NEW ZEALAND CRUISE FEBRUARY 2023

 

NEW ZEALAND CRUISE 12 FEBRUARY 2023

Getting ready to embark on Royal Caribbean ship, OVATION OF THE SEAS from Sydney Harbour bound for the NZ fjords and circumnavigation of South Island. Calling in at Milford Sounds, Dunedin Christchurch, Picton and Wellington.

This is 'The Rocks' area next to the harbour bridge with its early warehouse buildings now converted to cafe's and shops.

View of the Harbour Bridge from the back of the ship. When we departed the ship backed up until it almost touched the far pylon before turning to face the exit of the harbour.

We were late getting away, by accident or design, which benefitted the fireworks farewell.

Exploring the facilities on the top deck. Not game to have a go at surf boarding myself.

...and this is why. Some make a mess of it!

DAY 3

Approaching Milford Sounds

Dolphins disturbed by or excited because of this whopping great visitor in their domain!

DAY 5 DUNEDIN.

We got the nod that we should go into town from the port using local transport as the ships shuttle is expensive and restrictive. Cathy called in at a bank and got some NZ currency. The smallest denomination was $20.00 whereas the single fare was $1.60! The bus driver experienced with cruise travellers did a sleight of hand and presented Cathy with her change less $10.00 which she didn't realize until she sat down. The driver didn't know who he was dealing with and she was back in a flash! He rudely told her to "sit down" and he would sort it out later. So the 20 min journey was spent with a black cloud hanging during which time we discovered that he had done it to others. Anyway she got her $10.00 back!

Dunedin was settled by Scottish immigrants in the early days and there is a lot of evidence of this. The terrain reminded them of 'home'.

This is the bus stop where the cruise ship passengers gather for the return trip. Almost deserted at this time but packed later.

Dunedin railway station designed by a Scottish architect, George Troup.

Here is the queue we avoided by taking the local bus.

The passage to open water seemed very narrow. A credit to the pilot getting us out.

DAY 6. CHRISTCHURCH

We arrived on the day Princess Anne unveiled a memorial to those lost in the earthquake. A lady nearby quickly corrected me, "The Princess Royal"!

Anne is in the back seat of this car.

Selection of wild life. Famous local black fish in this photo.

Back on board ship.

Surprise guest, Elton John, playing the piano in one of the lifts! This guy and his piano popped up in all sorts of strange places and put smiles on peoples faces.

Shopping mall in ships interior.

DAY 7 PICTON

This area came as a bit of a surprise to me. I thought NZ South Island was all flat except for the mountain range down the West coast but it is bumpy all over. The docking area looks like a timber yard and shuttle buses took us to the main town.

Waiting to go ashore.

Very pleasant time spent in a beer garden. Not much else to do. This guy was an excellent musician. 

Now departing for the next port of call.

Cathy makes friends with a crew member. She, I think, was from Ghana. There were crew members from 140 or so countries. They all seemed to be enjoying themselves and made the cruise all that much more interesting. Our waiters at our dining spot were from India. The drinks waiter said his family grew table grapes which were all shipped to the European market.

Our friend! When we saw this picture we knew that we were close to our cabin.

DAY 8. WELLINGTON

One of our first missions was to seek out this machine which I hadn't seen for years but knew it was on the wharf in the city centre somewhere.

In 1973 my employer Clark Equipment (Australia) P/L, sent me to NZ to be their representative while the first one of these machines was being assembled. NZ container handling was being upgraded. Built in Australia from an American design, it is now redundant and used as a bicycle hire centre.

A monument in my own lifetime!

We met a guy on board ship who used to operate similar machines in Glasgow docks. I had never met anyone who had used one on a regular basis before so that was interesting.

Ferry leaving Wellington harbour for South Island.

Tugboat doing U'ees prior to seeing us off from Wellington.

Time for some exercise!

DAY 11. Back in Sydney.

Pilot vessel alongside.

Naval dockyard at Potts Point.

Fort Denison, which used to be a convict prison. They relied on shark infested waters to stop escapees in those days.

Two days later we both went down with Covid!

I'd hate to blame it on the cruise ship as so much care was taken to prevent the spread of the disease and we did travel by commuter train from the city to Richmond, where we were picked up by Glenn.

Just one of those things. We were up to date with our vaccinations which is probably why the symptoms didn't last long.