Local Taxi in Various Ports

Will visit following ports in Feb., 2015 & would like to know about the availability of local taxis and/or small tour vans at each. Is it possible to just walk off the ship & book something? Ports: Hobart, Port Chalmers, Akaroe, Wellington, Tauranga.

In Wellington there are cabs at the cruise terminal which can offer tours. However, there's no touring bookable at the port, so you should try and book these in advance, especially if you're coming on a large ship or if there's two ships in port. Have a look at the list on WellingtonNZ.com as a starting point. You've got lots of options!

There are tourist information centres at the dock in Hobart and Port Chalmers (main one in Dunedin). There are local tours available at the dock in Akaroa. There is also an information centre at the dock in Wellington as well as in town.

In Wellington there are cabs at the cruise terminal which can offer tours. However, there's no touring bookable at the port, so you should try and book these in advance, especially if you're coming on a large ship or if there's two ships in port. Have a look at the list on WellingtonNZ.com as a starting point. You've got lots of options!

Appreciate this excellent info on wonderful Wellington. As noted below, we did lots of these great ports/stops in New Zealand and Australia earlier this year. For Wellington, we did one of the dock-side cab tours and it worked out super well for my wife and me at a very reasonable cost. Lots more details and options for Wellington and other ports are shown on my full live/blog. Check out that info, plus many, many pictures from this super scenic part of the world. Feel free to ask any follow questions. Happy to share more.

Talk with the cab driver in advance and make sure that he or she has some "personality" to make such a mini type of introductory tour worth it and interesting. Our driver had Irish-history and was so super charming, informative, etc. It was so great to have a "conversation" with a knowing local, get our questions answered, etc. As the pictures below shows, we started by going up Mt. Victoria, getting a great over-view of this scenic, San Francisco-like town. We went through and around the various shopping, residential areas; saw the national capitol, an interesting historic church, etc., etc. All worked well, then did things on our own in the cute Cuba Street shopping area, met friends for lunch at a great local dining palace, saw their nice harbor areas and then did the famed museums there (with free admission). All worked super well in Wellington. Loved the town!!

BUT, not all NZ ports have such dock-side options as we did in Wellington. Ideally, it is best to have made and done your research and planning IN ADVANCE!! Don't expect to walk off of the ship in NZ and have a wide range of excursions available instantly for the pickings.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Back from doing a 14-day Celebrity Solstice, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Sydney to Auckland adventure on this ship and getting a big sampling for the wonders of "down under” before and after this cruise. Go to:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

for much more information and lots of wonderful pictures on these amazing sights in this great part of the world. Now at 78,716 views for this fun posting.

We started out our day in Wellington by hooking up with an excellent cab driver for a mini-tour and introduction to this city. This included first going up to Mount Victoria for a great overview of the city and seeing many sights around town. Here is an overview for this city from this great location on a wonderful weather day. We could also the residential structures that climb up the hills all around this great, scenic harbor. And, we had a view of the Wellington airport where the top movie/computer operations for Peter Jackson and James Cameron are working their magic for future film releases. Wellington is now the center for this type of film production in the world. There was also a closer view of the Te Papa museum shown below from this vantage point.:

This is the main government center for New Zealand, including on the left with its round, Beehive building. The Beehive was built in stages between 1969 and 1979. It is extensively decorated with New Zealand art. The top floor is occupied by the Cabinet room, with the Prime Minister's offices on the ninth floor. The Parliament is located next door in the middle building shown.:

This is the inside of Old St. Paul's church in Wellington. See, we did go to church on our trip! It is the former cathedral in the Diocese of Wellington for the Anglican Church. As an example of 19th-century Gothic Revival architecture, they adapted to colonial conditions and materials. It is at 34 Mulgrave Street, close to the New Zealand Parliament. Its construction was completed in June 1866. In 1964, the Diocese of Wellington moved to the new St Paul's Cathedral nearby. After a significant battle to prevent its demolition, Old St. Paul's was purchased by the New Zealand Government in 1967 and restored. Although not a parish church, it remains consecrated and is a popular for weddings, funerals and other services. It is constructed from native NZ timbers. The interior has been likened to the upturned hull of an Elizabethan galleon. As this picture shows, it has exposed curving trusses and roof sacking. The flags displayed in the nave include the Royal Navy, NZ Merchant Navy and US Marine Corps. Many of our Marines were stationed in Wellington during World War II. My wife is in yellow walking down the center aisle as she absorb the building details. This was a very important and "moving" site to experience.:

Starting with its contemporary design, this Te Papa Museum is not a boring and/or average facility. And, the admission is FREE!! Such a deal! Well worth it, too. The second picture below reflect some of its native Maori collection and emphasis.: