Let's go on a virtual NZ and Australia cruise

[possum52]

3 minutes ago, boeckli said:

 

No it's not - we are on a SHIP (even if only a virtual one)  😜

I'll rephrase - the days seem to be going very quickly. So much to do and see on the Ocean Pearl and the Bay of Islands was wonderful.

[OzKiwiJJ]

8 minutes ago, possum52 said:

This cruise is flying! Thanks OzKiwiJJ!

Not that fast, it will be another 38 days realtime before we arrive back on Sydney and if people are still interested I have another itinerary in mind after that.

[GUT2407]

49 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Not that fast, it will be another 38 days realtime before we arrive back on Sydney and if people are still interested I have another itinerary in mind after that.

B2b???

[OzKiwiJJ]

19 minutes ago, GUT2407 said:

B2b???

We'll probably stay a few nights docked or anchored in Sydney first. Some of us might want to pop home for a few days to see our pets but those that don't will be able to stay on the ship until the next cruise departs.

[Blackduck59]

11 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

We'll probably stay a few nights docked or anchored in Sydney first. Some of us might want to pop home for a few days to see our pets but those that don't will be able to stay on the ship until the next cruise departs.

If you make it a Trans Pacific, Lynn and I won't have to fly home😁

[aussielozzie18]

I haven't had the pleasure of visiting the Bay of Islands but a sailing trip with a long lunch including fresh NZ produce and NZ wines would be the type of shore tour I would be interested in.

[OzKiwiJJ]

58 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

If you make it a Trans Pacific, Lynn and I won't have to fly home😁

Sorry, Lyle, but it won't be a transpacific. Then I'd have to fly home!!!!

[OzKiwiJJ]

5 minutes ago, aussielozzie18 said:

I haven't had the pleasure of visiting the Bay of Islands but a sailing trip with a long lunch including fresh NZ produce and NZ wines would be the type of shore tour I would be interested in.

I'm fairly sure there would be some yachts for charter in the Bay of Islands, skippered or non-skippered as you choose, and either a luxury picnic lunch provided if you're sailing it yourself or an onboard chef to prepare lunch if you choose the skippered option. 

[boeckli]

Before we depart the lovely Bay of Islands, I wanted to share a few images from my visit there almost exactly 12 mths ago (18.04.2019). Took the ferry to Russell, walked around there for a while and enjoyed some refreshments looking out over the bay, then headed back to Paihia, where a nice little market was set up for us cruise ship visitors. All up an enjoyable day. Next time (whenever that will be) I'd like to do one of the organised boat tours.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[lyndarra]

On 4/17/2020 at 6:09 PM, OzKiwiJJ said:

Sorry, I already chose a name - see the first post. She's called the Ocean Pearl which has no links to any current cruise line that I can find. However you can imagine it looking any way you like.

Ocean Pearl! That was the name of a Chinese restaurant near here (Charlestown).

[OzKiwiJJ]

3 minutes ago, lyndarra said:

Ocean Pearl! That was the name of a Chinese restaurant near here (Charlestown).

I can assure you are cruise ship is not a Chinese restaurant. 🤣

 

I tried to think of a name that didn't link to any existing cruise lines, so I couldn't use "Queen", "Princess", "of the Seas" etc.

 

I thought of Sun Diamond, the nickname for those sparkles on the water when the sea is fairly calm but decided Diamond wasn't a good choice. I would have liked Mermaid of the Seas but that has connotations of Royal Caribbean.

 

Eventually I thought of Ocean Pearl which checked out OK.

[Bubbeh]

5 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Otherwise there is a risk you'll all get bored with it and I'll end up cruising all on my own.

Not bloody likely!

[OzKiwiJJ]

Gorgeous photos, Boeckli. Thanks for posting them. 

 

That market is lovely, and the people there are very helpful. I'd pulled a muscle in my back just before we arrived there on a cruise. I went to one stall to get something to rub on it and the lovely woman running the stall recommended Bayview Health for a massage. I managed to get a booking later that afternoon and it was the best massage I've ever had. 

 

[possum52]

We had a great, informative time at the Waitangi Treaty Ground. We were there for a few hours and did the guided tour, watched a Maori cultural performance, explored the museum, the Treaty House and wandered around taking it all in.  We had a late lunch of fish and chips which were very good. 
 

As we were in Bay of Islands for the night we decided to go back to the ship and have a rest and go back to the Treaty Grounds for a hangi and concert. So good. I had forgotten how tasty the food in a hangi is. 
 

Today we had a cruise around the bay. It was just amazing. We saw pods of dolphins and had the most amazing seafood lunch before returning to shore. Such a good day. 
 

We won’t need much for dinner tonight. Just a light meal and perhaps a pre dinner drink or two. 
 

Leigh

[MicCanberra]

Got back to my cabin to find that they have left corn chips and guacamole instead of the usual canapes. In addition, they had also left 2 Riedel VINUM tumblers, a 375ml bottle of Johnny Walker Blue and a bucket of ice. 😊

[OzKiwiJJ]

16 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

Got back to my cabin to find that they have left corn chips and guacamole instead of the usual canapes. In addition, they had also left 2 Riedel VINUM tumblers, a 375ml bottle of Johnny Walker Blue and a bucket of ice. 😊

Well, what do you expect on OUR cruise ship? We're not a four star line, nor a five star line. Not even a six star line. We're a seven star line. The best in the world.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Itinerary Item 4 – Auckland

 

I hope you all enjoyed our stop in the Bay of Islands.

 

Now we’re in Auckland, docked at Queens Wharf, for at least two days – maybe three if we need to be.

 

Auckland, also known as the City of Sails, and sometimes the City of Volcanoes, is NZ’s largest city. It’s actually situated on two harbours – the Waitemata Harbour where we are now, that is accessed from the east coast of the North Island through the Hauraki Gulf, and the Manukau Harbour to the south of us which comes in from the west coast. BTW I think Waitemata means Sparking Waters and aren’t they looking just beautiful this morning. Auckland is built on over 50 volcanoes – hopefully they are all extinct!

 

There is so much to see and do around Auckland. The waterfront area, from the Britomart Precinct to the left as you leave the ship, along to the Viaduct Basin and Wynyard Quarter to the right has many great restaurants and interesting shops. At the far end of the Britomart Precinct there is a large Countdown supermarket if you need anything that is not available in the ship’s shop.

 

Places of Interest in Auckland include:

-          Auckland War Memorial Museum situated in the Auckland Domain

-          Auckland Art Galley

-          Motat – the Museum of Transport and Technology

-          New Zealand Maritime Museum, just a short walk to the right at the entrance to the Viaduct Basin

-          Kelly Tarleton’s Sea Life Aquarium which pioneered the type of aquariums where visitors walk through the large tanks in a Perspex tube

-          Sky Tower – fancy a bungy jump?

If you go for a wander through the city look out for some of Auckland’s more interesting buildings:

-          Ferry Terminal, on the corner where we docked

-          Britomart Transport Centre which is in an historic Edwardian building

-          Auckland Town Hall

-          Civic Theatre

-          St Patrick’s Cathedral

 

Devonport is a short ferry ride away and is worth a visit. It’s a cute village surrounded by heritage housing. From there you can walk, or drive, up North Head, explore the old war fortifications and see the disappearing gun, and get great views of the harbour. Make sure you have a torch, some of those tunnels are quite dark.

 

The summits of Mt Eden and One Tree Hill are also great places to get excellent views of Auckland. Yes, there was really one tree on One Tree Hill but some nutter attacked it and damaged it too badly for it to survive, so now there is only the obelisk.

 

Islands worth visiting are:

-          Rangitoto which you can visit as a day trip. You can walk up to the summit or I think they may now offer some sort of transport up there. Ask at the excursion desk and they will arrange with the shore team for a picnic lunch to be ready for you.

-          Waiheke. Again, book through the excursion desk and a car/minivan will be available at the Matiatia Bay wharf to take you on a tour of the island and some of its wineries.

-          Tiri Matangi is a little further away. It is a wildlife sanctuary and you can see some rare NZ birds and reptiles here. Watch out for the very rare Takehe – well you probably can’t miss them, they are cheeky little blighters and if you put your pack down on the ground they’ll immediately make a beeline for it to see if you have anything interesting – at least they did the time I went there.

 

Waiheke Island isn’t the only wine region around Auckland. Matakana, to the north, has now become one of the areas most popular tourist spots, with great wineries and restaurants. It’s a lovely drive up there and back. Take a couple of slight detours on the way back  - one down to Mahurangi West where you’ll get some different views of the Hauraki Gulf at the end of the road (and I vaguely recall a pleasant bushwalk somewhere around there too) and another detour to Puhoi Valley Cheeses.

Closer to Auckland, but to the west, is Kumeu where there are a number of older established wineries.

 

The Waitakere Ranges are worth visiting. There is a scenic drive through them with a visitor centre. You could take a side trip down Piha Rd to Piha Beach, a popular surfing spot, or down Te Henga Rd and Bethells Rd to Bethells Beach where there is a giant black sand dune tucked away near a small lake just inland from the beach – look for the Lake Wainamu Car Park and walk in from there along the creek.

 

Again, if you’ve done any of these excursions, especially more recently than me, then please tell us about them, plus any other things you’ve done here that I’ve missed. Please post photos as well.

 

If you’ve just joined us, please read the first post which contains the rules for this thread. Note this is a luxury all inclusive ship - all drinks, restaurants, internet, excursions, spa, beauty salon.

 

Our next port of call will be Tauranga.

[OzKiwiJJ]

The problem with visiting a city you lived in for 15 years is you forget to take photos. But I have a few.

 

This one is taken from my friends house in the Waitakares, looking across to the city in the far distance on a misty Auckland morning.

 

A Takahe wanders past on Tiritiri Matangi.

 

 

One of the views from the top of Tiritiri Matangi

 

 

Rangitoto from Tiritiri Matangi

 

 

The Giant Sand Dune at Bethells Beach

 

 

The Giant Sand Dune seen from the other end of Lake Wainamu

 

 

I'll see if I can find some more later. 

[shipgeeks]

This is shaping up to be one of the best cruises ever!

Excellent fish and chips ashore yesterday.  The scenery, and the weather, were beautiful.  Loved the folkloric show aboard.

Has anyone else checked out the hair dryer in your cabin?  Mine is the same as the one I use at home!  And the soaps, lotions, and shampoo are exactly to my taste.

Auckland here we come!

[Blackduck59]

6 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Sorry, Lyle, but it won't be a transpacific. Then I'd have to fly home!!!!

 

Bummer, oh well I may have to fly home early. I've been scolded again.

[boeckli]

I got up early to get some shots of the sunrise and our sail-in to Auckland (17.04.2019)

 

 

 

 

 

[Sarnia 432]

Such nice memories.  We were in Auckland in 1994, January, for our honeymoon.  I remember going up one tree hill, we will likely do something different on this visit.

[Sarnia 432]

Well in the end we took the ferry over to Devonport.  What a lovely town, we wandered round and looked at the colonial houses.  The amazing excursion desk arranged for a local cafe to supply a picnic lunch for us.  It was delivered to the dock and we picked it up on our was off the ship.  We ended up eating our lunch with a great view over the harbour from North Head.  We explored the old war fortifications before heading back for the return ferry.  Fabulous weather today, sunny and warm, with a light ocean breeze, just how I like it.

[GUT2407]

17 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

We'll probably stay a few nights docked or anchored in Sydney first. Some of us might want to pop home for a few days to see our pets but those that don't will be able to stay on the ship until the next cruise departs.

Surely we have kennels onside or somewhere for Maxy to sleep, otherwise I may need a refund.

 

[GUT2407]

Was in Auckland in January, so probably ferry to Devonport.

 

I must say Auckland would be in my top couple of ports to sail into or out of.