OUR CRUISE FROM AUCKLAND TO SYDNEY
Jan. 23- Feb. 10, 2010

After a long and uneventful flight we landed in Auckland, New Zealand. Our ship sailed the very next morning and we made our first stop in Tauranga, New Zealand. (9 pictures) The name means sheltered “a sheltered anchorage”. It is located on the Bay of Plenty. We visited a Maori compound and learned about their culture and history. We did see an ethnic dance show ( men and women and men) and Bob participated in doing the Hakka, a dance done at family gatherings.

  We spent a day at sea on our way to Napier, New Zealand. The captain gave the passengers a scenic tour of White Island/Whakarri. (19 pictures) It is the only active volcano in New Zealand. It last erupted in 2000. Several attempts to mine sulphur were unsuccessful.  

We docked in Napier and toured Cape Kidnappers ( movie clip) with a trip to a Gannett Rookery ( movie clip) overlooking Hawkes Bay. Cape Kidnappers is a 5,000-acre sheep and cattle ranch that is very mountainess. It also has an 18-hole golf course. The Kinseys cannot go anywhere without seeing a lighthouse and, of course; there was one there next to the Rookery. It was not very impressive but still a lighthouse just the same. The buildings in town had a definite art deco look. (17 pictures of cape, rookery, lighthouse, and town) This area produces much of the fruits and vegetables including grapes for wine making. We stopped at a community center and had some of the fresh fruits from the area.

  While we were in Wellington we traveled the Storm Coast Road ( movie clip) to get to Pancarrow Station/sheep ranch. The scenery was breathtaking. People were diving for rock lobster (the natives call them crayfish) and abalone. Both are plentiful there. We were treated to a morning tea and a sheep dog herding exhibition. We could not pass up an opportunity to take photos of the Pencarrow lighthouse. (22 pictures)

  We arrived at Littleton, NZ, at a container port ( clip of port and town crier) near Christ Church and toured Banks Peninsula and visited yet another sheep farm called Manderlay Farm. Sheep shearing was demonstrated, we were told about sheep dogs, and a sheep dog named Mitch earned his keep. We also had time to relax in as small town called Akaroa. (32 pictures)

  We were off to Dunedin where we again docked at a container port. We took an eight-wheel drive vehicle down to the sea and watched New Zealand sea lions and only 1 penguin (24 pictures). We had a great lunch looking over the ocean after which we took a city tour of Dunedin.  

We then left New Zealand was off to Tasmania but we took some time to cruise the Milford Fjord ( 16 pictures and a movie clip). It took us the rest of the day and a full day on very rough seas to reach Hobart, Tasmania. On the way we saw a hupe pod of dolphins and a beautiful sunset. While in Hobart we visited a Tasmanian Devil rescue center. We saw the Tasmanian Devils they are trying to resue. They will be extinct in the wild within 5 years because of viral face cancer that is spreading over the entire island. We fed Kangaroos of all sizes and wallabys and saw a bird show. We also toured a former penal colony called Port Arthur. (24 pictures) In its day it was not very nice place to be.  

We then left Tasmania and we were on our way to Melbourne Australia. We took our own tour of Melbourne and saw St Pauls Cathedral (Anglican) (7 pictures). We took the tolleys to and from the port and also a line that went around the center of the city. In the afternoon of the next day we took a ride on a narrow gauge railroad called Puffing Billy. After the train ride we went to see some cokatoos and parrots at National Park. (16 pictures)

It rained all the way to Sydney. We docked the next day in the same weather. We did not get to see much of the Blue Mountains outside of Sydney because of the clouds and rain. We rode down into a valley on rails and up on a tram but we didn't see much of the sorrounding terrain including the Three Sisters. It had been raining there for days. The sun finally came back out again for the remainder of our trip. It was quite warm there. Our first day in Sydney (Super Bowl Sunday) we had another half day tour of the city. We even watched the end of the game on TV while we were having lunch. The Aussies really liked the game. (14 pictures)

We had a three day post cruise extension in Sydney. We stayed at the Marriot Four Seasons on the 32nd floor near the Opera House. We did a lot of walking on the streets around the hotel but when we went to the wildlife center and aquarium we took a ferry. Here are various video clips from the widlifecenter ( bugs, butterflys, koalas, kangaroos, green frogs, cassoway, night animals, penguins, reptiles, and platypus). The aquarium is next door and floats in the harbour. On the way back we saw a lighthouse and a light ship. We also took a ferry to Manly and back. (32 pictures)

On our last day we walked over to the Botanical Gardens. We saw the Government House but couldn't go in because it was in use. They are having a problem in the garden with fox bats who damage the plants. On our way back tothe hotel we saw a Aborigine playing a Didgeridoo. (19 pictures)

  It was a wonderful three weeks in the southern half of our world.