Fiordland National Park, New Zealand

Today was a day of scenic cruising in Fiordland National Park. It consists of 4,600 sq miles in the south west corner of New Zealand. It was put aside as a reserve in 1904, then turned into a National Park in 1952. We cruised into 2 sounds, Dusky Sound then Doubtful Sound. I had thought we would go in then turn around to go out. Instead these channels were between the mainland and large islands. Going thru the first one, the narrator spotted one seal. So much for a lot of wildlife! The scenery was beautiful though, dense rain forest mixed with dramatic cliffs. People were running all over the bow and stern of the ship taking pictures. It was pretty overcast, but no rain. Apparently they get 25 FEET of rain a year!

Later in the afternoon we entered Milford Sound, the most dramatic and accessible. Our morning cruising was in areas only reachable by boat. There is a small town of Milford Sound that you can drive to. We saw kayaks and several small excursion boats while in the area. There were many waterfalls and high mountains, the tallest being almost 7k feet high. We saw several glaciers as well as a rock covered with fur seals enjoying the sun. By that time it was a beautiful sunny day. Several people mentioned that they'd been to the national park several times before but had never seen the sun. We were very lucky as it rains 180 days a year. The aquatic life there in interesting also. Because of all the fresh water runoff, there is a layer of tea colored water on the surface. That makes the sea water beneath very dark, so creatures that usually live in great depths in the ocean can be found here in shallower water. We came upon one of the largest falls and the Capt did a 360 so people on the other side of the ship could see it also. I think he was just showing off, but by stirring up the water like that, you could see the tea color, and near the ship, a deep green. It was a beautiful area and a relief to have an easy day on the ship after so many days of running around.

 

I forgot to mention in my Stewart Island post that on our way back to the main island on the ferry, we saw a Little Blue Penguin in the water! It was great to see one in the wild. They are usually at sea all day, so hard to spot on land. 

 

Sea day, I spotted 3 whales off the side of the ship while doing my daily 2 mile walk. Was hoping one would dive, but they were just swimming along in the same direction as the ship.

Stewart Island, New Zealand

Stewart Island is the southernmost island in New Zealand. It is mostly National Park, but has a small town called Half Moon Bay. Only 400 people live there, so we more than doubled the population of the island when we went ashore.

Mel and I were in the theater to get tender tickets just before 8 a.m. We were the only ones there! They told us we could head on down to the tender. There were only 6 of us on the thing. Guess no one else was as excited to see the island! Once on the pier we met a tour operator who was offering a shuttle tour around the town as well as ferry tickets to the smaller island in the harbor. They wanted 6 people for the van so we waited for a couple more tenders to come in before we left. There was another tour operator who was getting to people as they came off the tender before our tour operator, so I went on the pier to ask people I knew if they wanted to join us. Our operator asked if I know everyone, it was pretty funny. I was successful in getting 2 more couples though! We headed out at about 9.

 

The road in front of the pier went straight up, then straight down again to another harbor and the small town. We stopped at Lookout Peak first to see a view of our ship from the top of the hill. We then drove around the island a bit, seeing everything there was to see, which wasn't much! Stewart Island is a big backpackers place to go. They said there is a trail which goes all the way around the island which can be done in about 14 days. We went past a golf course (6 holes, but better than none?) and by some beautiful homes. Green fees are on an honor system, you put what you want to pay in a box. Some of the houses were holiday homes, others were used year round. We drove down by a different bay where they process the Stewart Island crayfish. Those things get as big if not bigger than Maine Lobster. They export them to China and Japan. The fisherman get $100NZ per kilo for them! Can't imagine what they have to pay for them in China! There was a mother duck walking along the road with about 10 babies. Very cute. I saw some strange bird in a field and made the driver back up so we could get a picture. He must have thought we were nuts. We asked to be dropped off in town so we could look around before taking the ferry and save from having to walk over the hill when we got back.

In town was a small grocery store. We bought yogurt and salami to eat for lunch on Ulva, the other island. There are no facilities there and New Zealand doesn't allow any food to be brought to shore from the ship. There was a shop that sells merino wool clothing and a post office. The post office is open 365 days a year! It is also the air terminal. I was able to buy stamps and buy a postcard. On the way back to the pier, we stopped at the museum. It was 2 small rooms, but had examples of all the shells found in the area, and many old photos of life on the island thru the years. There used to be a big whaling industry there. Up and over the hill and we were back at the pier.

 

The ferry was a small boat which held 10 passengers. It took about 5 minutes to cross over to Ulva Island. That island was set up as a bird sanctuary, with no rodent predictors. (There were many traps on the island. They discovered some rodents there recently. They must have swam over from the main island.) They sold a brochure at the pier for $2 showing all the birds and a lot of the foliage we might see while there. It was set up with very good gravel trails and signs pointing to different locations on the island, including the time it would take to get there. We did the 25 minute walk to one beach. It took 12 minutes, so must have been round trip in 25 minutes? I guess it really depends on how fast you walk. There were a lot of shells on the beach so I spent some time looking. There were also 2 Stewart Island Wekas. They kind of look like brown chickens. The guide says they can be quite bold and might check out your bag. Mel had put his bag down to take some pictures. I took a picture of the weka's head in his bag. They lived up to their description.

 

We headed from there to another beach, stopping at a bench to eat our lunch. It was go green and peaceful there! We could hear a lot of birds but didn't see many. We saw a South Island Saddleback as well as a Timtit. We saw a Kaka flying around, but couldn't get a picture. That's a large parrot! We also saw Stewart Island Robins. Several wekas came to see us along the path also.

We met someone on the trial who said they'd seen Oystercatchers on the next beach. When we got there, I didn't see any but headed in the direction we'd been told they were. All of a sudden 2 of them came out of the trees just squawking away! One kept heading in the opposite direction, trying to lead me away from the nest, I'm sure. I felt bad stressing them out like that but I got some good pictures and a video clip with the racket they were making. As soon as I headed back down the beach, they disappeared again.

 

By this time, we'd been walking quite a distance. The trail was up and down, stairs and small bridges. They had even built stairs going up and over some roots of a tree. I had started with a sweat jacket and a rain type jacket. I ended up taking them both off, even though it was in the 50's. I think I got my exercise in for the day! We caught up with a tour group when we were almost back to the jetty. There were more birds right in that area than we'd seen before. We saw a Fantail, which had a beautiful tail, all white feathers with a couple of black ones in the middle. We made it back just in time for our 1:30 ferry.

 

Once back to the pier, we still  had 2 hours before the last tender, so decided to walk back into town. Up and down the hill again! We'd missed seeing a couple of stores and the Visitor Center. We also had about $15 NZ to spend since it was our last NZ port. Some friends saw us heading back and asked if we'd forgotten to buy something. We have a reputation...... He emptied his pockets of all his $NZ, so now we had about $20NZ. I found a couple of cute things in one of the stores and had just enough cash. We also visited the Visitor's Center. They are set up with guides for backpackers and such. We ran into a lot of tourists who weren't from the ship. They have 3 flights daily from the South Island! The plane only holds 11 passengers, but still, that seems like a lot for such a small place. They also have a daily ferry. It's a beautiful island and far off the beaten track. Glad we were able to visit. On our way down the hill, we saw yet another Wood Pigeon. They are large birds, about the size of a large crow. And they are beautiful, unlike our usual pigeons. These have white stomachs, green throats and head, purple backs including the back of their head. Along with this they have bright red beaks and feet, very colorful. We saw quite a few, but our last one was in a tree right next to the road so we were able to get some good pictures.

 

We arrived back on the ship at 3, just in time for tea. We hadn't gone to it before on this cruise. Seems silly to have sandwiches and scones at 3 when we eat at 5:30, but figured we'd at least do it this once. After that I took a long, HOT bath. Hopefully I won't feel today's exercise tomorrow.

Dunedin/Port Chalmers, New Zealand

 

The ship was cleared by 7:30 and leaving at 4:30, not the originally scheduled 5:00. We had another Cruise Critic arranged tour, meeting at 8:35 due to return at 4:30. Hmm, going to be close. There was a train sitting right next to the ship when we got off. One of the ship's tours took people on that vintage train to see the wilderness around the area. That would have been fun too! We met up with our guide and off we went.

 

Our first stop was in town for shopping and looking around. We all agreed that we could cut that short to save time and get back earlier. We were informed that it wouldn't work as the tours w/in the tour were scheduled at certain times. Hope we make it back to the ship! There was a street fair in Dunedin's Octagon Town Square. It happens once a year. We just happened to be there on that day. It was nice seeing what types of crafts they sell at their fairs. We walked around then met back at the van. We took off around the bay on a road right next to the water with no guard rail. That was interesting! It was a very windy road. We stopped at a place that sells Happy Hens. Our guide said they ship all over the world. No one in our group bought anything. The scenery was beautiful with green hills covered with sheep, birds by the water. We could see our ship across the bay in Port Chalmers, the main port of the area. The bay is very shallow so few ships go all the way to Dunedin.

Our first stop was a place called Natures Wonders. It is privately owned by some apparently wealthy people who have dedicated their land and time to preserving the yellow eyed penguins, the rarest on the planet. We boarded weird all terrain vehicles after being given jackets to keep the dust off. I think I had more dust on me from the jackets than from the ride. We went up and down a pretty bumpy road to the shore. The first stop was to see the fur seals. There must have been over a dozen tiny babies there, they were cute to watch. Our next stop was above a beach to see the penguins. There are 60 breeding pair that live on that beach. We only saw one, but it was great to see one at all! They had built a blind for us to look out from. Behind the blind was a cliff. We went out a door in the back to see the babies under the cliff. They were very cute. We saw 3 of them.

On the next hill over was the Royal Albatross Centre. We ate lunch there before our 2:00 tour. We were taken up a steep hill to a small building where we could look over the hill. There were 3 albatross sitting on their nests. We were able to see 2 of the babies also. Further down the slope, close to the water, were dozens of cormorant nests. They were interesting too! We didn't see any albatross in the air, but just seeing them sitting on their nests was wonderful. That colony is the only one in the world on the mainland. All the others are on islands. Of course to us New Zealand is an island, but I didn't mention that.

 

We took a different route back to the city, over the hills. It really was beautiful countryside. Once back in Dunedin we made a quick stop at the train station. It was gorgeous! We arrived at the ship at 4:15, we made it! It was a great tour.

 

We decided to eat in the Lido again so we could watch sail away. The albatross colony was on the point right at the mouth of the bay, so we knew we would see them again as we sailed by. There were at least a dozen of them on the hill, as well as a few flying around. Glad we were able to see them again. The royal albatross has a wing span of 9', so huge birds. Well worth seeing.

Christchurch, New Zealand

I will certainly be happy when we have a sea day again! We've had 5 days in port and I'm tired. We've had a great time though, so well worth it! We have 2 more days in New Zealand, then 3 sea days before Tasmania. Whew, 3 days to rest up!

 

Today we were in Christchurch. The port town is Lyttleton, Christchurch is about 30 minutes away. The city supplied a shuttle bus so we hopped on at about 8:30. We were dropped right in front of the beautiful cathedral at Cathedral Square. We were informed at the port that today is the first day of their annual flower festival, so there were cute topiaries out in the square. There were also street vendors set up in the square. We did some shopping first, then went into the church. They had made a "carpet" of flowers down the main isle. It has designs in it with many different flowers, leaves, plants, etc. Kind of reminded me of the Rose Bowl Parade! There were also many displays around the outer walls of the sanctuary. It was a beautiful church. Apparently it hadn't been affected by the large earthquake in Christchurch just 5 months ago.

 

We walked around the square a bit to see what else there was to see. I'd read that the Antarctic Centre here had won several tourism awards and was MUCH better than the one we visited in Auckland. We found a very cute penguin shuttle bus to take us out there. Nice to save some taxi money. The Centre was right across the street from the airport. We could see the huge USAF C130 sitting there, waiting to take off for Antarctica. The US Antarctic Program hangar was there also. Across from the entrance to the Centre was the Passenger Terminal for the United States Antarctic passengers! We were where they actually take off from. The center is owned jointly by the US, NZ and Italy.

 

We went into the public Antarctic Centre. It is set up with many different rooms to visit, each with a different experience. First we went thru a room which showed the changing of seasons in Antarctica. Next, we were given warm parkas and rubber boots to wear into the Snow & Ice Experience. The floor was snow, there was a snow igloo, as well as a snow slide for the kids. They closed the room and brought the tempurature down to 17 degrees F as well as a strong wind to give us a bit of what it's like in Antarctica. Next we saw a 4D movie about a ship going to Antarctica. The sea sprayed on us, penguins spit on us, etc. It was cute. From there we walked thru the rest of the rooms for lunch. They don't serve hamburgers and hot dogs at their cafes. We had quiche! It was very good.

 

After our lunch break we waited in a line outside to ride a Hagglund. That is the kind of vehicle they use on the ice. They had a course set up behind the building where we rode at a 30 degree angle, went up and over a steep hill and across a meter wide ditch. We also were afloat in a huge puddle, which is important in case they should break thru the ice to water. Bumpy ride! We returned to the building and watched a movie with the Antarctic landscape. It's quite beautiful, as we know in person. We cruised there in 2006. We browsed in a gallery which has displays of sea life in Antarctica as well as equipment used. We did everything waiting for the 1:30 penguin feeding time.

 

At the Centre they had Blue or Fairy Penguins, the smallest in the world. Every one they had there has some kind of injury. Some are blind in one eye, or paralyzed in one foot, or even missing a foot. They were all rescued and would die if in the wild. Some of them were able to eat food tossed into the water. Some they had to hand feed on land. One little guy had bad feet so they had wrapped them in purple tape. It looked like he has his own personal pair of flippers. They were very cute. We then caught the shuttle bus back to Cathedral Square.

 

We'd seen an Aquarium & Kiwi House there on the square before going to the Antarctic Centre. We were afraid it would be like the place we'd visited in Auckland, but the posibility of seeing live kiwi made us take the chance. The aquarium section wasn't very big, but had fish native to NZ, so kind of interesting. In the back was the Kiwi House. We had to wait for a guide to take us in and there was no guarentee of seeing one. We went in with about 5 others. Right there, about 2 feet in front of the glass, were 2 kiwi busily picking at the dirt looking for worms. We could see them fairly clearly in the dim light. At least we saw more than a round lump like we'd seen outside Tauranga. They were moving about nicely. We were allowed about 5 minutes then went out. Mel thought we should go back in again, so we got back in line (there was one other person in "line") to enter again. This time the guide said only the male was out. We found him against the far, back wall. He kind of sat there for a while, then moved to the side wall and slowly moved toward the glass in front of us. He finally walked right around the glass. Mel and I were both kneeling by this time, so he passed about 4" in front of our noses! Wish we could have taken pictures. I don't think we could have had a much better viewing. It was worth the entrance fee.

 

We shopped a bit on the square then got on the shuttle to return to the ship. We were onboard by 5. Sail away was at 6. The port was in a sheltered cove. It was nice watching the cliffs go by as we ate dinner.

 

Wellington, New Zealand

We were off the ship soon after we were cleared, around 8:15. We grabbed a taxi to take a 2 hour tour around the city of Wellington. Our 2 hours turned into just over 3, but it was well worth it.

Wellington is the capitol if New Zealand and almost the first buildings we saw were the Beehive (nickname for a round government building) and the Parliament building. From there we drove thru the Botanical Gardens, then up to a peak where we had a 360 view of the area. It was about 70 degrees out and beautiful sunshine. Nice day and nice city! There were a lot of old Victorian homes as well as craftsman style. There were huge ones and communities with smaller ones. There were more hills than San Francisco and we wound around to different areas. We went to a Souvenir Factory Outlet which was kind of funny. We say many things that we had already bought in other cities, for a bit less. Our driver pointed out some buildings that had something to do with the filming of Lord of the Rings, like where the actors stayed, where the editing was done, etc. We then stopped at a store called Weta Cave.

It was the Studio store! They had many artifacts from the Hobbit films as well as models. I purchased a couple of signed books, one on film locations in New Zealand. I also got close and personal with Gollum. Creepy little guy. They had a model of Jane from Jane and the Dragon. I found that show while swimming in our pool at home. We have very limited TV since there is no cable there. The animation is beautiful. I didn't know it was from New Zealand. We then headed to the shore drive, where we saw some beautiful "beach" houses. One house looked just like a lighthouse. Probably had just one room on each of it's 3 floors. It was cute but not very livable! We passed by the airport then headed to an area where I thought there was a quilt shop.

 

The driver got out to ask about the quilt shop whose address I'd found online. They hadn't been there for about 20 years! Wonder how they ended up online. There was, however, a very nice quilt shop just up the street so we went there. They had some very nice New Zealand themed fabric, so I was happy. We then went back to the ship to drop off our packages and have lunch.

About 12:30 we headed out again, this time using the free shuttle into the City Centre. We got off the bus and asked directions to the Te Papa, the National Museum. It was a nice walk along the bay with many runners and strollers and even a swimmer. That water must have been cold. The museum was quite large. It had some interesting exhibits, but it they didn't seem to flow
right, you had to backtrack to continue on to a new area. We did enjoy seeing more S Pacific art. After that we returned to the shuttle area and headed in the opposite direction to the Parliament Building. Mel wanted to go it. They gave free tours but they were an hour long and by this time it was 4. The last shuttle was leaving for the ship at 5, cutting it a bit too close. We walked back to the shuttle and were onboard by 4:30.

 

The port was full of logs. After the depression, New Zealand had people out planting pine trees, imported from CA, to put them to work. The trees grow twice as fast in NZ as they do in CA, so a new industry was created. Lumber is one of their largest exports. But they don't just cut it, they are still planting. One of our guides told us that they actually plant more trees every year than they cut, making the "greenies" happy. There are huge pine forests everywhere. New Zealand is very environmentally friendly.

 

The Capt announced that we would be leaving the bay via an island on the other side. It was more scenic to go that way. The harbor is almost circular with a small opening out to the sea. It was a beautiful sail away.

Napier, New Zealand

We were not scheduled to be in port until noon today. We were eating lunch as the ship was pulling into port. It still amazes me how they can maneuver these huge ships. Today the Capt turned the ship around and backed into a very small space. It was something to watch! We had another tour arranged by someone from Cruise Critic so we met them at 12:15. We got on one of the same buses that the ship's tours were using, same company, but ours was $80, they paid $129 going thru HAL. Nice to save some money.

 

We headed off thru Napier. They had a massive earthquake there in 1931. Many of the 250 who died were killed by falling debris from buildings, gargoyles, etc. They decided to streamline the buildings when they rebuilt so did all the building in the Art Deco style. What a lovely place! We passed thru Hastings and several other small towns before arriving to the tour companies headquarters. From there we went a bit further down the road then thru a fancy, automatic gate. We were told that an American billionaire bought the property some years ago (last name Robinson?) and developed it with a golf course (ranked 34th in the world) and lodge. He also built a mesh fence the entire width of the peninsula to keep out predatory animals so the natural animals of NZ could flourish, mainly the birds. There were traps set up everywhere on the grounds to catch any animal that isn't supposed to be there like rats, ferrets and skunks which were introduced to NZ by humans. We drove quite a few kilometers before we saw a nice looking facility up on a hill. It is $1200 to spend the night there, PER PERSON, no food included. The golf course charges NZ$400 fees, which is about $330 US. There was a nice paved road leading up to the lodge and golf course, we left that behind and started on a gravel road. Our 18 passenger bus had 4x drive.

 

The area was beautiful with a lot of rolling hills. They raise cattle and sheep on the property. We made one stop to look out over the ocean. On the other side of the road we could see them herding sheep using ATVs and about 4 dogs. Those sheep were running, looking like little swarming ants since they were quite a distance away. Our destination was a gannet colony which the tour company had permission to visit, by the shore. In this area there were high cliffs next to the sea.

 

We slowed down in one place so we could see the colony of gannets on the beach far below. We went up a steep hill, then all of a sudden, there were hundreds of gannets! It was quite dramatic. All the buses parked there on the ridge so we could get out and enjoy the birds. Gannets have a wing span of almost 6 feet! They breed there in NZ. Once the young are old enough to fly, they fly to Australia where they stay until they are more mature. They return to NZ to find a mate, which they keep for life, and to raise their young. We saw babies in stages from balls of fluff to almost adults. They were everywhere. The noise and smell is hard to put in writing. They are beautiful birds. We stayed there for about 45 min. then headed back to the port. The weather was windy and cool, a wonderful change from all the hot ports we've been to. We arrived at the ship just after 4, sail away was at 5:30. I grabbed Mel and jumped on a shuttle into town so we could see the Deco buildings.

 

We only had time to walk a few blocks down one of the main streets. The buildings were really nice with the Deco trim. One that now houses The Body Shop, had beautiful Deco stained glass windows. Not much time to see the city, but at least we were able to see it. It was so worth it to spend our time in port seeing the gannets.

 

On the pier right next to the ship were 6 vintage cars (late 20's to early 30's) along with their owners dressed in the style of the 30's. It was fun to see. There was also a small jazz band to entertain us. Napier does the Deco thing up big. This coming weekend is Deco weekend when they close down all the city streets and let only vintage cars thru. Everyone dresses in vintage clothing and just have fun I guess! Sounds like something that would be fun to see. We were on our way again by 6.

Tauranga, New Zealand

Someone I met on Cruise Critic arranged several tours in New Zealand. Today was the first one. We met onboard, then went off the ship to meet our guide. There were 14 of us in all, 4 from our ship's sister ship the Volendam which is in port right behind us. They actually did a parallel parking job earlier, pulling up right along side our ship then backing into the space behind us.

We drove thru town then to the beach road. Tauranga is on a peninsula, so the port is on one side, a beautiful beach on the other. There were some very large beautiful homes along the beach. It is the top resort area in NZ. Once outside of the city, there were beautiful green rolling hills, sometimes broken by a dormant volcano. We stopped at a place called Kiwi 360 where we were able to see kiwi on the vine. It was really interesting as I had no idea how they grow! The base of the vines were about 6" in diameter, placed every 15' or so. They were then spread forming almost a roof, almost 6' high. The kiwi hang down making them quite easy to pick, and in the shade! There was a large store with anything you could ever want kiwi related. We were able to taste kiwi wine, quite good, and kiwi juice, quite bitter. I bought some kiwi candy and dried kiwi.

We started climbing a bit into a forest area. We stopped at a beautiful waterfall, more like a big rapids actually. There had been a hydroelectric plant in that location until the 40's. As we came over a rise, we could see a lake called Lake Rotoiti, Little Lake. Further along was Rotorua, or Second Lake. They were at 900' above sea level, quite beautiful. We went to a large facility with geysers and "boiling" mud (a mini Yellowstone Park). They had a cultural center at the same location where we saw another Maori concert. It was better than the one we saw on the ship. During their war dance, they bug out their eyes and stick out their tongues. I had seen a lot of postcards with Maoris with their tongues out and was wondering why. Now I know.

 

There was a Kiwi house at the center also. It was kept dark during the day and light at night so the nocturnal kiwis would be up and about for visitors. We were only able to see one, but it was right next to the glass, so fairly easily visible although it was pretty dark. The kiwi was about the size of a large chicken. Nice to see a living one. There was also a woodcarving building and a weaving building. They teach both of them to people from different parts of NZ so they can return to their home and teach others.

 

We stopped at the Lakeside Cafe for lunch. I ordered a BLT but didn't get what I was expecting! There was one slice of bread, a nice looking lettuce and tomato and some thinly sliced ham. Guess bacon is different in NZ. There was also some chicken on my plate. Different, but good. On the lake were a number of black swan, really pretty. After lunch we headed back to the ship which was now over an hour away. We took a different road, so it was a nice drive. We were back at the ship by 4.

 

Since sail away wasn't until 6, we decided to leave our packages and go out for a walk. A small shopping street was just several blocks away. On the way back to the ship we ran into the Tai Chi instructors. They had just had ice cream and told us about the NZ specialty, Hokey Pokey ice cream. It was delicious! It has a honey flavor with bits of honeycomb candy in it. Nice to have dessert first. We were back on the ship for dinner by 5:30.

 

The Capt announced that a tropical storm is hitting northern NZ and will affect sea conditions tonight. He told us to remove everything from our tables and make sure there is nothing that can tip over. He is expecting 12' swells, oh yea! Because of the rough seas, he'll have to make an assessment in the morning if we'll be able to get into our next port or not. We are expected to dock at noon. Should be an interesting night.