Akaroa

[a1dolllady]

Hi

We are cruising to Australia and New Zealand on Solstice jan 16 2013. Has anyone done the Trans Scenic railroad tour ? I believe it's the TranzAlpine tour through Arthur's Pass and a visit to a sheep farm. Part of the tour is via bus. Would going into Christchurch be a better choice? Any thoughts and information would be appreciated.

Thanks so much

Have a great weekend!

Helen

[centsable]

Hi: I've been doing some research and found that Back to nature tours co nz has a newer tour of Akaroa and Christchurch

Akaroa and Christchurch City Scenic Tour
you can contact me for further information:
walker_l at shaw dot ca

[fnqboatie]

Christchurch is 84 km which is 75 minutes claimed travel time (2 hrs 30 min round trip). Why not see Akaroa instead? Way less traveling.

Have a look through this very good website http://www.akaroa.com/ for everything you need to know and inparticularly this page http://www.akaroa.com/cruise-ships and the links from it.

[CruisinGrandpa]

We did a walking tour of Akaroa in October. Those who went to Christ Church
By bus were VERY unhappy. 3 hours travel time, and most attractions are
still closed. Unless you just want to see a city trying to rebuild, and lots of
devastation, pick a different tour

[Dmgmd50]

Originally Posted by CruisinGrandpa

We did a walking tour of Akaroa in October. Those who went to Christ Church
By bus were VERY unhappy. 3 hours travel time, and most attractions are
still closed. Unless you just want to see a city trying to rebuild, and lots of
devastation, pick a different tour

Who ran the walking tour? We would like to do that.

[fnqboatie]

Originally Posted by Dmgmd50

Who ran the walking tour? We would like to do that.

Dmgmd50, please see the following: http://www.akaroawalks.co.nz/cruise_ships.htm

You might need to check the cruise ship shore excursions first to see if they have the walking tours listed.

[new2cruiser]

Originally Posted by a1dolllady

Hi

We are cruising to Australia and New Zealand on Solstice jan 16 2013. Has anyone done the Trans Scenic railroad tour ? I believe it's the TranzAlpine tour through Arthur's Pass and a visit to a sheep farm. Part of the tour is via bus. Would going into Christchurch be a better choice? Any thoughts and information would be appreciated.

Thanks so much

Have a great weekend!

Helen

Hi Helen,
How was the tour ? We're on 16March 2013 cruise Auckland>Sydney on the Solstice and booked the ship's TranzAlpine tour too. Any tips clothes/gloves etc ? 1st timer down south to New Zealand & Australia.
ec

[joetop2467]

There are two different tours with the TransAlpine railway. We went on the one with the jet boat included. The other includes a visit to a sheep farm. You will need warm clothes if you plan to go outside on the train and take photos. This was our only cloudy day and we froze on the jetboat. I tried to put the coldness out of my head because it was so beautiful I wanted to enjoy the whole experience. If you are doing the jetboat be sure to have gloves and a hood that ties tightly around your head.

[Katycat]

We were in Alkaroa just this past Dec 2102 on Celebrity Solstice It was one of our favorite stops. A really beautiful area. We chose to spend our time in and around Akaroa. We booked with Akaroa Farm Tours and had a truly memorable afternoon with great people. They will pick up at the port and it's about a 20-30 min ride through gorgeous scenery to their farm. Those folks who went on the tours to Christchurch spoke of the long trip(about 1 1/2 hrs each way) and lots of destruction still evident from the earthquake. Choose the Farm tour you won't regret it!!

[mr walker]

we were in Akaroa last week (Radiance OTS) and did the trip to ChCh by bus (the ship's tour). It was interesting to see the city, even though it is very badly affected - I have been there several times - before and after the quakes. We had a very nice stop at a sheep farm (Manderlay(?)) for morning tea

[new2cruiser]

Many Thanks Joetop2467,
Duly noted will be gloved , hooded and scarfed and will dig out our windproofer etc. We're on the less adventurous tour thank goodness as I saw it looks like a open jetboat for your trip. Yes I know the frozen feeling very well jetting for 2 hours in the open to reach a surreal spot in the Burmese Shan mountains in winter. But it was worth it !

[villauk]

We had an absolutely fabulous day in Akaroa, not on the train but on a wildlife tour. Below, I've posted the link to my review which contains some wonderful views of Akaroa - may whet your appetite .

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com...hp?p=36742072#

[Kiranus]

I realise the OP has already completed their trip, but for anyone else interested, we did the trans alpine (trans scenic) tour from the Solstice in early Jan 2013 - the one which includes the sheep farm. We loved it. You first take a coach to the outskirts of Christchurch (this takes quite a while - probably close to 2 hours, but the scenery on the Banks Peninsular is quite breathtaking). The train trip up to Arthur's Pass is also lovely. Apart from the beautiful landscape, they serve you nice scones and tea or coffee, and then juice and champagne. There is an open carriage at both front and back of the train from where you can stand to take photos if you wish. You get off the train at Arthur's Pass and board the same bus (which has driven to meet you) to go down via another route. Apparently we were supposed to stop at The Cave Stream in the National Park, but didn't have time.

Lunch was at the Homebush Station. Unfortunately the homestead itself was destroyed in the earthquake but there are several historic outbuildings in which they displayed museum type pieces and had a little shop. Lunch (buffet style including wine) was in a very nice marquee. After lunch, there was a shearing demonstration and also a sheep dog demonstration for those who were interested. We were a bit rushed here, so didn't have the opportunity to look through the outbuildings as I would have liked. We continued back to Akaroa, stopping for a photo stop at the Hilltop Tavern and, like a few of the other ship's tours that day, we were at least half an hour late returning. A very tiring day, but well worth the effort. I believe there were at least six groups doing this tour and half of them did the reverse of what we did (ie went to the sheep farm first)

[new2cruiser]

Thanks Kiranus for your post. Looking forward to some great scenery on the ship's TranzAlpine tour. The train ride sounds nice, did the scones come with clotted cream & strawberry jam ? Tour sounds quite rushed, so will rest up on our sea days. On our Med. tours Solstice gave us headsets when we wandered in Nice & Eze. Did they enlist the sheepdogs to gather the group ?

[kuldalai]

To answer the original question .

The Tranz Alpine railway trip is one of the World's great railway trips and not to be missed . You go up to Arthurs Pass by coach via the canterbury Plains and the sheep farm. Return is down by the Train .

Another great Railway trip is the Trieri Gorge railway departing and returning to shipside in Dunedin .

[Cruisiesusie05]

Just like to add that if you fancy doing something a little different, How about delivering the mail in the mail van. We did this in 2010 and would recommend it to anyone - fantastic!

http://www.akaroa.com/tours/akaroas-...cenic-mail-run

[rkhtex]

Originally Posted by Cruisiesusie05

Just like to add that if you fancy doing something a little different, How about delivering the mail in the mail van. We did this in 2010 and would recommend it to anyone - fantastic!

http://www.akaroa.com/tours/akaroas-...cenic-mail-run

We're booked to do this next month!! I'm more excited about this than just about anything else. We booked it a year ago. Can't wait!!! Glad to hear you liked it.

[Cruisiesusie05]

Originally Posted by rkhtex

We're booked to do this next month!! I'm more excited about this than just about anything else. We booked it a year ago. Can't wait!!! Glad to hear you liked it.

Hi Kim and Robb,

Just a little something to whet your appetite

http://smilebox.com/playBlog/4d7a553...&blogview=true

[rkhtex]

Originally Posted by Cruisiesusie05

Hi Kim and Robb,

Just a little something to whet your appetite

http://smilebox.com/playBlog/4d7a553...&blogview=true

Gorgeous!!! Thanks so much. I've heard that sometimes the weather is bad and it's too dangerous to tender. I'll be really disappointed.

[Cruisiesusie05]

Originally Posted by rkhtex

Gorgeous!!! Thanks so much. I've heard that sometimes the weather is bad and it's too dangerous to tender. I'll be really disappointed.

This time of year is usually good - Positive thinking