New Zealand
December 2019
As I mentioned on my Australia page, my husband and I visited New Zealand and Australia for our 40th wedding anniversary. Although we travelled the east coast of Australia by car, we decided to enjoy New Zealand by going on an 11-day cruise of both islands. We had a great cabin with a balcony on the 9th deck at the very front of the bow. We would open the balcony door and sleep to the sound of the waves!
We started our cruise in Auckland, near the tip of the north island. We then visited six more ports as we cruised southward, spent a day at sea touring the spectacular Fjordland National Park on the south island, and finally two more ship days to reach Sydney, our final destination.
– Click on any picture below to enlarge –
Auckland
We had an evening and most of a day in Auckland before boarding our cruise ship. The sunset skyline photo is from our 16th floor hotel room. In the morning we took an Uber to the Auckland Botanic Gardens, which was an amazing experience. We walked the gardens for many hours and never even reached the far end. Very beautiful and relaxing. Most of the photos below are from the gardens.
Finally it was time to board the ship to start our 11-day cruise! The photo of the sailboat race was taken from the cruise ship deck as we were departing.
Tauranga
In Tauranga, we booked a shore excursion which took us through the town and past some beautiful beaches. We toured a battle site where the Maori fought the British, then rode up to the Minden outlook past farms with sheep and cattle, beautiful green hills and a silver fern forest (so beautiful!), and finally reached the gorgeous view from the top.
On the way back we visited a honey shop and then had an authentic fish-and-chips lunch wrapped in layers of paper and served with vinegar — advertised as the best in NZ!
Tauranga is located in the Bay Of Plenty, as is White Island where a volcanic eruption occurred three days prior to our arrival. White Island is New Zealand's most active cone volcano, and here are some interesting facts. The cruise ship that had docked in Tauranga before us had an excursion to the island on the day of the eruption. Could have been us! These photos were taken from our ship.
Napier
From the ship, we took a short bus ride to Napier — very much an art deco town! The business district took us back to the "roaring 20's" with hats, clothes, dishes and more. Store clerks were all dressed in vintage clothing. We saw several ladies outside the store fronts on looms, making yarn from sheep and alpaca wool, as well as many ladies knitting inside the shops.
We walked back along the beach which was covered in small black pebbles. Even Graham said it was hard to walk on the beach as you sink into the stones 😮! We meandered through some beautiful flower gardens on the way back.
Picton
Picton was a lovely town on the north coast of the south island, nestled in the inlets of Marlborough Sound. We got up early enough to watch from our balcony as the ship cruised through the fjords towards town. We were surrounded by mountains, and the forests were so thick and green that we saw docks sticking out into the water but couldn't see the houses.
As soon as we arrived, a group of musicians were singing Christmas carols, women were dancing the Maori dances, and plenty of artisans were selling their beautiful crafts on the grassy slopes. New Zealand is known for their Paua shell, so lots of the jewelry and art was made with the Paua.
We took a nice long hike up the Waikawa Track. We then walked and shopped around town, ending with a local Marlborough beer for Graham (we were actually in the Port of Marlborough ) and some local NZ wine for me.
Akaroa
Akaroa is in Akaroa Harbor on the south island, surrounded by three volcanic craters created millions of years ago. The volcanic sediment in the water makes it a beautiful blue color. We hiked up to Stanley Park where we had a great view of the surrounding area.
We then took a tour up one of the craters for some more beautiful vistas, visited a sheep farm where we fed the sheep, and saw some of the area's blue penguins in their nesting boxes. These penguins are blue to adapt to the blue waters for camouflage. Our tour guide also hand-fed some of the distressed penguins.
After getting back to town, we took a hike to the top of a small mountain where there was a large rhino (as well as some other animals) built from recycled car parts! We had a drink at a sidewalk bar listening to an excellent street guitarist before heading back to the ship.
Wellington
We cruised back to the north island to visit Wellington, the capital of New Zealand. The day started with rain, but luckily it didn't last too long. We spent a couple of hours at the Te Papa Tongarewa Museum, quite large and very well done! We then walked around the city, enjoying the buildings and the art.
We learned about the New Zealand teatree (photo below), which are abundant in this area. They grow as bushes or very large trees depending on where they are. If you rub the leaves it smells just like green tea, and apparently they use the leaves to make green tea shampoo and lotions!
Dunedin
Back to the south island, the ship docked in Port Chalmers which is about a 30 minute ride into Dunedin. It was raining, so we decided to take the "Back to Nature" bus tour which included a tour of Dunedin, a ride up to the peak to see the view of the bay (we were in a cloud bank!), down to see beaches with fur seals (no penguins out today), and it finally stopped raining for the return trip along the coast as we meandered through the bays (couldn't take photos from the bus!). In spite of the rain and fog, it was a good thing to do on a wet day!
Fjordland National Park
Our last day in New Zealand was spent cruising through the fjords at the south-western tip of the south island. Our ship took us into Dusky Sound, Doubtful Sound and Milford Sound. As per my quick research, a sound is "a smaller body of water typically connected to a larger sea or ocean".
It was a beautiful day, and the only way to describe it is with photos!
I decided not to edit or touch up these photos, since it truly was a mostly gray day and I did not want to take away from the natural lighting or make it a brighter day than it actually was! Sun did come out here-and-there. In the top two photos, you can see the same mountains transitioning from blue to grey as the sun disappeared!
Thanks for visiting!
