On March 11, 2008 we flew from Sacramento, CA to Honolulu, Hawaii via Hawaiian Airlines. We spent a night in a hotel on Waikiki and caught our plane to Sydney the next morning. Our flight with Jet Star (Qantas) was scheduled for 8 AM but was late (which we later learned was common) and we didn’t leave until after 9 AM. We had a good flight and arrived at Sydney late afternoon, one day later. We took a taxi to our hotel, the Holiday Inn in Darlington Harbor, got some dinner and our first day was over.

We woke up to rain, but it had cleared by 9:30 AM. We had a continental breakfast at the hotel for $18.50 each. A full breakfast buffet was $10 more which we thought was pricey.

We walked to Darlington Harbour to get our Sydney and Beyond Events Pass that we had ordered. There were two information shops that sell a variety of passes, make reservations and provide maps and commuting instructions for the various events. We wished we would have gone there and checked out our options instead of buying a pass in advance. Many of the events we had planned were located out of town and required bus or train travel.

Our first tour was of the Sydney Aquarium which we thoroughly enjoyed.

After that, we bought fish and chips from a fast food place for our lunch. Delicious. We even had this local bird join us for lunch.

In the afternoon we took a ‘Majesty Cruise’ of the Bay. We saw the Opera House, million dollar homes, a swimming beach with a net protecting the swimmers from sharks, and most interesting was the people climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge

On our second day we toured Wildlife World, located in the Darlington Harbour. The Koala display was our favorite. We found out they spend most of their time (90%) sleeping, and have very little energy because of the food they eat.

After that, we walked to the Australia National Maritime Museum. It had some fascinating displays. We were also looking for the Casino, but never found it.

We walked by the entrance to the Chinese Gardens and decided it was worth a look. The gardens were beautiful and restful. . We were surprised when a shopkeeper asked if I would be interested in wearing a beautiful Chinese kimono. For $10 I rented the outfit and we were able to walk through the gardens and take pictures. It was fun dressing up and our only disappointment was we didn’t know they had outfits for men.

In the afternoon we took a City Tour. We went past the historical buildings in Sydney, to the Botanical Gardens, past the red-light district and out to Bondi Beach. The traffic was heavy and our travel was slow but it was very enjoyable. Bondi Beach was not as busy as usual because of the cool weather.

After breakfast and the usual morning rain, we were off for our final walk around the Darling Harbour.

We never made it to the sky tower, which offers an incredible view of the city.

We also missed touring the Opera House, even though we went by it on our Bay Cruise. There was more to see and do in Sydney than we could accomplish in three days.

We took a cab to our ship, the Statendam, at 11:00 a.m. and there were already people waiting in line to get on the ship. It wasn’t long before we were on board ship eating our first of many meals. We had our mandatory lifeboat drill at 5 PM and at 6:54 we disembarked and were on our way to Melbourne, Australia.

Sunday we spent the day at sea. The weather was 73 with a moderate breeze.

Monday we docked in Melbourne at 8 AM. We booked the Puffing Billy & Countryside 4 hour tour, so were off the ship at 8:45 AM. We boarded a bus and traveled about 1 hour into the Sherbrooke Forest to ride the Puffing Billy Steam Train. The ride took us through a eucalypt forest The ground was covered with tree ferns. It was very pretty, but not as lush as I expected coming from Northern California. Australia is in the middle of a drought and it was late summer.

It’s a tradition to hang your feet out of the windows of this narrow gage train and most riders did.

After our ride, our driver took us to the top of the mountain for a view of the city. It was pretty hazy. We walked around and spent time in the English tea garden.

We had an excellent guide and driver and between the two of them, we were thoroughly entertained. One thing we found out was there is a fierce rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne. Each thinks they are better than the other. They are very different and even though we liked them both, we preferred Sydney because it was more modern and up to date.

We decided to skip tours and go into town – maybe a mistake as we heard lots of good things about the Burnie tours. When we got off the ship, the mayor and his wife were waiting to greet and welcome us.

We took the free shuttle bus into town. We went through their art gallery and checked out their stores. K-Mart was their biggest shopping center and was located in a below-ground mall.

The homes were built on the steep hillside surrounding the town. The economy in Burnie was having a difficult time since the paper mill closed and they welcomed the dollars our cruise ship brought to their economy. When our ship left, they had bagpipers playing on the dock.

Wednesday we started our 2-day crossing of the Tasman Sea. We had Gale force winds, and 72 degrees. The Captain told us it was too rough to go out on deck and advised us to stay inside the ship. Women were asked to wear low heel shoes and hang on to the rail when we walked around the ship. Quite a few people got motion sick from the big waves (including me) but everything improved the next day when the seas calmed down.

Friday we entered the Milford Sound for scenic cruising. We had an excellent commentator on the ship. He talked over the PA system and explained the history of the discovery of the sounds.

We were disappointed that the skies were overcast, but since they get more than 200 inches of rain each year, we were lucky it wasn’t raining.

Mid-day we were surprised to find out we were going to cruise Doubtful Sound. We were told very few ships can go through this sound because of normally high winds and narrow passage. However, this day was still. I thought it was beautiful.

Saturday, we docked at Dunedin and took an 8 hour tour through their farm land, forest, along the ocean coastline and into town. The farm land was beautiful with some sheep dotting the hillside.

We drove along the ocean coastline and stopped to see some fur seals sunning themselves on the rocks. After that we went to the Moeraki Boulders and discussed (as a group) how they got on the beach (there were also some boulders partly buried in the hillside)

The coastline was very pretty and we rarely saw anyone on the beach.

We drove into town and toured the train station. It doesn’t have any passenger trains, only a train ride for tourists. The architecture of the main buildings in the town looks the same.

On Sunday we were scheduled to be at Christchurch, but gale force winds prevented us from leaving the harbor of Dunedin. After spending the night there, we traveled on Sunday to our next port, Picton.

This was probably the prettiest port of our trip. The water was a beautiful blue and the palm trees completed the picture.

We took a catamaran cruise and saw fur seals, and tons of jellyfish in the water.

After that, we boarded a bus for a land tour of the interior. We visited Pollard Park which was really pretty with acres of flowers and a river running through it. 

In the afternoon, we walked into town. There wasn’t much there other than a few waterfront vendors, small restaurants and shops. It was very pleasant.

We awoke to sunny skies and discovered we were already docked at the city of Wellington. 

It was a very pretty city and the biggest since Sydney.

We walked through some of the shops but didn’t buy anything as we found their prices very expensive. Their shop clerks were very polite and well dressed.

We took a cable car to the top of the hill for a view of the city and harbor.

After that, we walked through the botanic gardens. They were beautiful and we saw a lot of plants and flowers that we grow in California.

We took a 4 hour tour of Hawkes Bay. It is a beautiful port known for its farming, trees, fruit, wineries and livestock.  We toured Pernel Fruitworld, a farm where they grow a large variety of fruit for export and local sales. We sampled some fruit and took a tractor ride through the orchards.

Next we visited the Silky Oak Chocolate factory where we sampled their candy and toured their museum. Next to the factory, was a vineyard. This picture shows how they trim and wrap their vines to protect them from the birds. They also shoot a cannon off periodically to keep the birds away.

Next we drove up to the Maori “sleeping giant” mountain. It has been under water twice and still has sea shells embedded in the dirt. It was a twisty, windy road and at times, the front of the bus hung out over the cliff. I was glad we weren’t in the front seats.

The town of Napier was destroyed by an earthquake in 1931 and rebuilt in art deco style. I wish we had more time there, it looked very interesting..  We left port at 1 PM and some of the town folks were at the dock, along with a brass quartet, to see us off.

This was our last stop before Auckland and our return flight home. We took a tour of a Maori Marae village. Our cultural guide gave us an explanation of the protocol and procedures of their culture before we entered this sacred Maori place.  We also learned a Maori song that we sang during the traditional welcome ceremony. 

We then participated in the “Hongi” a traditional greeting, the touching of noses and foreheads. They believe your breathe mingles together and you become one.

Our visit concluded with a performance from their high school students.

We have taken numerous cruises, but this is probably the smallest ship we have been on. It had 1200 guests and never seemed crowded. It just came out of dry dock and everything was in excellent condition. It was easy getting on and off the ship as we always tied up at a dock in ports. We were the only ship at every port we visited. 

The decks were never crowded, even when we were touring through the Sounds. This is the back of the ship where the small outside pool was located.

Our waiters were Indonesian and provided excellent service, whether we were in the restaurant or at the buffet. 

The food was excellent in both the dining room and buffet. We liked the fact that the food was served by staff wearing gloves in the buffet instead of individuals dishing up their own. There were also sanitizing stations throughout the eating areas and general areas of the ship.

We enjoyed lounging in the deck chairs and looking out to sea.

We like the ship and crew so well that we have already booked another cruise for next year.