trinity Cathedral where Sir Edmund Hillary had his funeral (you know - Everest fame) and St. John the Baptist Catholic Church built in 1861. We finished by driving past Parnell Village, Auckland's oldest suburb, known for its fabulous restaurants, quaint cafes, diverse galleries and shopping districts, and is definitely a top spot to explore while in the area which given the rain, we did not get to do.

So we returned to the ship and stopped at a small kiosk to buy things to get rid of our NZ money. And success! We ended up with less than $1 leftover.

Sea Days - We love sea days! So relaxing. One of our sea days it rained the entire day so we did a lot of cocooning in our room. And the last two sea days going back to Sydney were sunny but a bit choppy going across the Tasman Sea. We did lose some time after leaving Auckland. There was a medical emergency so we turned back for Auckland. They tried to land a helicopter but the seas were too rough so they improvised. They put the patient and her spouse in a tender, lowered it to the water and the harbor boat and pilot boat came in and made the transfer. I was impressed with how professionally they handled it. And reassuring to know that had that been either me or my husband, we would have been taken care of. It made us late getting back to Sydney but I really heard no one complaining. Guess when it’s life or death, tight plane connections on disembarkation take a back seat.

[Keith1010]

Outstanding review.

 

Keith

[karoo]

Great read!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[mertziek]

Part 4

Final thoughts - Our last two days at sea were very welcome. They served as a good time to regenerate after all the touring and just relax. Plus pack! And I want to know who it is that comes into our room at night and shrinks our clothes? They need to stop doing that! Disembarkation was easy, too. We did arrive 3 hours late and they requested that we allow others with tight plane connections to get off first. Despite that, we were off the ship and checked into our Four Seasons hotel for one night by 9:45 am. We found our bags right away and got a cab. There are no porters to help get your bags from baggage claim to the taxi queue but we managed.

 

We had plans to do more touring in Sydney our last day but it was a very hot and sunny day so we just went to the Tauranga Zoo. We got to experience taking one of the ferries and what a beautiful view of the harbor and Sydney. Using the ferry system is so easy here. This was a package deal with round trip ferry and zoo admission included. We were at the zoo by 10:15 and walked around to see all of the animals. I can’t get enough of the koalas and kangaroos. We also got a good view of those elusive platypuses in their dark house. It was really hot so we decided to leave after 2.5 hours and we had seen all the exhibits. Plus the zoo was getting really crowded. It was a Sunday and kids were still out of school. Once back at the Circular Quay and we went back to the same restaurant we visited pre-cruise to have our final meal of fish and chips and Aussie beer. It was absolutely delicious again! I see why Aussies love that meal. We did a bit more shopping and then returned to our hotel. We had another corner room at The Four Seasons with an overview of the harbor and actually watched Jewel depart at 5 pm. Could not ask for a better view of the harbor. After resting a while, we were off to the Opera House for our cabaret show “Limbo Unhinged” in the Studio. It was more of a Cirque du Soleil type show and included a sword swallower. How she does that is beyond me. Very entertaining and glad we did it. So we can say we attended a performance in that beautiful Opera House. We went back to the burger place in the Gateway and had our final meal of burgers and chips. Also very tasty again. Then back to our room and final packing.

 

 

We had a ride arranged to the airport and got there about 3 hours before our flight. We spent the last of our Aussie money there other than a few coins. We were happy about that. We flew with Virgin Australia to LAX and again were able to sleep in their comfy lay flat seats. But I do wish they had a simpler American entree to select. I had their lasagna and it was good, not great. In the morning (although we left in the morning from Sydney and arrived in LAX 5 hours before we left Sydney - that darn International date line) we had a great hot breakfast. By the way, VA gives you pj’s to wear and we made use of them. Much more comfortable for sleeping. We were able to check in at Sydney for our Delta flights to Wisconsin, too, and once we checked our bags, we did not see them again until we were at our final destination other than when we did customs in LA. LAX is a very confusing and poorly signaged airport. We eventually figured out how to get to our Terminal and just relax a bit in the Delta lounge before doing the last leg of our travels. All in all, we were traveling more than 24 hours and were glad we broke up the trip to Sydney on our way out there. Much easier to adjust. We arrived in Madison to slight drizzle and slightly wet roads. And cooler temps but not the sub zero temps we left in. We were home by 9 pm and just hauled all of our bags into the house and went straight to bed. A great trip but there’s no place like home and your own bed!

 

We thoroughly enjoyed this vacay. It is a close second to our trip to Egypt 9 years ago. It was everything we expected and even more. The ports were great fun and we saw so many majestic vistas. Every time we turned around there was more to see and do. But I think part of the success was all of our planning in advance. If we waited until we got onboard the ship to set up tours, I don’t think we would have done and seen as much.

 

This was our first Meet and Mingle where we got to know fellow cruisers in advance and I really liked that. Once we met in person, it was like greeting old friends. And our group was so helpful with suggestions of what to do since we had so many Aussies on it and they helped steer us in the right direction. We also got a chance to meet a couple of sisters from Australia onboard at one of the bars and so enjoyed spending time with them. More friends to email.

 

This was our first time doing non-NCL tours and it was the best decision we ever made. The ship really scares you into using their excursions but two things are true - ship tours are more expensive and you don’t get to see/do as much as on privately arranged tours. Plus the private tours are usually much smaller and more enjoyable. The key is to look on the Ports of Call site for your destinations and check out Trip Advisor to get the lay of the land as to which tours are the best. We were very satisfied with all of ours.

 

We loved our suite and have the same room booked on the Pearl for our Panama Canal cruise in October. We like having the extra space and since we usually only do one, sometimes two, big vacays a year, we are ok splurging and paying the extra. The Owners Suite is located away from the Haven proper but we don’t use those facilities so it does not bother us. We also like having all the water and soda available to us as well as the 3 bottles of liquor but we barely drank any of even one bottle so the rest of our liquor came home with us. We never drank our sparkling bottles of wine this trip either or the extra bottle of Prosecco we received near the end of the cruise. We just don’t/can’t drink that much plus have the UBP. We do like having the UDP (wish they would offer 6 meals per 2 weeks but we had 6 included meals given our platinum status) and the UBP but wish they would make the internet offer into an unlimited package and cut out the shore excursion credit. I love staying connected even though the internet service is VERY, VERY SLOW. And we really love having the opportunity to eat breakfast and lunch in the confines of Moderno where you get some peace and sanity. But we also made use of the buffet and like the quick service from there. We always found something we liked to eat. And the specialty restaurants are nice but we found them to be hit or miss this time other than Cagney’s which is consistently very good. I liked having a copy of the movie schedule for the 2 TV movie channels but wish they would just leave a copy of the movie schedule and TV channel guide right in the room. We found it by the shore excursion info by happenstance and were not aware they even existed.

 

We found the entertainment to be very enjoyable. Although we did not go to the violinist, tenors, and jugglers those shows were very crowded, too, so I believe they were very good, too. I like having the Goodbye Show on the second to last night onboard. The last night is always so hectic with last minute packing and getting bags out on time and I enjoy seeing all the staff introduced again at the end.

 

The Jewel has a wonderful staff - very friendly and always trying to make things right for you. I’m impressed with how happy they all seem, too. And we really like the size of the ship. It is easy to navigate and keep track of where everything is.

 

So all in all we had a very favorable cruise, trip, vacay. I’m not sure we will get Down Under again and are happy we had a busy itinerary. We were sad to miss Bay of Islands but you just can’t do everything either. Our travels across the Tasman Sea were fairly calm. But we are not prone to motion sickness so it may have been tougher on others.

 

I’m happy to answer any questions.

[All-ready2cruise]

Wonderful review, thanks for taking so much time to do it. Really enjoyed the read.

[karoo]

I enjoyed your review. I’m on the Jewel next week and visiting most of the ports you did. Some of your private tours sound great. Were these set up through the roll call or did you just contact the company and they put you into a group?

 

 

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[mertziek]

I enjoyed your review. I’m on the Jewel next week and visiting most of the ports you did. Some of your private tours sound great. Were these set up through the roll call or did you just contact the company and they put you into a group?

 

 

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Some tours were set up by people on our roll call and we joined in. Some we did on our own by using tour company online websites. I found these companies to be very reputable and particularly interested in getting you back to the ship on time. The ones we used said they have never been late getting customers back to port. Their livelihood depends on them being reliable. In fact, the same day our Bay of Islands port was cancelled I received an email from the tour company saying we were already refunded for the missed tour. You will love the cruise. New Zealand is so beautiful and different from Australia. Both countries are wonderful!

[mertziek]

Wonderful review, thanks for taking so much time to do it. Really enjoyed the read.

Thank you. I always like reading others’ reviews because you learn so many things from their personal experiences.

[phissy]

Thank you. I always like reading others’ reviews because you learn so many things from their personal experiences.

Loved you review ...very well written.

We are sailing Jewel Feb 20 . SYD to Hong Kong. Could you please give us information on how you arranged car service from airport to hotel?

We are staying in The Rocks area also. Arriving 5 days early so, your review is perfect. Great imagery on both restaurant and local spot experiences.

Also, staying in the Haven. How did you find Concierge on this cruise ? Sometimes they are hit or miss.

ThAnks again.

[Tuscanybabe]

I enjoyed your review. I’m on the Jewel next week and visiting most of the ports you did. Some of your private tours sound great. Were these set up through the roll call or did you just contact the company and they put you into a group?

 

 

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Hi Karoo ,

Have a look at Robins websight if you are docking at Akaroa ,

We went on his tour when we were in New Zealand 3

years ago and it was the most enjoyable & unique day we have had while being on many previous cruises ,

Can only take 7 people on his Mail Run which makes it a more personal experience .

He takes you with to all the outlying farms & areas where a coach could not reach , delivering mail to all the imaginative & cute different mailboxes , while also taking in views & scenery that are breathtaking .

We stopped on a deserted beach where we had a picnic provided by Robin & his wife . ( home made muffins & preserves included ) , It was an unforgettable day we will never forget , Also excellent reviews on Trip Advisor where I originally found him .

( Eastern Akaroa Mail Run )

 

Enjoy New Zealand , we loved it .

 

Ann .

[mertziek]

Loved you review ...very well written.

We are sailing Jewel Feb 20 . SYD to Hong Kong. Could you please give us information on how you arranged car service from airport to hotel?

We are staying in The Rocks area also. Arriving 5 days early so, your review is perfect. Great imagery on both restaurant and local spot experiences.

Also, staying in the Haven. How did you find Concierge on this cruise ? Sometimes they are hit or miss.

ThAnks again.

 

We arranged our car directly with our hotel. Not sure how else to do it.

 

Caesar, our concierge, was very good. A soft spoken and fairly reserved man. He was very attentive to everyone and came over to talk with each table when we came in for breakfast each morning and also at lunch. He tried to accommodate all requests and changed a dinner reservation for us. He was actually the best concierge we’ve had but we don’t often need Concierge assistance. I know he stopped by our suite a couple of times to check on us but we were napping so he just left a note. He also got us priority disembarkation at the different ports that works out nice if you have early tours set up. So all in all, a very good concierge.

[mertziek]

Hi Karoo ,

Have a look at Robins websight if you are docking at Akaroa ,

We went on his tour when we were in New Zealand 3

years ago and it was the most enjoyable & unique day we have had while being on many previous cruises ,

Can only take 7 people on his Mail Run which makes it a more personal experience .

He takes you with to all the outlying farms & areas where a coach could not reach , delivering mail to all the imaginative & cute different mailboxes , while also taking in views & scenery that are breathtaking .

We stopped on a deserted beach where we had a picnic provided by Robin & his wife . ( home made muffins & preserves included ) , It was an unforgettable day we will never forget , Also excellent reviews on Trip Advisor where I originally found him .

( Eastern Akaroa Mail Run )

 

Enjoy New Zealand , we loved it .

 

Ann .

 

I believe our new friends from NYC did this tour and had the best time. I know they were with a postman (not absolutely certain it was Akaroa) on his route and said how interesting it was.

[cole]

All I can say is WOW! I am a planner and love doing private tours and your information was beyond helpful. I have printed everything you said about each port and will follow your lead. Thank you so much for being so detailed. You will never know how helpful it was. We have this cruise booked for January 2019!

Cole

[plantlady104]

"Once back at the Circular Quay and we went back to the same restaurant we visited pre-cruise to have our final meal of fish and chips and Aussie beer. It was absolutely delicious again!"

 

 

Thanks for the review, do you remember restaurant name or location where you ate? We have been there (CQ) before and noticed many outside cafes. We will be back later this year and would like to have the same delicious meal.

[cole]

After copying and reading the reviews in detail (and underlining lots of things to do), noticed that you mentioned two ports that are not on our itinerary for January 2019. They were Picton and Bay of Islands. It would be interesting to know why these are no longer included.

Cole

[jdvmd]

Excellent review! You have my vote for Review of the Week honors!

[Mid43]

I was SO hoping this review had pictures... ;p

[mertziek]

"Once back at the Circular Quay and we went back to the same restaurant we visited pre-cruise to have our final meal of fish and chips and Aussie beer. It was absolutely delicious again!"

 

 

Thanks for the review, do you remember restaurant name or location where you ate? We have been there (CQ) before and noticed many outside cafes. We will be back later this year and would like to have the same delicious meal.

 

We ate at the Searock Grill. It is located harborside on the Circular Quay about halfway between the Opera House and the wharf where all the ferries Park. We were almost directly across from where the cruise ships dock. There was another restaurant right next to it but we really liked the fish at the Searock and great service, too.

[GUT2407]

Love hearing what visitors think of our part of the world.

[plantlady104]

We ate at the Searock Grill. It is located harborside on the Circular Quay about halfway between the Opera House and the wharf where all the ferries Park. We were almost directly across from where the cruise ships dock. There was another restaurant right next to it but we really liked the fish at the Searock and great service, too.

 

Thanks for the info, we will check it out! Love the CQ area and Sydney.

[Port Power]

I just found your review and enjoyed it tremendously. You brought the ports and sights seen to life. No wonder people want more information. Very descriptive, and inspirational.

 

We think of you both every time Barry wears his ski school t-shirt. It was a really good cruise, and a lot of that was because of friends made through the roll call.

Carol

Edited March 17, 2018 by Port Power

[Port Power]

After copying and reading the reviews in detail (and underlining lots of things to do), noticed that you mentioned two ports that are not on our itinerary for January 2019. They were Picton and Bay of Islands. It would be interesting to know why these are no longer included.

Cole

Our cruise was 16 nights; I think yours is only 12 nights.

 

Picton is not often included in the shorter itineraries. Bay if Islands is also often deleted for the shorter cruises. "Short" meaning 12 nights or less. Napier is often skipped too, which is a great shame, so you are lucky there.