The temperature was 22 degrees C and partly cloudy. My husband went off on one of his long all day excursions, this one was to the Rotorua and the Thermal Valley trip. The tour started with seeing the thermal hot springs and mud. They then had a chance to see a Kiwi, which being nocturnal was in a very dark hut and you had to adjust your eyes in order to see it. This was followed by a tour around a Maori village. Then a ride in a cable car up Mount Ngoongotaha for a scenic lunch ( yes another) where they were entertained with a Maori cultural show. My husband volunteered to do the Haka, so quite obviously a glass or two of something alcoholic was involved in the lunch.
My son is a huge fan of the Lord of the Rings, so he was keen to see the Hobbit village and I was happy to do that excursion too. Our driver explained that he wasn’t really a tour guide but a bus driver and had been asked to help out while the cruise ship was here. He was very chatty as they all seem to be in New Zealand. He pointed out various things of interest on the way and included all the many fatal and less fatal road traffic accidents that had happened on the very long steep and winding hill, that took us down to Middle earth. We had been advised to expect rain so we all had our waterproofs with us. When we arrived our coach stopped to pick up our guide for the tour. It was a little chilly when we got off the coach and a few drops of rain came down. Fortunately the sun came out and it turned out to be warm and sunny.
I took loads of photos of my son sitting on tiny stools, opening little round doors and climbing out of them. We had great fun. The paths were just mud paths and we were fortunate it was dry. We ended our tour at the Green Dragon Inn, where we were treated to drinks and large muffins. My son was still peckish, so I bought him a ploughman’s and I had a scone and a pot of jam (The scone was enormous but yummy). I took more photos inside and outside the Inn and then we went back to the coach for a stop at the shop, where we bought some souvenirs for my grandchildren who are also fans of the film. Then as we all got back on the coach for our return journey, the heavens opened and it poured down. We were so lucky!
3 sea days. March already the time just seemed to fly by.
3 March 2015 – Melbourne the temperature was a pleasant 22 degrees C. We decided to do our own thing here. Just a short walk from the ship was an electric tram, which took you into the city. We saw a sign pointing to the shops and decided to walk in that direction and do some shopping. The sign said it was 16mins to the shops, but we were walking for a lot longer and hadn’t come across them. Finally we stopped and asked directions. The shops weren’t that impressive and we now wished we’d just caught the tram right into the city centre. We decided to go back on the tram to the port and look for a restaurant to have lunch. We looked around and found a nice restaurant called the Waterfront. It turned out to be a really good choice. The food was delicious and definitely the best we had on or off the ship. We vowed if we came back we’d take the tram into the city centre next time and come back to the same restaurant. I wonder if we ever will now.
4 March 2015 – Burnie, Tasmania. The weather was cooler with a maximum temperature of 17 degrees C. My husband was off on another 8 hour excursion visiting different Tasmanian towns, a museum and a chocolate factory. My son and I went to the Wings Wildlife Park. We love our wildlife tours. This was a family run wildlife park, where they had a lot of rescue animals. We were able to see Tasmanian devils and were allowed to stroke a baby one. The older ones would have taken your hand off, but looked quite cute running around their compound. We stroked a wombat and a koala too. Then we went to the kangaroo compound where we could feed the kangaroos. It was a large field and the kangaroos were running about, they really could move quickly. They were quite tame though and happy to take the food from your hand. Some of them had joeys in their pouches. We really enjoyed our time here.
We had one sea day before we reached Sydney. In Sydney we became members of the Caribbean tier and entitled to a peninsular lunch. I can’t remember when it was however. I like the lunches although we usually request a have a table for the 3 of us, which we prefer.
6 March 2015 – Sydney. Really nice weather. We’d had a letter from P&O shortly after we’d left Southampton to say that our first day in Sydney would be a tender port. A lot of people were not happy to be told this after the cruise had started. I don’t know why it was but I understand this is the way it will be from now on. I had decided to do an excursion the ‘Highlights of Sydney.’ I’d always vowed never to do another tour with ‘Highlights or Panoramic’ in the title but as the boys were off to the Blue Mountains the next day and there were no other excursions offered on the second day, I thought I’d at least see something of Sydney. Last time we were only here for one day and we wanted to see an opera. My tour was actually quite interesting and we ended up at Bondi beach, where I bought my son a sleeveless t-shirt to wear in the gym. My husband and son did some shopping strolled over to the Opera house and waited for me to join them for lunch. We had pre-arranged where to meet and I found them easily. After lunch we strolled around the waterfront watching all the entertainment,then got the tender back to the ship. At about 8pm the ship finally docked.
7 March 2015 – Second day in Sydney the weather started cloudy but within an hour was again warm and sunny. My son and husband went off on their excursion to the Blue Mountains for the day. They were taken first to a wildlife park and saw a lot of the same animals we’d seen in Tasmania with the addition of blue penguins and crocodiles. They rode on the world’s steepest perpendicular railway, which plunged 700 ft. into the valley. This took them, after a short walk in the forest, to the cable car for the return journey. I wasn’t sure my son would enjoy the cable car but it was just a short ride. Lunch was in the Mountain Heritage Hotel.
I had the day to myself and decided to go over to the place known as the Rock, where there was an outdoor market with pavement cafes and street musicians, some of them were really good. It was a really good atmosphere and after having a good look at the stalls, I walked into the city to have a look at the shops there. I walked from there over towards the Opera house and walked around the Botanical Gardens. I don’t know how long I was walking for, but my feet were starting to hurt so I stopped at one of the many waterfront cafes for something to eat and drink, before returning to the ship.
2 days at sea.
10 March 2015 – Today we sailed the Milford Sound. It was interesting and we had a local guide on the bridge who gave a commentary about the views we were seeing. There is usually wildlife to be seen in the Milford Sound but we were unlucky this time. It was beautiful though. We saw a little snow and ice on the tops of the mountains so we knew the weather was getting colder.
11 March 2015 –
Dunedin in the southern Island of New Zealand.
The weather was mostly sunny and was between 12 - 18 degrees. My husband’s excursion was for 6 hours on the Taieri Gorge Railway. The train actually stops right on the quayside. So he only had to get off the ship and straight onto the train. It was run by volunteers but my husband said it was extremely well organized. He thoroughly enjoyed it and the scenery was spectacular.
My son and I went on another boat trip in the hope of seeing albatross. It was sunny but very cold. We arrived at the lighthouse where the Royal albatross usually nest and waited. We could see the nests on the cliffs and some had young birds in them. Then a few of the adults started to fly in to feed the young. Some of them landed in the sea near the boat so we were able to see them clearly and get some good photos. I was able to see the fur seals, which are now a protected species and a little blue penguin diving near the boat.
When we got back to the ship we decided to get the shuttle bus and go into the city and take a look at Dunedin.
We found a little café and had something to eat. My son had a local beer but I had a coffee as I was feeling the cold here.
12th March
Akaroa
This was another tender port. It was a lovely sunny day here and a little warmer. My husband decided to do the Tranz Alpine train journey. It was a 9 hour tour. He really is a glutton for punishment. Part of it was by coach and although the scenery was spectacular he didn’t enjoy the trip as much as the one in Dunedin.
My son and I decided we didn’t want to do an excursion and just got the tender into the town. The town had been settled in by the French and the influences were all around. It really is a pretty little place. We walked around by the sea front enjoying a bit of warmth from the sun. Then of course we found a café and ordered the same local beer that my son had enjoyed in Dunedin. Straight away the waitress asked if our ship had come from Dunedin. She guessed they are the only towns on the South Island who have that particular beer.
The food was very good and we took a photo of our dessert to show my husband what he’d missed.
Although he enjoys his long excursions I began to realise on this cruise that when you do an excursion you sometimes miss out on the port itself. It’s fine if you do a short excursion and still have time to look around but it isn’t always possible after the long excursions.
Wellington next.
