Australia & New Zealand

It's been ages since I was last on here, and I have no idea how the time got away from me.  It seems that every time I think about writing something down, I get carried away on something new and forget about writing on this blog.  Anyhow, after we finished our Alaska Cruise trip, we decided to set sail on another cruise in October 2014, but saw the air flights were going to cost an arm and a leg, so decided to use our air miles getting us to Australia and getting us back from New Zealand.  All I can say is "What an experience"!!!

Our flights to and from Australia/New Zealand were to die for as we flew business class both ways.  I have never been pampered sooooo much!!  Our seats were very luxurious recliners that completely went flat for a very comfortable sleep.  Quantas Airlines even provided a quilted pad for extra comfort.  We flew a Quantas 747 to Australia and a Fiji Airlines Air Bus back to the U.S.  Both airlines were fantastic and the seats were so comfortable, we had no feeling of being on a plane for 14 plus hours each way.

On Oct 13, we flew into Brisbane (via Phoenix & Los Angeles) and after a short layover flew into Cairns where we stayed for 6 days.  Because of crossing the date line, we lost a day so were in Cairns October 15-21.  We had a great time playing on the Great Barrier Reef, touring the quaint town of Kuranda (via skyrail over the rain forest), spending a day at a Crocodile Preserve where Ken got to feed a Croc, and visiting an Aboriginal Cultural Center……even learned how to blow on a Didgeridoo, but couldn’t master playing it. 

On Oct 21, we flew to Sydney and toured the city before boarding our Holland America ship on Oct 24.  Sydney is very large city with some beautiful harbors.  We mostly toured the city via a Hop on Hop off bus and got our bearings before visiting the Toranga Zoo (across the bay) where we saw Kangaroos, Koalas, Wambats, Cassowarys, and the so very mean (but cute) Tasman Devil.  Also saw the usual animals, birds, and reptiles that are in most zoos, but the Taz and the Koalas were our favorite.

Our big adventure was 14 days on the Holland America ship “the Ms Oosterdam (Oct 24-Nov 7).  We sailed out of Sydney on the Tasman Sea to Melbourne, where we were able to tour the city and beaches on another Hop on Hop off bus.  With only one day there, it was the only way to really see the city.

Our next stops were to be Hobart and Milford Sound, but as we were leaving Melbourne, the Captain said gale force winds (upwards of 100mph plus) and high seas (50 feet plus swells) were predicted, and he didn’t want to put the ship (and passengers) in danger, so he planned to out run the storm and head for the Cook Strait that goes between the north and south New Zealand Islands…. We were at sea (Tasman Sea) for 2 ½ days and stayed on the edge of the advancing storm.  Even being ahead of the storm, there were still some very rough and windy (75 mph winds) seas.  In fact, one day and night the Promenade Deck was closed off because it was too dangerous to be out there.  We had a Verandah room on deck 6 (Upper Promenade) and did step out a few times, but it was just too windy to spend any time out there.  Once we were on the Pacific Ocean side of New Zealand, the seas were much better…..still windy in many ports, but nothing like what we experenced at sea...

We stopped at 6 ports before ending our cruise on November 7 in Auckland, New Zealand.  We toured the Cadbury Chocolate Factory in Dunedin, took a jet boat ride and 8 wheeler high country ride in Akaroa, and saw the Glow Worm Cave (and the worms) and Kiwi Birds in the Kiwi House while in Tauranga (Rotorua).  In Napier, we visited a Maori Village to learn of their history and culture.

Once in Auckland, we extended our stay for two more days and had fun seeing the sights of the city.  We saw hundreds of Penguins at the local sea aquarium and even watched the Stingray(s) being fed.

Just around the corner from our hotel was the Sky Tower of Auckland.  The tower stands over 1,000 feet tall with a viewing platform at 770 feet.  There is also a revolving restaurant on one level and a bungee jumping platform on another level (no, we didn’t jump).  It took every bit of my courage just to get up to the viewing platform to look at the city below.  It was quite fantastic, but I was so glad when I was back down and on solid ground.

We left Auckland on Sunday, Nov 9 via Fiji Air and flew through the night to Los Angeles where we actually landed on Sunday, Nov 9 before we left Auckland (now that is a very strange feeling).  In reality, we had two Sundays that day.  Instead of flying back to Phoenix where our coach was at, we flew into Portland where our kids picked us up and we spent two weeks at home in Salem before driving our Grand Cherokee Jeep back to Arizona.

We had a grand time and are now looking at doing another cruise in 2016….Destination TBA.