First time to Australia/New Zealand - need excursion advice

[Mickey88]

We are on the February 2025 Regatta sailing (14 days) from Sydney to Auckland.  It will be my first time on Oceania and first time in Australia and New Zealand.  Does anyone have tips on choosing shore excursions? Any “don’t miss” or any ports that are better explored on our own? We are pretty physically capable but not what I would call athletic - enjoy wildlife, history, and being active as opposed to an all-day bus tour.  Thanks for any ideas!!

[hen302]

You don't say which ports you are visiting but if you are going to Dunedin you could hire a car and go down the peninsula to the Albatross hatchery and other great wildlife and scenic areas.  There are also tour companies that will take you there. 

NZ also has some great wineries in very picturesque areas.  

The Weta workshop in Wellington is very interesting.  It's where they make animation models for movies such as The Hobbit.  

North Island has some spectacular beaches and scenery and Maori cultural sites.  Auckland harbour is beautiful and the ferry trip to Devonport is a great way to see the harbour and go to a lovely beach place for lunch. 

Hope you have a wonderful time. 

I am Australian so if you have any questions re Oz feel free to ask

Cheers 

[cruiseaholic78]

Welcome to CC.

Here is a good place to start.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/48-australia-amp-new-zealand/

Happy planning 

[Norseh2o]

Home from the January 25-February 8, 2024 round trip Sydney cruise. Wisely, we arrived in Sydney 2 days early and stayed for 5 days after debarking. Our ship, the Regatta took us around New Zealand, nice ship, great cruise. We hope to repeat the trip in 2026 (and add a cruise before or after, around Australia). Next time we would not book tours in the small towns/villages as each was worthy of self discovery. Oceania provided shuttle service for these stops and the smaller port stops offered easy walks, history, “aged” buildings, very nice ‘made in New Zealand’ goods and friendly people, especially Napier, NZ.   We would book tours in Auckland and Wellington, as both cities are big cities and a tour might be the best way to learn about them.

[Mickey88]

Thanks all!  We're on Regatta also - Australian ports are Melbourne, Burnie, & Hobart; New Zealand ports are Timaru, Christchurch, Wellington, Napier, Gisborne, and Tauranga.

 

I'm thinking something to see the native animals of each country plus it looks like lots of cool history in Tauranga for sure.  Other thoughts? 

 

Also for hen302 - we will be on our own in Sydney for a couple days before the cruise.  Give us some must-dos!  Thanks!
 

 

16 hours ago, hen302 said:

You don't say which ports you are visiting but if you are going to Dunedin you could hire a car and go down the peninsula to the Albatross hatchery and other great wildlife and scenic areas.  There are also tour companies that will take you there. 

NZ also has some great wineries in very picturesque areas.  

The Weta workshop in Wellington is very interesting.  It's where they make animation models for movies such as The Hobbit.  

North Island has some spectacular beaches and scenery and Maori cultural sites.  Auckland harbour is beautiful and the ferry trip to Devonport is a great way to see the harbour and go to a lovely beach place for lunch. 

Hope you have a wonderful time. 

I am Australian so if you have any questions re Oz feel free to ask

Cheers 

 

[Hlitner]

My advice is to extend your trip for at least 3 weeks (post cruise), rent a car to explore North Island for 10 days, fly to Christ Church, take the TransAlpine train to Graymouth, rent another car for about another 10 days, and really enjoy the islands.  I know this is not what the OP is expecting, but we were blown away by our first visit to NZ and subsequently spent time driving both islands.  We especially fell in love with South Island (there are more sheep/cows then people) and being able to drive to glaciers, spend a few days in picturesque Queenstown (not accessible on any cruise line excursion), enjoy the very good South Island wines (especially Pinot Noir), etc.

 

Most of us here on CC love to cruise.  Australia and NZ are terrific places to see on a cruise, but they are even more terrific to see on an extended driving trip.

 

Hank

P.S.  If I could not live in the USA for some reason, South Island, NZ would be my 2nd choice.

[hen302]

I agree with hlitner re spending more time in NZ but if you can't do it here are some more suggestions.

Sydney is a beautiful city and you can easily see a lot of it by using the ferries on the harbor.  Trips to Manly and Parramatta by ferry give you great views and are a very cheap way to see major sites. You can even take a ferry to the zoo.  I can happily spend a couple of days walking around the city and taking ferries. Public transport is also easy to use.

Melbourne is the arts and food capital of Australia.  Very good national gallery and always has excellent theatre productions.  There are 4 major productions on now. Public transport trams are free in the city centre. The port is a short Uber fare away or about 30 mins walk. Lovely old buildings. A free old fashioned tram (circle team)takes you on a narrated tour of the city centre.   Hardware Lane is a fantastic place to find excellent food 24/7.  I wouldn't go to see wildlife here. It's a long trip to Phillip Island. Plenty of chances in Tasmania and NZ for wildlife. 

Burnie is nice little town in Tasmania.  I would take a tour to a wildlife park here and take in some beautiful rural scenery.

Hobart is a beautiful old small city on a great river harbour.  Take a walk around the historic centre part.  There is a fantastic museum of modern art (MONA). You can get a ferry there from the city centre.  A day trip to the convict settlement of Port Arthur is haunting and beautiful.  A must see. 

Timaru is a nice little town to wander around. Easy walking.

Christchurch is a very pretty university town that has been hit by large earthquakes over many years. If you into wine I would visit a few wineries around here. Best thing about Oceania is that you can it back on board and drink it. NZ has some of the best sav Blanc in the world.  

Wellington will be wet and windy. Consider an indoor activity.  Weta workshop and/or museum. There is a cable car but have never got on it yet because it's always wet and windy.

If you into art deco Napier is your town. Destroyed in an earthquake in the 1920s it was rebuilt in art deco style.  Stunning little place and easy to walk. 

Tauranga is close to hobbiton where they filmed the movie and you can combine this with a tour to Rotarua for hot springs and Maori culture.  If you don't want to far Tauranga has great beaches and a mountain to climb or walk around.

Hope you enjoy it. Cheers