By popular demand from my previous post, I threw this together and am posting it separately:

Flights: Our flights to Sydney went very smoothly. Gail and I used Continental FF miles and flew first class on Delta to LAX (via CVG) and then Qantas Business Class from LAX to SYD. Despite a 30 minute connection in CVG, which had me a bit concerned, no problems. Service (including food) on Qantas was excellent, and the new sleeper seats are great (you need a manual to operate them). We left Thursday morning and arrived late on Friday.

Sydney: We stayed at the Marriott using points; the location is great. We had a view of the Opera House, and the hotel is only a couple of blocks from Circular Quay. On Saturday, the weather was so-so and we toured the Opera House. If you have problems with steps, arrange for a special tour that used elevators. (The concierge at the Marriott made the necessary call first fir this.) The resulting tour only had about 8 people, and we had an excellent guide. In addition, several performances were being set up, including “HMS Pinafore” and “Trial By Jury” so that added to the experience. Saturday night we had an excellent dinner at Longrain, which is a Thai fusion restaurant that is one of the best in Sydney—not spicy. They don’t take reservations, so we went early. You sit at long tables, and we sat across from an Australian couple, who were extremely friendly and even bought us drinks. (I don’t think we ran into anyone who was unfriendly in either Australia or NZ.) Sunday was beautiful, and we took a harbour cruise, which was wonderful. Later, we took a ferry to Darling Harbour to look around. It was very warm—probably around 80—and we stopped at the Chinese Gardens there. Sunday night we ate at Otto’s, which is well-known Italian restaurant on a wharf. It was a beautiful evening, and we ate outside. Yachts would cruise on the waterway in front of us as we ate, and at one point we saw a shooting star. The meal was excellent, and we had a very good shiraz/grenache/mataro blend by Torbeck. On Monday morning, we took a ferry to Manly Beach and walked around. When we walked to Circular Quay to take the ferry, we were very surprised to see the Mariner. It was supposed to be at Darling Harbour. So I went over to talk to someone, and they said docking plans had changed. So when we returned from Manly Beach, we packed our things up, and took them over to the ship. They let us board early, and we had lunch at the grill. Since we were unable to go to our cabin until 3:00 PM, we left the ship and went to “The Rocks,” which are in the same vicinity, and visited various shops and galleries there. Over the weekend they had a large market set up in the streets by the Rocks. We returned to the ship and after our luggage was delivered unpacked before dinner. Right before we left for dinner, we received a surprise call from Ngaire, who had disembarked in Sydney. She and Ken didn’t leave Sydney on Monday, which had been a possibility, so they returned to the ship, and we had a very enjoyable dinner with them at Compass Rose. (Though I had spoken with Ngaire on several occasions, I had not met her in person.) Dinner was very good—prime rib or rack of lamb among other choices—Ngaire had both!

Melbourne: After a day at sea, we arrived in Melbourne. There, we went on a long excursion—Puffing Billy, Wildlife & Dandenongs (which are mountains). We went to an animal sanctuary and saw kangaroos, emus, koala bears, etc. and had a very tasty lunch at a vineyard. Then we went for a train ride on “Puffing Billy,” which is an old steam engine. The weather was variable, but every time it rained, we were indoors or on the bus or train. As soon as we returned to the ship, we quickly changed to get ready for a complimentary excursion to a special rehearsal of the Melbourne Symphony. All passengers were invited, and only Radisson passengers attended. They were rehearsing a Bach Cantata with for young soloists and a Schubert symphony. It was very interesting. We returned to the Mariner before 9:00 PM and had dinner. A very full, but enjoyable day.

Hobart, Tasmania: We had a day at sea. That night we had a superb dinner at Signatures—I had veal, Gail had lamb. One of the servers, who we often saw at La Veranda—Frieda, who was from Sweden—worked at Signatures in the evening, and she was excellent and very nice. That night, despite forecasts of 20kn winds, we experienced 55kn winds and what the captain called “very rough” seas. About two or three in the morning we hit one wave (or it hit us) and some items in the cabin went flying, but not us. When we arrived in Hobart, it was in the 60s and cloudy, but no rain. It was Saturday, and the Salamanca Market, which is right by the pier, was the place to be. We had read about it—it’s only on Saturdays—and were told that about 40,000 people go through it on a typical Saturday. All sorts of things are available. We bought hand-knit sweaters, scarves, and hats, and beautiful wooden boxes and some other wooden items made of sassafras. (The wooden boxes actually came from a gallery right by the market.) We spent all morning at the market. Then went back to the ship for lunch, and walked around Hobart in the afternoon.

Milford Sound via Queenstown: To answer the Dougburns question right off the bat, this pricey excursion is definitely worth it if you’re not doing Ngaire’s extension. It was one of the major highlights of our trip. Also, people we spoke to told us we didn’t miss anything really special while we were on the excursion. Ngaire and Linda had both recommended it, and we were very happy that we signed up for it when we booked the cruise. I think there were only 31 of us, and there was a wait list. The tender met the Mariner in Milford Sound, and we boarded it for a short ride to a marina to get on our bus. The driver (Jock) was a Scotsman and the guide (Graham) was from NZ. We traveled through Fjordland National Park to Te Anau, stopping several times for photos. The weather was cool, but very nice. At Te Anau, we went to a bird sanctuary for injured birds. We ate lunch at the Kings Gate Hotel and it was fine, though not fancy. Then, we departed for Arrowtown. Along the route, we encountered some road construction, and one of the road crew had left a blade on a grader exposed at the curb. It nicked one of our tires, the bus knocked the grader down an embankment (no one was on it), and we had an immediate flat tire. Since both Jock and Graham were of retirement age, they were in no shape to change a bus tire. Fortunately, our Radisson representative from the tour desk, Nico, was in good shape, and he managed to change the tire. I have a few pictures of him struggling with the 10 lug nuts and standing on the tire iron first to loosen them and then to tighten them. During this whole operation, which took under an hour, we all stood along the side of the road. By now, it was sunny and very warm. The delay meant we had to skip Arrowtown, because we had a fixed time for our jet-boat ride along the Shotover River, which was great fun. About 16 of us were on each boat—the boats were said to be invented in NZ in the 50s—outfitted in waterproof coats and life jackets, traveling very fast through narrow gorges and the “pilots” do a number of 360-degree turns. Following the jet boats, we traveled to Queenstown and checked into the St. Moritz Hotel. It’s a very nice hotel overlooking Lake Wakatipu and the Remarkable Mountains across the lake. Our suite had a living room, dining area, kitchen area (including washer/dryer). We freshened up and met in the lobby to walk over to the Boardwalk Restaurant for dinner. Apparently lots of dignitaries eat there when in Queenstown—I think there were pictures of Clinton and Major, among others. Dinner was very good (I had “groper,” which I’m pretty sure is grouper.). However, we should have skipped dessert, because service was slow, and we had very little time after dinner to walk around Queenstown. During the night it rained, and as a result, the next morning the mountains across the lake were beautifully snow-capped. We had breakfast and then headed for our gondola ride up to Bob’s Peak. After that, we boarded the bus and stopped to see some bungee jumping, which apparently originated in the area. Two members of our party had wanted to participate, but time was short, and it was pretty cool. Then we drove to Middlemarch to board the Taieri Gorge train. We were told that we probably saw about 1 million sheep during this excursion, and I believe it. In addition, there are a number of ranches that also raise herds of deer for food, which was interesting to see. Although we ran into rain on the drive to Middlemarch, it was beautiful when we arrived for the train trip down to Dunedin. We had a box lunch on the train, which was nothing special. However, the trip itself was beautiful. Graham, our guide, was in a bit of panic because we were running late on our way to Middlemarch, however, it turned out that the train was waiting for us because Radisson passengers had the train completely to themselves—it wasn’t a very big train. We arrived at the Dunedin Railway Station and went on a brief sightseeing tour of the city. Dunedin is known as the “Edinburgh of the South,”—apparently it’s laid out like Edinburgh, Scotland. We saw what is said to be the steepest street in the world, and Otago University. We arrived at Port Chalmers to reboard the Mariner at about 5:30 PM.

Christchurch: We docked at Lyttletown, which is about 25 minutes from Christchurch. It was very cool and cloudy, but despite an 80% chance of rain, it did not materialize. We took the shuttle provided by Radisson to the Christchurch, shopped a little, and took the tram, which stops at most of the major sights in the city. It is one of those hop-on/hop-off deals. We visited the Botanical Gardens, which were nice and must be spectacular on a sunny day. Since both Gail and I were fighting colds/sinus problems—as were many others on the ship—we headed back to the Mariner for lunch. We were keeping our fingers crossed that the weather would improve for the Pelorus Sound Mussel & Wine Cruise the next day in Picton.

Picton: It was a beautiful, sunny day when we docked in Picton. (This area has the highest sunshine hours in NZ, though it, too, experienced bad weather the day before.) We boarded a minivan at 8:30 AM and traveled through a large wine growing area. We arrived in Havelock and boarded a catamaran launch to cruise Pelorus Sound—the largest of the Marlborough Sounds. We had morning tea served with homemade blueberry muffins and cookies and took in the scenery, which was spectacular. We saw a number of mussel farms and actually saw a boat harvesting mussels. We anchored at Dillon Bell and took a beautiful “bush” walk to Jacobs Bay—about 40 minutes—through a native beech forest. We rejoined the catamaran, and the crew steamed fresh mussels and served them with Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. They were delicious. This was followed be an excellent lunch: grilled salmon, chicken, and lamb kebabs, fresh asparagus, white potatoes, salad, and more NZ wines; then a plate of sweets and fruits, including NZ kiwis was served. We cruised back to Havelock and reboarded our minivan, which stopped at Mudhouse Village, where we could sample more Marlborough wines, liqueurs, liquors, and olive oils. Some of us went with one of the drivers to a nearby cherry farm and bought some delicious cherries. We were going to stop by a chocolate factory, but the guide was concerned about the time. There was almost a mutiny, led by yours truly, but sanity prevailed. It was a great day. We strongly recommend this excursion, even if it is also a bit pricey. Again, it was limited to about 30 people, and there was a waiting list.

Napier: Another bright, sunny day. From the port of Napier, we drove in our 4-wheel minivan to Cape Kidnappers to see the gannets. The views of Hawke Bay and the Mahia Peninsula were spectacular. The area is home to about 15,000 of the birds. Most were nesting, while others were swooping down and diving into the sea for food. We could see eggs in the nests, and many had hatched, and we caught glimpses of the baby birds. It was quite a sight. After about half an hour with the gannets, we returned to a rest area that had a nice house and beautiful garden. We were supposed to be served morning tea, but actually had an excellent light lunch: asparagus sandwiches, ham and cheese sandwiches, smoked salmon, etc; they also had some interesting drinks including kiwi juice and blackberry juice. For dessert, they had cookies filled with fig—much better than fig newtons—carrot cake, and lots of fresh fruit, including the largest, most delicious strawberries I’d ever tasted (from a nearby farm). On the way back to the ship, we made a quick tour of Napier and its art deco buildings, which were erected after an earthquake leveled the city in 1931. Despite, the light lunch, I managed to have a second lunch at La Veranda when we reboarded. This was despite the fact, that it was a formal night at Compass Rose, which usually meant fancier-than-usual meals, including lobster tail and chateaubriand on this particular menu.

Tauranga: Four bus loads of passengers went on the long excursion to Rotorua (Geysers and Maori Culture). We headed south from Tauranga through the world’s largest kiwi growing area. We stopped at Rainbow Springs, which is a nature preserve that has rainbow (and other) trout swimming in spring-fed pools. They also have NZ’s nocturnal bird, the kiwi, which is very hard to see, and a number of rare lizards. From there, we stopped at the Agrodome, where were saw a very entertaining sheep show. It was really a lot of fun. There was a shearing demonstration, and highly trained sheep dogs demonstrated their skill by herding ducks! After the Agrodome, we had a good buffet lunch at a nearby hotel, followed by a Maori concert with songs and dances. Then, we visited the Whakarewarewa Thermal Reserve, where you see the geysers and mud pools. On the way back to the ship, the bus went by some very nice beach-front homes in Tauranga. Again, it was a beautiful, warm day. Back on the Mariner, we were sad to be packing for disembarkation in Auckland the next day.

Auckland: We disembarked without problem and checked into the Hilton, which literally was next to the dock. (Although, we could have thrown our suitcases across to the hotel, we actually found a bellman, who got a cart for them.). It was an overcast day, and we had no specific plans. We again used the hop-on/hop-off bus that was near the hotel. A couple we met on the ship (and by coincidence I took a picture of them punting on the Avon in Christchurch) was also staying at the Hilton, so we joined them for part of the day. We stopped at Parnell Village to shop and have lunch. It had the nicest shops were saw—good places to by jewelry and sweaters. As you may know, they make merino wool/possum (not like American possums) sweaters and other items and they are very nice and soft. That night we ate at Soul, a restaurant near the hotel and recommended by the concierge. It was excellent. The next morning our rental car was waiting for us at the hotel and we headed for the Tio Bay Lodge at Bay of Islands.

Bay of Islands: First, one extremely important cautionary note. If you rent a car in NZ (or in Australia and certain other countries), take the supplemental car insurance. We didn’t, and it is costing us big time. Ngaire suggested we go up to Bay of Islands and she found a B&B to stay at—the Tio Bay Lodge. Bay of Islands is about 3½ hours north of Auckland. It is a beautiful drive, but remember you drive on the “wrong side” of the road. We ran into rain a several times, and Gail did a great job driving for the most part. I had no interest in driving on the “wrong side.” The roads were very good, but given the mountains, they were not only hilly and curvy, but traffic was moving pretty fast and the roads were mostly just two-lane. Finding the B&B was not too difficult, but it ended with a 10 km drive along a very curvy gravel road down to Tio Bay. We arrived at the lodge at lunch time. It was very nice, with three very comfortable guest cottages. (Ours had a beautiful Japanese-style bathroom, also a small kitchenette.) We dropped off our bags and asked for recommendations on what to do. We then headed off to Russell for lunch. Our “accident” was at a one-lane bridge with a guard rail, where “we” scraped the left side of the car.) All during our drive up, I had constantly cautioned Gail about being very near the curbs/guard rails on the left (passenger side). Oh well. Anyway, it was pretty windy, so we couldn’t avail ourselves of the water taxi offered by the lodge. Instead, we drove to the ferry for the short ride to Russell. Lunch was okay, and Russell is worth seeing. Then we went to Pahia, and much to my surprise, we saw the Mariner out in a bay. I knew the ship was going to Bay of Islands after Auckland, but didn’t know exactly where. Again, Pahia was worth seeing, but mostly the area is known for its scenic beauty. Dinner at the lodge was very good. The only other guests were a couple from England (though actually they were Irish), who were staying for several days. The one mistake we made (other than the car mishap) was not staying another day, because the next day was beautiful and we had to head back to Auckland for our flight home. If you are going to go up to Bay of Islands, I think you should stay at least two nights. On the way back to Auckland, we stopped at Whangarei, which was definitely worth the stop, and we had a nice lunch outside.

Our flights home went smoothly. We slept quite a bit on the overnight flight between Auckland and LAX. Since it was the day before Thanksgiving, LAX was fairly busy. Our plane to Atlanta was late because of air traffic, and fortunately our plane to DC was also late, or we would have missed the last flight. Somehow, only 3 of our 4 made it to DC, but #4 was delivered on Thanksgiving.

So that’s about it. The cruise itself was excellent. I thought the food was much better than the food we had on the Mariner in Alaska. Service was generally very good in the restaurants. Our second meal at Signatures wasn’t quite as good as the first. The meal at Latitudes was a nice change, and we enjoyed talking to the couple at the next table, who we had met on the Queenstown excursion. However, if you’re not into Asian food, I’d skip it. The cabin and related service were fine. The cruise highlighted food and wines of the region, and we had the head winemaker of Wolf Blass and a winemaker from Matua winery conducted the wine tastings. They’re really into advocating screw caps over there. In addition, we had guest chefs. In particular, Annabel White from NZ, was terrific and I thought she was even funnier than the comedienne on the ship. When I have a chance to put together a subset of the more than 700 pictures we took, I’ll post them. In the meantime feel free to ask questions.

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Eugene

I am drooling over this itinerary & your post. Keep the seamail coming.

A really wonderful cruise review which brought back many happy memories of "down-Under" vacations and cruises. It is a shame that the Anzac countries are so far away! Thanks for the memories.

Eugene - great review! Thanks for posting it! I remember the story about the flat tire - fun to hear all the detals. :)

Masaki

Eugene, thanks for the great review, it will help a lot in planning our Sydney-Auckland trip in 2006.

Eugene:

I didn't think my cruise appetite could be whetted anymore than it already is but you managed to do it.

Cheers! Ray
Accident, n.: A condition in which presence of mind is good, but absence of body is better.
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Quotations by unknown authors

Thanks so much for this review. It will help enormously in our planning for KIWI next year.

Well, I finally uploaded the pictures from our trip. I didn't however put them in the right place on the kodakgallery, and there doesn't seem to be an easy way to transfer them. Therefore, please go to the site below.

http://kodakgallery.com/Welcome.jsp?signout=yes&

Then, enter my e-mail address: dreps@comcast.net

and the password: cruise

Hope this works.

Great pics, Eugene! Thanks for both the running reports and the pics; very helpful.

Wonderful pictures, Eugene--makes me want to start our trip tomorrow!

Wow Eugene those REALLY are great shots. I forget how pretty N.Z. scenery can be. I cannot believe that lady with NGAIRE on her name tag and I bet she was surprised you knew how to pronounce that!!! I may ask you if I can use some of those for my N.Z. web site. I am about to re-create it in a new format and you have some incredible shots. Nothing we have is digital and they just dont come out as well when scanned in from a regular picture.

Loved those photos!! Beautiful stuff, from the man-made architectural landmarks to some of nature's greatest scenery and interesting animals. Can't wait to make it down under sometime. Jeff