Our Trip to Down Under, 2020
In our never ending quest for maximum value when travelling, we took a three leg journey to Sydney from Toronto. We flew premium economy with Air Canada from Toronto to Vancouver, then on China Airlines to Taipei, Taiwan, and then to Sydney. We found the Taiwanese airline was amazingly good, with comfortable seats that were in a shell and moved forward like a Lazy-boy. No stranger’s head in my lap! But our flight time was long even though we were able to sleep through part of it.
Sydney, Australia
We (Richard, our son Patrick and I) met our friends and neighbours Bill and Millie at breakfast in the Ibis budget hotel in Darlinghurst, Sydney and then headed out on the hop-on hop-off bus. It showed us a lot of the city and we got off a few times to explore the Darling Harbour area and the Rocks historic area – in the 30C heat! Coming from 0C, it was a bit of a shock, but at least no issue with bushfire smoke.
Sydney celebrates their waterfront. There are high-rises, restaurants, commuter ferries, and art installations around the harbour and some interesting new buildings but a lot of the major infrastructure seems to have been built in the last 30 years. Of course, they have historical low rise buildings including domestic architecture with ornate railings and balconies. They seem to have been able to preserve heritage buildings better than Toronto.
During our three day stay, we took a municipal ferry to Watson’s Bay with great seascapes (and fish and chips!), visited the beautiful Chinese garden at Darling Harbour and followed a self-guided walk around the Kings Cross and Darlinghurst area with its colourful history.
All five of us had dinner with six Australian online friends from TheTravelzine. Fun, good conversation about travel and Australia, and good food.
Another food highlight in Sydney was a restaurant near our hotel, Dumplings & Beer with a simple menu and surroundings. The featured dumplings were deliciously fresh.
We boarded our ship in the late afternoon on a bright windy day. The Nautica is fairly small, just 649 passengers, which seems just right to us! Sail away was beautiful. Sydney harbour and the area is enclosed by two headlands and it was exciting to sail under the famous harbour bridge and past the Opera House. We could see some brave souls doing the bridge climb.
Our triple room on Oceania Regatta was comically crowded. The sofa bed was between our bed and the bathroom and stateroom door. Getting to the toilet at night involved creeping over our son Patrick’s feet. But thank goodness, the steward folded it up every day.
Melbourne, Australia
We missed our first port of call, Eden, Australia, due to the bushfires, but we got two full days in Melbourne, a lovely cosmopolitan city with some interesting modern architecture, a famous graffiti street and a beautiful state public library. Evidently it has the most trams (streetcars) in the world, including free central routes. Since it was an overnight stop, after dinner we took trams to St Kilda’s Pier to see little penguins coming ashore at the breakwater. There were crowds waiting for their return from the sea, and finally at dark, several were on the rocks and one even walked across the path to her preferred burrow. This is a popular sight with lots of people and required quite a few volunteers to protect the penguins. We also visited the fairly small Melbourne Zoo to see kangaroos, emus, and a koala.
Burnie, Tasmania, Australia
Next stop was Burnie where we were met by the mayor in his regalia before we joined our tour to the town of Stanley and the Nut (a volcanic plug), and Highfield House and gardens, built by convicts in 1835 for the chief agent of the Van Diemen’s Land Company.
Richard and Patrick opted to walk up the Nut, an arduous half kilometre or so. I took the chair lift which was scary, especially coming back down, but I am glad I didn’t try the climb. The kilometre or so trail on the top of the Nut itself featured lookouts and even some wildlife – we saw wallabies in the bushes! We hadn’t realized how small they are.
We had two low key sea days enjoying the onboard lecturers and the scrumptious food. Then the third day we spent cruising Milford Sound and then, a bonus, Dusky Sound! We were glad we set our alarm so we could go to the top deck around 8am, grabbing coffee and a Danish in the Horizon Lounge and went out to be amazed. As usual, there was a commentary from the bridge (cruise director, one of the lecturers and info from the pilot) and the captain made a 360 degree turn for us!
We were lucky to have great weather to enjoy the beautiful scenery and we were the first ship through the fjord since the terrible flooding rains a couple of weeks before. Milford is a narrow fjord with very steep sided cliffs, some waterfalls, a glacier, jagged granite peaks, and some greenery supporting itself by clinging to lichen. Compared to the fjord we visited last year in Norway (Geraingerfjord), Milford is much shorter and narrower, but the narrowness made it very impressive. Both fjords are lovely.
Later in the afternoon, the cruise director announced the unexpected addition to our day so we charged up to the top deck to enjoy Dusky Sound which is wider, greener with less steep sides but as a compensation, lovely vistas with other peaks in the distance. And here we saw New Zealand fur seals on some rocks. Evidently we were lucky to enjoy such lovely weather in an area that rains about 182 days a year and is the wettest inhabited place in New Zealand, and one of the wettest places in the world!
Dunedin, New Zealand
We had a super tour with Marina of Awesome Travels to the Royal Albatross Centre, Nature’s Wonders (both on the Otago Peninsula) and a short tour of the highlights of the city of Dunedin. Beautiful scenery, flying albatrosses, and seals and a few nesting penguins. The albatrosses have 3 metre wingspans, tip to tip, and they fly to the coast of Chile for a few years, never going on shore. After some time they fly back to Otago in NZ to mate and raise a chick.
The farmer / conservationist who owned Nature’s Wonder was a bit of an old codger who said everyone else got it wrong about penguins! But he and his family certainly are preserving some interesting breeding areas. He has about 20 beaches that no one including his family can walk on because it might jeopardize the sea birds and seals. However, we would give this site a miss if we were doing it again, in spite of the lovely landscape.
In Dunedin we saw the world’s steepest street, the university, the lovely Flemish Renaissance-style train station with mosaic floor of almost 750,000 tiles of Royal Doulton porcelain and Wedgwood wall medallions, and finally, a quick peek in the Settlers Museum. (That warranted more time but as always with a day trip, you can’t see everything.)
Akaroa, New Zealand
We enjoyed a low key day in a cute town near Christ Church where many of the original settlers were French and which cultivates it French ambiance. We visited an old public library, a local history museum, had fish and chips (yummy blue cod), and walked to the lighthouse. Akaroa is on a caldera, the flooded mouth of an extinct volcano, like Santorini, Greece, and the town with many flowering plants was a nice one for whiling away part of a day.
Wellington, New Zealand
A visit to the capital of NZ! We took the free port shuttle to the tourist bureau (I-Site) where we bought guided tour tickets to Zealandia which included a free shuttle. Zealandia ie the world’s first fully enclosed nature sanctuary. They have designed a fencing system to prevent critters climbing or jumping over or burrowing under and destroying the native birds, reptiles, insects and frogs. Everything is either endemic to NZ or ‘native” – ie. they made their way on their own to NZ. The project has reintroduced over 20 species of native wildlife back into the area, some of which were previously absent from mainland New Zealand for over 100 years. The guided tour was worthwhile – it was hard to see or identify birds without our knowledgable guide!
Then we visited the national museum Te Papa near the port shuttle and Zealandia free shuttle. After lunch at the cafe in the museum, we headed for the fourth floor and the Maori collection. I was also interested in the section on the other Pacific Islanders who have moved to NZ who are “Polynesian’ but not Maori.
Napier, New Zealand (Hawke’s Bay)
Another lovely day in a very attractive area! We had two tours booked through the local tourist office (I-Site). First, a morning walking tour of the Art Deco heritage area with the local conservancy group. The town was devastated by an earthquake in 1931 but rebuilt over in just five years. Because it was the fashion, the centre of the city was rebuilt in Art Deco style. Our guide pointed out the wide variety of motifs, such as ziggurats, sunbursts, Egyptian, horizontal “speed” lines, and even stylized Maori art. We were glad we had been given headsets so that we could keep up with our volunteer guide since the group was a little larger than usual. I don’t know what they do when a big cruise ship is in town!
We had a light and tasty lunch nearby at Ajuna Eatery on Hastings Street. Then we met with our afternoon tour guide – John from Fantastic Tours for a private tour. And the name was right! We saw a few sites on our way out of town and heard about the new land that was pushed up due to the earthquake. We visited a Maori style celestial star compass and then drove through a beautiful valley to Te Mata Peak. The mountain top gave us huge vistas of the valley far below. We also had tastings at three specialty food producers – honey, figs, and chocolate and then to the oldest NZ winery, Mission, for a tasting of five or six wines.
Gisborne, New Zealand
A fabulous day in Gisborne where we tendered to the town pier to meet Nisbet of Gisborne Tours who gave us a wonderful day! We were seven – the Ferguson’s, Patrick and another couple who had booked due to my invitation on Cruise Critic.
Our customized tour with Nisbet included visiting a Maori meeting house (marae). First we visited the Captain Cook memorial which had been rejigged last year to celebrate both the arrival of the Maoris and then Captain Cook about four or five hundred years later.
As we drove to the marae, we heard about what to expect, and we learned a simple short song in Maori. We knew we would each introduce ourselves and name the river and mountain we identify with. Properly primed, we waited at the gate while Thelma, the marae member, watched us and then she started to sing. She gestured us forward, women first and then she formally invited us to enter. We removed our shoes and entered the colourful wooden hall. Thelma told us her story (which links up with the history of that marae) and about the river and mountains nearby which are meaningful to her and her family.
When it was our turn, we introduced ourselves, and named our river and mountain. As an ex-Montrealer, I chose the St Lawrence River and Mount Royal where my grandparents lived.
When we sang our song, I was grateful that Nisbet has a powerful voice because the rest of us were a bit flakey! Thelma was pleased though about our song and our sharing. And she sang a song to us in return.
After the ceremonial sharing, we were told that we were part of the community now. At our request, she explained the weavings on the walls which are a kind of writing. They are an oral storytelling people, although they do have an alphabet now.
I don’t have a photo of Thelma with her tribal chin tattoos and stained lips in dark blue. She was an arresting woman. The whole experience was fascinating and moving. Interestingly, most Maori are Christians although they keep their traditions.
We were so glad about our visit and grateful that Nisbet was able to organize it for us. He said that while it wasn’t a haka (like the rugby team All Blacks does) or fancy, it was personal and genuine. It certainly felt that way.
A change of pace for the afternoon! Gisborne is New Zealand’s 4th largest grape growing region and we celebrated that with a visit to two wineries, Matawhero and Bushmere Estate. Our Matawhero platter lunch of cheese, charcuterie, olives, and wine outside under the trees felt very luxurious and Italian! And then, at the second winery, we had a particularly good guided tasting with the owner.
Tauranga and Rotorua
On our next to last port of call, we visited two other-worldly places – a shire of Middle Earth aka Hobbiton film set and Te Puia, a geothermal site.
The Hobbit houses are cute and the landscaping and flowers are very pretty. The guide told us how the sets were used in the films, and some background information about techniques. Even though I haven’t seen all of the films, it does bring you into a magical world.
The second part of our day was a trip to Te Puia, a geothermal site with bubbling mud, pools of boiling water, and stunning geysers. The P?hutu geyser is the star of the show but the current drought in the area was probably responsible for the low height of the hot water jet. But it was still worth visiting!
We also saw Maori craftspeople and finally, a kiwi bird. This nocturnal flightless bird is a little peculiar looking with a long slightly curving beak. Evidently they have poor sight. The birds were in a large glassed-in dark area, but alas, no photos allowed to avoid startling the birds.
Auckland, New Zealand
We disembarked and took a shared cab to our accommodation. The YMCA hotel / lodge was a little more basic than I had anticipated – no air conditioning, just opening windows and an electric fan. I hadn’t anticipated the mid-20C temperatures. However the lodge was modern, clean, safe, and reasonably located.
We enjoyed the Auckland Museum aka Auckland war memorial museum with its fine collection of Maori objects and a very interesting simulation of an underwater volcano eruption in Auckland bay. NZ is waiting for another earthquake but they don’t seem to worry about it, but know it is inevitable. Everywhere we visited, there were buildings waiting to be demolished after the last one and building height restrictions in many places. At the museum, we also enjoyed a short Maori cultural show of music, songs and dance which culminated with the haka, the one that NZ rugby players do before a game.
On our last (and hot again) days in Auckland, we took the hop on hop off bus (Explorer) which offers two interconnecting loops plus a bonus ferry ride to Devonport, a small town about 15 minutes by catamaran.
We did both loops, which gave us a good overview of the city, only getting off at Mount Eden in order to walk up for a fine view over the city and water and to see the crater of an extinct volcano.
We had an evening flight home with Air New Zealand so we took the opportunity to visit the Auckland art gallery. The most interesting exhibits were the Maori portraits. We lunched at the museum cafe in the shade of an umbrella, thinking it would be months before we could do that again!
Some thoughts:
We hadn’t realized before that all of New Zealand is hilly. Towns and cities are built on high ground overlooking the water and all require fairly strenuous walking to get around! I guess that is fairly usual for islands or peninsulas – I am thinking of Portugal.
We hadn’t realized how much of a presence the Maoris are in NZ. Maori became an official language in 1987 and much public signage is bilingual. While there are problems, they seem further ahead in dealing with indigenous issues than we are in Canada. They are working on redrafting the treaty that, according to many, cheated the Maoris out of their land.
They have regional issues, just like Canada too. The North Island where Auckland is, tends to be drier while the South Island is greener and wetter. Right now, there is a drought in the North Island. Some North Islanders seem to feel that the South is somewhat of a backwater, even though the University of Otago, New Zealand’s oldest university, is in Dunedin in the South. Some South Islanders say they don’t like Auckland, but half the population of the country live there!
I was surprised how much the Kiwi identity is tied up with adventure and the outdoors. We saw several outdoor stores / camping equipment stores on the main shopping street in Auckland and of course, opportunities for adventure everywhere. A very lovely memorable trip!