New Zealand / End of Cruise

Little Blues are the smallest species of penguin. They grow to an average of 33 cm (13 in) in height and 43 cm (17 in) in length. We were able to see them close up, like this one, at a rehab facility in Napier, New Zealand. In the wild they are very shy and will dive out of sight at the slightest movement or noise. So, it was great when were also able to see many more of them in the wild, at Akaroa, from the deck of a sailboat touring the harbour. Napier and Akaroa were just two of the seven ports we would visit in New Zealand during the last week of our six week cruise on the MS Noordam.  It was a very busy week with a new port every day. But, first we had to get there.

We left Hobart, Tasmania, headed across the Tasman Sea to Milford Sound. We had left port early due to an impending storm. In a small boat, we would have stayed in harbour. On the big cruise ship we left early. The captain was hoping that we would stay ahead of the worst of it and of course we had our schedule to keep. It was a full-blown Beaufort Force 10 storm. The winds hovered between 50-55 knots for two straight days. There were gusts to 74 knots and probably above. The ship was battened down, the swimming pools were drained, all exterior doors were locked, all outdoor furnishings were lashed, all passengers were warned to lock and not open their stateroom doors. It never looks as bad when you’re a long way up from the waves and at least they seemed to be all going in the same direction which helps a lot. We were on the leeward side of the ship and with the stabilizers out the boat movement was very manageable with just a shudder and a wiggle as a rogue wave would strike the hull out of pattern. Sleep wasn’t an issue for us and we slept soundly through it all. There were fewer people about the ship and the dining room was definitely very quiet for dinner. On the third day the winds lessened to the high forties. There was some doubt that we’d be able to enter Milford Sound, but, we got in through this narrow entrance. 

It was grey, wet and misty, but, very atmospheric and beautiful. The waterfall at the head of the Sound was impressive. For scale, look at the three kayaks at the bottom of this photo.

We read in a local paper a few days later that, while we were in Milford Sound, a passenger had been taken off by boat and airlifted by helicopter to a local hospital. We had seen the boat and helicopter, but, hadn't made the connection. During our six week voyage, there had been at least one death.An Australian man died just two days out from Sydney. We were often met at the dock by one or more ambulances waiting to pick up passengers for medical treatment.

Being in a new port every day was exhausting and after a while they all started to blend together, but, there were highlights. We were quite taken with Napier and Dunedin and there’ll be separate posts on each of those soon. Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, was really just another big city, but, they do have a very good botanical garden where we photographed this gorgeous water lily.

Two of the smallest towns we visited, Picton and Akaroa, were both very charming. The people of Picton were very welcoming. Two ladies from the town were standing by the gangway handing out small, perfect, fresh flower corsages as we came ashore. It was a nice touch. Picton also has a good harbour where the Interisland ferry docks and a nice park alongside.

We hiked to the top of the local lookout and were rewarded with this lovely view over Picton, its harbour and out to Marlborough Sounds beyond.

Akaroa is a newer destination for the cruise ships. They used to go into nearby Christchurch, but, due to the destruction of the port facilities there in the earthquake of 2011, Akaroa has become the replacement choice. It’s a tiny place, with a surprising French influence that has descended from the earliest settlers to the region. The harbour is shallow and our large ship had to anchor off and we were tendered in. It was a long way in and around this headland.

The visit was somewhat marred as there was another cruise ship in port and the influx of passengers just filled up the little town to bursting with swarms of people milling about. It wasn’t a good thing and you have to wonder why landings couldn’t be coordinated better. To get away from the crowds and salvage the visit we went out on a two hour harbour tour on a classic sailing yacht (www.aclasssailing.co.nz).  It was a beautiful, sunny sailing afternoon with just enough wind for a relaxing sail. We spotted some of the resident blue penguin colony. We had hoped to see Hector’s dolphins, the very rare and smallest member of the dolphin family, but, it wasn't our day. Before joining the queue to return to the ship we walked around the town and found it a delightful place.

We didn’t even get off the boat in Tauranga as it was a short stop and we needed to pack for our ship departure the next day in Auckland. It was also a miserable day with torrential rain and heavy fog, unlike the great weather we'd had in all the other ports. We are planning to visit Tauranga and nearby Rotorua in depth on our three month campervan road trip, so, didn’t miss anything.

The next day we arrived at our final port of call, Auckland, after six weeks aboard. We were the first to disembark and we were off! It felt good to be back on land and making our own travel and food choices once again. 

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Australia

We left the South Pacific Islands for the final leg of the cruise, to Australia and New Zealand. The cruise from Vancouver to Auckland is a “Collector’s Voyage” by Holland America Lines. That means that there a number of cruises that could be enjoyed independently that have been joined together into the one longer voyage we are on. It was interesting that on the Vancouver to Sydney cruise, most of the cruisers were Canadian, or, from the UK, even though we did pick up quite a few Americans in Astoria and San Diego. The ship held a special night to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving with all our favourites on the menu. Once we got to Sydney about half the passengers, 900, got off and 900 more got on. This new group is mostly American and now we are celebrating Halloween and other American things on board.

Although this last two week leg of our voyage is described as an Australia/New Zealand cruise, we only stopped very briefly at three cities in Australia: Sydney, Melbourne and Hobart, Tasmania.

First stop was Sydney. The harbour approach was as exciting as everybody says it is and the harbour remains Sydney’s most outstanding feature. That first glimpse of the Opera House with the Sydney Harbour Bridge (a.k.a. “the coathanger”) in the background was stunning.

Most cruise ships dock at Circular Quay, right in the centre of town. The Noordam is the largest ship that can fit under the Sydney Bridge (with only a metre to spare!), so, we went under and onward to White Bay. Passing beneath a bridge in a boat where the air draught is tight can be a heart-stopping experience (been there, done that!). Although I was sure the Noordam crew had done their sums correctly, the passage under was still exciting and seemed very close.

As we passed under the bridge a train went by overhead. Above the train there were a bunch of bridge walkers on a span. Can’t really see the appeal to this, but, it’s a popular tourist activity and quite expensive. You get strapped in and walk to the top of a span.

There are many attractions around the harbour.

Once ashore, first impressions were very positive. The weather was cooler, but, thankfully less humid, the sun was shining brilliantly, the blossoms were out (it’s spring here) and everything seemed new and spotlessly clean. It all seemed familiar except once in a while something different would present itself just to be sure that you knew you really were somewhere different. Like this very large, exotic-looking bird that just swooped down onto a city square outside the library to pick up a morsel. Nobody paid it any attention, they’re probably like city pigeons to Aussies, but, to us, it was something really special.

Our short visit was spent mostly in the library using the wifi to try and book ahead for activities beyond the end of the cruise. The library was an attraction in itself, very old and lovely. After the library, we were able to walk around Sydney for a few hours and that was the extent of our visit. We are hoping to spend more time there in future. The departing skyline view was almost as good as the approach.

We also visited Melbourne. When we’d booked the cruise, we were offered a ‘free’ shore excursion in Melbourne and we took it. It was a wine-tasting tour which may seem weird for a couple of teetotallers, but, there was also a city tour involved, a drive out to the Yarra Valley wine country and a nice lunch at the winery as well. It was a good day out away from the ship and the city. The other participants said the wine was good too!

Melbourne seemed very like Sydney, but, with a less impressive harbour. It was also a nice mix of old and new architecture, very clean and we were blessed again with gorgeous weather. The day was full-on with a visit to the Queen Vic market, the Melbourne Museum and then out to wine country. Melbourne seems sports-mad, they have a whole area of the city devoted to stadiums, different ones for different sports. I remember the brouhaha when Toronto wanted to build a single domed stadium. This town has multiple domed stadiums, with many others under major renovation and it just seems an accepted part of city life.

Our last stop in Australia was Hobart, Tasmania. Tasmania is, of course, the large island just off  the south coast of Australia. Hobart is the capital with about 200,000 residents. It was another hidden gem. A beautiful old town, very reminiscent of England and we felt right at home. We were lucky to be there on a Saturday, market day at Salamanca Market. It was a really great market, no tat, just a full quality array of foodstuffs and craft goods. The town  was bustling with lots of great restaurants and cafes.

A walk up the stone Kelly’s Steps to the historic Battery Point area made for a nice stroll. The residences were mostly small, old cottages, beautifully kept with pretty spring gardens on display.

There were a number of touchpoints about Hobart, a few we knew about and one unexpected surprise. We knew that Sir John Franklin (of North West Passage lost Franklin Expedition infamy) was the governor here when it was still known as Van Diemen’s Land. We also knew it as the finish line for the classic Sydney to Hobart yacht race. We found out that there is also a Melbourne to Hobart yacht race which is actually a longer and harder go as it traverses the western side of Tasmania instead of the more protected eastern side.

After our walk through the Battery Point area, we headed back down to the waterfront through a somewhat industrial area. We turned a corner and there he was, again, Roald Amundsen. There were five bronze busts of the Norwegian explorer made and we’d already seen four of them. Two in Norway: Tromsø in 2010 and Ny Ålesund, Svalbard, in 2011. The third was found in 2014, in Gjoa Haven, Nunavut during the first leg of our North West Passage transit. The fourth was found in Nome, Alaska when we completed our NWP voyage in 2015. Now, in 2016, through serendipity, we'd come across the fifth, in faraway Hobart, Tasmania. We’re not intentionally following Roald around, but, it’s starting to seem that way!

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New Caledonia / Vanuatu

The next South Pacific port of call on our cruise from Vancouver to Auckland was New Caledonia and it was a shiny gem. Currently, New Caledonia is an overseas territory of France. There will be a referendum in the next couple of years to determine if they will become independent. In the meantime, there is a heavy French influence on life here, blended with Melanesian culture. It’s a delightful place. The ship visited two islands, Lifou, a rural island with vanilla farms and a gorgeous beach where we had a great snorkel and Grand Terre, a large, incredibly diverse island where we only visited the city of Nouméa, in the far south. There is a large mountain range running down the centre of Grand Terre, with cattle farms (and cowboys!) in the north and fruit farms on the east side.

Nouméa was impressive. Clean and cosmopolitan with two beaches and a good harbour right in town.

There is a long, very popular, waterside recreational path that runs for miles lined with beautiful palm trees.

The huge lagoon that encloses the town was designated a World Heritage Site in 2008 and provides opportunity for lots of water sport from sailing to wind and kite surfing. It was exhilarating to watch the speeds reached by the surfers in the strong breeze.

We had a very busy one-day visit to Nouméa . First stop was a visit to Le Marché, the early-morning market just adjacent to the marina. Wonderful displays of fresh produce were mixed with just-landed fish, fresh-baked breads and cakes, olives, meats, honey and arts and crafts.

Next up was a ride on the tourist train, Le Petit Train, to many scenic viewpoints. The scenery was absolutely spectacular with views of the World Heritage Site lagoon.

We followed the train tour with a visit to a really good aquarium, Aquarium des Lagons, which has many displays of species unique to New Caledonia. There is a simulated night environment so bioluminescent corals can be viewed. Due to the size of the reefs around New Caledonia, France is actually one of the top four countries in the world with the largest barrier reefs, Only Indonesia, Philippines and Australia have larger reefs.

This fish was fascinating to watch.

Look at the spectacular colouration on this lobster.

A bright blue starfish was a unique wonder. There was an entire tank of always intriguing seahorses which the aquarium breeds.

We’ve seen quite a few corals all over the world, but, none as colourful as these! They almost didn't look real.

To round out the day we paid a visit to a very French patisserie and enjoyed a delicious café au lait with a slice of cake, of the same quality as you’d find in Paris. Definitely New Caledonia deserves another, longer visit to see more of its many charms.

By contrast, our brief visit to Vanuatu was somewhat of a disappointment. The guidebook described a country with many “best-in-the-world” experiences: two really active volcanoes, historic cannibal sites, blue holes, a sunken luxury liner to dive on, dugong and turtle viewing, beaches and an ancient living culture .As it turned out, on this cruise, we were only going to stop for nine hours at Port Vila, the capital city on the main island of Efate. All the “best” attractions were located on other islands in the chain, so, we were disappointed before we even left the ship. Leaving the ship to walk to town, we had to go through a very long gauntlet of tour and taxi touts who were quite aggressive and it wasn’t very pleasant. We ran into this in other countries, but, at least there the sales pitch was more organized with posted prices and maps and once you said no that was pretty much the end of it. Here, there were large groups of men all hanging about in your path and you were on your own to find your way through, or, “make a deal”.  We heard later that two older ladies were so upset by this behaviour that they just turned around and went back to the ship. 

It was a long, hot walk into town, but, once there, it was quite a pleasant town with a good central market and waterfront area with many tourist activities available. We did a circuit of the town. Away from the waterfront, we went past an area of poverty-stricken tin shack residences and at least three jails. The jails looked like an absolute hell on earth with prisoners reaching arms out through dank, dark, thick-barred cells, completely open to the outdoors, amidst all the heat and dust of the prison compound fringed with razor wire. So, there is trouble in paradise, but, although these comments sound really negative we’d definitely travel back to Vanuatu as it has a lot to offer that interests us. In future, we’d avoid the cruise ship dock and travel independently, mostly to the outer islands.   

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Fiji

It was a short hop across the International Date Line to our two ports in Fiji. First stop was Suva, Fiji, the largest town in the South Pacific. It was a gritty place, but, interesting and we really felt like we had arrived somewhere different. Even though we were in a big town, there were still natural sights to be seen, like these flying foxes (bats) that were hanging in trees near the Parliament buildings.

These colourful little birds were only about as long as your thumb and it was a delight to see them flitting about the lawns.

Outside the Parliament buildings there was a Changing of the Guard at noon which we were lucky enough to catch.

Unusually, it was a cloudy day in Suva, with occasional deluges of rain. I can’t imagine how the guards stand out there, in uniform, on a hot sunny day. We enjoyed the rain even though it was still steamy because, I have to say it, we’ve been finding it too hot! The contrast between the freezing cold air conditioning on the ship and the real world doesn’t give us any time to acclimatize and we’ve been having difficulty getting up the energy to do a lot of walking in the heat. With the rain we were able to walk for about three hours which was enough to get a good feel for the town and visit the small, but, excellent Fiji Museum.

We left Suva in torrential rain at midnight and headed for a small island chain to the south.

At seven a.m. we anchored just off Dravuni Island where about two hundred people live on a speck of land about two miles long inside the Great Astrolabe Reef (the fourth largest barrier reef in the world).

We were only going to be there a few hours, so, didn’t have much opportunity for exploring, but, we did go ashore to walk the beach and see the village. There is a small school and the island is lush with coconut and breadfruit trees.

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