New Zealand & Australia 2016 part 2
The Krupp Gun is another lookout area with lovely views. We also walked down famous Cuba street, a bohemian haven with some of the city’s most colourful shops, bars and cafes. Street entertainers play percussive guitar, put on a marionette show, or play with fire. We had a photo of the one and only Bucket Fountain.
Half Day Lord of the Rings City Tour
This half day tour brings out the best locations in Wellington City and is the best way to see Wellington’s Lord of the Ring locations with a knowledgeable specialist guide. Around the city the tour takes in Courtenay Place and the Embassy Movie theatre where the world premiere of some of the movies, including the Hobbit have been held.
Then it’s up to Mt Victoria for some magnificent views of the city and harbour, on the drive down a stop will be made at ‘Green Belt’ a forest location where several of the movie scenes were shot. It is then off to ‘Wellywood’ the Wellington film studios and post production facilities, including the Weta Workshop.
We visited the brand new ‘Windows into Workshop’ exhibition. This is a guided tour of the physical prop-making and makeup side of the studio. Great fun if you’re a Hobbit fan! WED 14 DEC AKAROA
Banks Peninsula Christchurch City Sights Tour
We were met at the port by a Cruising Excursions representative who guided us onto air-conditioned transportation ready for us to commence our sightseeing tour. The highlights were the Peninsula plus the city landmarks, beach suburbs, Port Hills and Lyttleton Harbour.
After meeting our guide, we departed the quaint town of Akaroa for Christchurch, travelling via the Akaroa highway with breath-taking scenery of Akaroa Harbour, Little River, Lakes Forsyth and Ellesmere, the Southern Alps and the Canterbury Plains.
We explored the famed Christchurch Botanical Gardens before we headed off on a Christchurch City Tour of the old Central Business District, an area that experienced the largest amount of earthquake damage in the recent quake.
We visited the Central city’s pop-up container mall, an assortment of shops and cafes operating out of converted containers – a temporary city centre shopping and dining hub whilst the city is being rebuilt. This stop allows time for lunch and refreshments (at your own cost).
After lunch, we departed the central city to complete the rest of the tour which includes Sumner Beach, Lyttleton (the port of Christchurch) and the Sign of Takahe for a spectacular photo opportunity of Christchurch.
We then re-boarded the bus to return back to Akaroa and re-join the ship. THU 15 DEC DUNEDIN
Taieri Gorge Railway & The Otago Peninsula Full Day Tour
On this tour we had the opportunity to enjoy two of the "Jewels of the Otago", the famous Taieri Gorge Railway and the scenic Otago Peninsula.
With collection from the cruise terminal, we were collected by a local guide and departed to join our train at the beautiful Dunedin Railway Station, an architectural masterpiece. We had some time to enjoy and take photos before joining our train.
With historic wooden carriages we followed the course of the Taieri river, climbing towards the gorge, travelling through almost a dozen tunnels and passing over several viaducts before we arrived at Pukerangi to stretch your legs and enjoy magnificent views of the countryside.
It was then time to re-board our train for the return journey. Arriving to Dunedin, our guide collected us to continue our tour in a comfortable mini bus. From here we headed out to the wonderful Otago Peninsula to see some of finest New Zealand beaches, rolling hills and an intriguing Coastline. The roads are quiet and less travelled as our guide let us take several photos stops to capture panoramas of the more remote parts of the peninsula.
The return was via the low road, as we weaved in and out of bays and local villages before returning to the ship. FRI 15 DEC DUNEDIN
Due to bad weather, we had an extra day in Dunedin where we were able to explore Dunedin train station and Cadbury factory both great places to see whilst in Dunedin. We also saw the world steepest street where at Easter they throw eggs down the street. SAT 17 DEC MILFORD SOUND
We saw Milford Sound from our balcony which was amazing to see the Fjords. It reminded me of Norway and although it was very wet when we went through Milford Sound, the views were amazing.
SUN 18 DEC AT SEA
MON 19 DEC HOBART, TASMANIA
Unfortunately, we missed Salamanca market which is normally held on Saturday, but we had a walk around Hobart, which is very quaint but we didn’t have enough to explore further afield.
TUE 20 DEC AT SEA
WED 21 DEC MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
Having been to Melbourne before it was nice to come back again. This time we went to St Kilda Beach by tram and we also went to Melbourne south market. It’s a fabulous city!
THU 22 DEC AT SEA
FRI 23 DEC SYDNEY
When we arrived at Sydney it was a mixed feeling to see the opera house and the Harbour Bridge, and difficult to decide where is best, as we did have a lovely time visiting some amazing places in New Zealand.
We were happy we added an extra three nights in Sydney so we could spend Christmas Day. We stayed at Macleay hotel in a studio room overlooking the harbour bridge, it was lovely to see by day and lit up at night.
In our room we had a small kitchen area plus toilet and bathroom with daily maid service included. The neighbour we stayed in King cross area was nice. We had a Woolworth supermarket 5 minutes’ walk plus other shops and restaurants in the area. Train station 15 minutes and bus stop 2 minutes’ walk away.
Whilst in Sydney we went to Paddy’s Market which is must if you are in Sydney. The market sells everything from food to souvenirs. We went to Rocks area including the famous market.