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Aust/NZ Pix's, Index, Options, Ideas!


TLCOhio
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What's the biggest problem for visiting New Zealand and Australia? Simple! There's too much great, wonderful and special to see and do. Lots of challenging choices!! Hope these resources are helpful for future planning or to bring back nice memories.

 

As detailed/linked at the bottom in my live/blog, we super enjoyed our experiences in both Australia and New Zealand. BUT, in doing ALL of those postings that have been very popular, things were rather busy and the order/flow was not perfect. For some time, I had planned to do an "index" that would make it easier to find more quickly certain pictures and travel details. Finally got "it" done this weekend. Below is that listing. Also shown are just a few of the visual samples to prove that the "eye-candy" on the full live/blog is worth checking.

 

In doing this live/blog, many experienced people either living in these regions and/or smart from having traveled here also offered nice, helpful items of information. Later in this live/blog are many different links to key media stories and reports have been made about Australia and New Zealand. Don't be shy!! Please feel free to share, provide your personal comments and insights. Plus, ask any follow-up questions on the live/blog. I keep an eye on this posting and will be happy to responds, answer any inquiries, etc.

 

Page One: Initial overview for the total schedule/plan. Posts #5-6 have various Honolulu pictures and nearby highlights/details. Posts #7-10 are illustrated with many pictures for arriving Australia, Cairns, Great Barrier Reef, Rainforest, Port Douglas, etc. Posts #15-16 gives a small sampling of Adelaide, Kangaroo Island, etc., plus Lizard Island pictures, etc.

 

Page Two: Posts #22 and #33-34 feature many Sydney visuals, details, options, etc.

 

Page Three: Post #52 has Sydney sail-away pictures and sights from around this great city. Post #54 reflects Sydney Harbour Bridge climb pictures, details, etc.

 

Page Four: Post #61-63 provides Sydney Opera House details, experiences and lots of visuals; shows the handy Four Seasons hotel where we stayed. Posts #69-70 has heading to Queenstown and on-ship visuals. Post #72 shows more from Sydney, our sail-away, around this town, etc.

 

Page Five: Post #86 shows our Solstice ship Bridge Tour. Posts #88-91 provide a wide variety of ship food, entertainment and other fun visual samples. Posts #93-94 shows visiting Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary in Tasmania near Hobart with many unique animal pictures.

 

Page Six: Post #103 provides the rocky Tasman Sea crossing and weather details, answering various questions, etc. Post #118 has us getting ready for Queenstown, Milford Sound.

 

Page Seven: Post #127 has more updates and text details on this trip, answering various questions. Posts #128-129 and #131 provides many, many pictures from the historic Port Arthur site and the other areas nearby to Hobart on Tasmania.

 

Page Eight: Posts #142-143 documents our exciting JetBoat adventure and details on Wellington activities.

 

Page Nine: Posts #163 and #176 provides starting details on the Cape Kidnappers and our "Gannet Safari” adventure.

 

Page Ten: Posts #189-192 provides many more details and a super collection of pictures from our Napier visit, seeing Cape Kidnappers, the gannets, a world-class setting, great food, etc. Post #196 for added general travel details and a preview for what was planned at Bay of Islands.

 

Page Eleven: Posts #208 and #210 reflects arriving in Auckland and plans for Waiheke Island. Post #215 has a detailed, text summary for what we did on Waiheke Island. Many pictures later for this location and in Auckland.

 

Page Twelve: Post #233 shows arriving on Hawaii’s Big Island with wide range of pictures. Post #234 has one visual from Bay of Island, plus other samples of food and fun on the ship. At this point, we are starting to catch up from earlier pictures not yet posted. It starts with post #236 for the Auckland and Waiheke Island visuals. Post #240 has the start of Connells Bay Sculpture Park at the eastern side of Waiheke Island.

 

Page Thirteen: Posts #241-42 provides more from Connells Bay Sculpture Park on Waiheke Island. Post #248 has details on Volcano National Park on the Big Island. Post #251 shows sunny Hawaii hotel pictures and how we were getting ready to depart to the Midwest.

 

Page Fourteen: Posts #262 and #264 has us getting home and the detail for taking more than 8,000 pictures during this trip, currency rates, etc. Posts #265-268 starts the “catch up” phase with many fun and exciting pictures from Rotorua, showing their Maori culture, highlighting the Pohutu Geyser, etc. Posts #270-271 and #273 have many visuals on the Bay of Islands sailing adventure day. Post #277 has ship towel art. Posts #279-280 provides varied visuals for in and around interesting and cosmopolitan Auckland.

 

Page Fifteen: Post #281 has Auckland Art Museum pictures. Post #285 shows Napier's Art Deco downtown. Posts #286-289 and #293 gives a comprehensive visual sampling for ALL of the many and varied sights and wonderful experiences from the NZ Capital of Wellington. Posts #295-297 show Akaroa and the Tranz Alpine rail trip to the Southern Alps. Posts #299-300 illustrate the start in Milford Sound and heading towards Queenstown.

 

Page Sixteen: Posts #301-303 include info and many visuals related to NZ sheep, Arrowtown (the Gold Rush town), Queenstown, Lake Wakatipu, etc., on the South Island. Posts #305-309 include many pictures and details for the coal-fired, historic TSS Earnslaw ship sailing near Queenstown, the Walter Peak Station with dinner and sheep shearing, Queenstown itself, the bridge that was the starting location for bungee jumping, visiting a winery, going to Dunedin, etc. Lots of great pictures from the NZ South Island!! Post #311 has more Dunedin and departing from that location visuals. Post #319-320 start the more in-depth series of visuals and details for Kangaroo Island.

 

Page Seventeen: Posts #321-324 and #326 complete the detailed series of visuals and text about what we did and enjoyed on amazing Kangaroo Island. Lots of fun food pictures, unique birds and wildlife, too!! Post #330 has some great Solstice ship food examples. Posts #339-340 have various samples of ship sights, activities, food, entertainment, etc.

 

Page Eighteen: Posts #343 and #346-351 provide a wide variety of visuals from Hawaii’s Big Island. This includes whale watching, walking across their volcano, seeing many flowers, doing a Sunset Luau, experiencing waterfalls, enjoying their food, etc. Post #359 shows from Auckland what might have been our best dining experience from this entire trip.

 

Page Nineteen: Post #390 has a variety of visuals from Honolulu’s USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor. Post #395 has a couple of “welcome home” to Ohio winter weather, snow sights.

 

Page Twenty-Two: Post #423 has a nice range of information from CBS-TV on the Sydney BridgeClimb, etc. Post #430 provides details for how Australia got its name, plus added pictures from Kangaroo Island for Flinders Chase National Park, etc. Post #439 offers added Wellington “eye-candy” that had not been posted previously.

 

Page Twenty-Three: Post #441 has some interesting cruise ship Asian food delight visuals. Post #443 has added Sydney Opera House pictures and seating/auditorium aspects.

 

Page Twenty-Five: Post #495 has pictures and details from a Smithsonian Channel documentary program on our Solstice ship, its crew leadership while doing a sailing around Australia.

 

Page Twenty-Seven: Post #527 has many added details and visuals on “The Rocks”, the older, more historic area in Sydney with a variety of shops, dining options, etc.

 

Is this helpful? Other suggestions and/or info needs?

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Enjoyed a 14-day, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Sydney to Auckland adventure, 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 more info and many pictures of these amazing sights in this great part of the world. Now at 147,997 views for this posting.

 

 

From the Daintree Rainforest and National Park near Cairns, Australia, here is only one sample of our exploring there. It was a somewhat challenging 1.43 miles circular hike in the deep, deep of this dramatic rainforest. Lots of rocks, up and down paths, twists and turns, hard work, etc. But we survived!! Even at our ages. Also in the Mossman Gorge, there was a long swinging bridge. Not Indiana Jones, but for us it was super spectacular. Here is just one of my favorites as it shows a member of our group looking at one of these huge trees in the middle of this rainforest and contemplating its majesty, size and history. And I told John the next morning, that the picture shows his more photogenic side!:

 

PixRainFampPDouglas5_zps27db0023.jpg

 

 

From Port Arthur, the historic Tasmanian penal colony seen during our stop in Hobart, here is just one of the many views for some of the sights there. This gives an overview for a portion of this prison site. This location was nearby to the water area as the prisoners would arrive from England for this “visit”. It took six to nine months to make the journey from England to this distant part of the world.:

 

TasWildlifeCtr19_zps66bff896.jpg

 

 

At Te Puia near Rotorua in northern New Zealand during the Tauranga port stop, this Maori performance starts its ceremonies outside and then we entered the Wahiao Meeting House. Fortunately (with some skill), I was in a prime front row seat to be able to get great pictures, video, etc. Plus, experience the quality for how these members share these cultural traditions.:

 

RotMaoriOneA2_zps3517f252.jpg

 

 

From our group's Bay of Islands water fun, we got to do real sailing, including going out into the nearby Pacific Ocean! See the proof and success below. It was both a perfect weather day and such fun sampling this great region of northern NZ. One of the options for those in our Central Ohio group on this custom, private sailing was to help to do as much (or as little as desired) in helping make this sail experience happen. Here you can see Captain Murray guiding the ship from this great vantage point on the back of the Zindabar. Was this exciting and scenic for our group?:

 

BayOfIslandsA14_zps5d841758.jpg

 

 

Here is one of the famed gannets from Cape Kidnappers near Napier along the eastern NZ coast. This is just one small sampling of many large groups of these super cute birds that we saw here as they were nesting.:

 

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Here is a picture from our New Zealand South Island JetBoat ride that my wife loved so much. From Akaroa, we did a combination ship excursion that included both the rail trip to the mountains/National Park, plus JetBoat. Notice her hands and those of others in our row super tightly gripping the safety bar? That says so much about the speed and thrills while roaring up and down this amazing stretch of scenic river. We've had lots of great moments on this trip, but one was a unique and special ride in a location that is spectacularly world-class near the NZ Southern Alps. And, perfect weather with good friends adds to the great joy!!:

 

JetBoatOne1_zpscafe58a3.jpg

Edited by TLCOhio
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Some have asked for details about the various locations we stayed, tour group contacts, etc. Here are most of those key details and options. Happy to share more information, background, answer any questions, etc. Just log on and post to the live/blog. Then, I will be happy to respond. Or, feel free to share here your own special tips, ideas, suggestions.

 

1. Honolulu/Oahu: Stayed at Aston Waikiki Circle Hotel, 2464 Kalakaua Ave., phone 1-808 923-1571. Not a new, large and/or fancy hotel, but its location is super great right across from the great beach areas with wonderful views. Lots of shopping, dining, etc. are close. They have rooms with balconies, allowing wonderful sights early in the mornings, at night, etc.

 

2. Cairns/Australia: Stayed with two other couples in a large three-bedroom, three-bath unit at Jack and Newell Apartments, 27-29 Wharf Street, Cairns. E-mail to: info@jacknewellcairns.com.au. Very helpful staff with lots of room to relax after our long flights and to have as a “base” for doing much nearby with the Daintree Rainforest, Great Barrier Reef, etc.

 

3. Lizard Island/Great Barrier Reef: For our flight/adventure to this historic island in the middle of the GBR, we used Daintree Air Services. Their e-mail contact is: info@daintreeair.com.au. Worked with chief pilot and owner Greg Letondeur. Their website is http://www.daintreeair.com.au. Seeing the Great Barrier Reef by air makes a big difference, plus it saves time. Being on this island in the middle the GBR, doing lunch on the beach, have such snorkeling fun, etc., was super awesome!! Per Insight Guides, Lizard Island is is 19 miles off of the shore and 157 miles north of Cairns. It is a dry, mountainous island with very diverse vegetation and terrain. Its gentle beaches and clear water uniquely allows direct, easy access to the reef, coral and fish life. Per Fodors, this is a 2,500 acre island with Cook’s Look at a high point of 1,180 feet where Captain Cook in August, 1770 found his way out of this challenging reef region. Its coral reefs and marine life are considered among the best in the world.

 

4. Adelaide: Stayed two different nights, before and after visiting Kangaroo Island, at Franklin Central Apartment, 36 Franklin St., Adelaide, SA 5000. http://www.franklinapartments.com.au

 

5. Kangaroo Island: For what is called South Australia's Galapagos, we used guide Craig Wickham. Here is a link to an excellent video to prepare and learn more for visiting there:

Craig's website is:

http://exceptionalkangarooisland.com

On Kangaroo Island, we stayed at Stranraer Homestead, a 1290 hectares working property, producing prime lamb, wool and grain. 22 Lades Road, MacGillivray, just east of White Lagoon. Their e-mail: Stranraer@kin.net.au Phone: 61 (0)8 855 38235. Their names/contracts: Graham & Lyn Wheaton

 

6. Kangaroo Island air flights: From Adelaide and back, be sure to book in advance!! The best times fill up early. See more at:

http://www.rex.com.au

 

7. Sydney hotel: Stayed for one night at the Four Seasons that has a very handy location nearby to the key attractions and the cruise ship terminal. We were able to use a special rate through our travel agent that made this stay more reasonably affordable.

 

8. Sydney Bridge Climb: With 360-degree views of Sydney, including the Opera House, the attraction is rated by many as the number one “adventure” in town. Rates vary depending on the time of day or evening when doing. Loved this exciting climb up to the top, seeing upclose the unique history for how this bridge was built, etc. Website at: http://www.bridgeclimb.com

 

9. Tasmania: Worked with Judy Livingston of Eye See Personalised Tours, e-mail to eyesee@netspace.net.au, to design a custom schedule that worked for our group to the historic Port Arthur prison site and Bonorong Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary. Plus, a wonderful lunch, etc. For this popular wildlife area, you can see more at: http://www.bonorong.com.au.

Judy’s website is: http://www.eyeseetasmania.com.au

 

10. Queenstown: Our two-day, overnight tour to Queenstown was done through our cruise ship. It is not possible to set-up this tour independently as the ships do not dock or normally stop at a location in middle of Milford Sound. Although this Queenstown option is not cheap and lessens some of the potential sights in certain of the other sounds and scenic fjords, we super enjoyed this “adventure” that provided a wide sampling of New Zealand’s scenic South Island.

 

11. Akaroa: With Christchurch’s re-building so slow and uncertain as to when “things” will be finally fixed, the tendering at Akaroa is scenic. BUT, its distance limits private tour options from here, especially if you seek, as we did, to do the Tranz Alpine Express to the heart of the Southern Alps/Arthur’s Pass National Park. We also super enjoyed the exciting jet-boat ride on the scenic Waimakiriri River.

 

12. Wellington: As a scenic, urban, compact area, we did not believe that we needed a guided/firm to be arranged. BUT, we were creative in chatting with the taxi drivers, picking one with “personality” to offer the two of us a two-hour “introduction” to the NZ capital. This involved going to the key hilltop area overlooking the port and seeing key areas in several directions. We then drove around the town, seeing and stopping at several key attractions, including St. Paul's Church and the Parliament buildings. For the two of us, this worked super well in learning the basics here from a “local” who shared many wonderful details about this country, its people, their history, etc. Then, on our own with those from our ship, we did lunch at a top local dining place in the Cuba shopping area, visited the Te Papa Museum in the afternoon, walked back to the ship, etc.

 

13. Napier/Hawke’s Bay: For our "Cape Kidnappers and Gannet Safari” private tour and luxury lunch, we made arrangements through Hannah Butler, the General Manager at this resort. Their website is http://www.capekidnappers.com. We did a tour around Cape Kidnappers and then had a custom lunch at this luxury, rustic lodge built in 2007 atop the summit of the 6,000-acre working farm. We saw the famed Cape Kidnappers golf course with the Pacific Ocean on the horizon. This golf course has most recently been ranked as the 22nd best in the whole world. Among recent honors for this resort include the "Gold List" from Conde Nast Traveller for "best for food in Australasia & South Pacific". This is a sister resort under the same ownership (Tiger Fund hedge-investment billionaire Julian Robertson) to the ultra world top ranked Lodge at Kauri Cliffs near Bay of Islands.

Through this website, you can see two different videos that give more details on this lodging, golf, etc., resort:

http://www.worldgolf.com/photo-galleries/farm-at-cape-kidnappers-lodge-hawkes-bay-new-zealand-13764.htm

This Forbes magazine story gives more background on Robertson and his NZ interests:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/annabel/2012/10/22/julian-robertsons-empire-down-under/

 

14. Tauranga-Rotorua: We used Grumpy's Transfers & Tours at http://www.grumpyslimo.co.nz. We set up to visit one of the famed thermal parks, including the Maori*culture-focused Te Puia that is near Rotorua city (about an hour from where our ship docked). This trip included some wonderful scenic drives. Te Puia has a geyser, mud pool, Kiwi Birds, a Maori carving and weaving school and a Maori concert inside a genuine Maori Meeting House.

For more on the Maori cultural/natural area:

http://tepuia.com/attractions_geysers_pohutu_geyser_rotorua.htm

 

15. Bay of Islands: For doing charter a sail boat/yacht, we worked with Captain Anthony Browne. At http://www.zindabar.co.nz, you can see more on his 60’ yacht named Zindabar. Doing this sailing, landing on the remote island, seeing the dolphins in the wild, having lunch at sea, etc., it all added up to a great, highly-memorable adventure.

 

16. Auckland: When arriving, those in our group had made arrangements through alan@elitetour.co.nz for being picked up at the dock and being given an introductory tour around this scenic town. Then, we were transported, with our luggage, to our hotel, Skycity Grand, 90 Federal Street. All worked well. We stayed two nights in Auckland. Maybe the best dining for our entire trip down under was at O’Connell Street Bistro in Auckland. We discovered why this small, quaint dining place has gained such high ratings.

 

17. Waiheke Island: Super enjoyed this island that only about eleven miles from the largest city in New Zealand. You can check ferry schedules at:*

http://www.fullers.co.nz/tickets-fares/timetables/waiheke-island.php

We had a rental car from Fun Rentals Waiheke Ltd. and visited a winery, beach and spent the most time at the Cornell Bay sculpture park. See more at: http://www.connellsbay.co.nz. Advance reservations are needed to visit here, plus your own transportation.

 

18. Hawaii’s Big Island: For our four days here, we stayed at the Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort. Its handy location worked well and you definitely need a rental car here to explore and enjoy the many, many options on this large island where much of it is still back in the 1950’s. That laid-back style is a major plus here. We put over 500 miles on our car in exploring here.

This includes visiting Volcano (or Volcanoes) National Park during a private tour with Hank from Lavaland Hawaii Day Tours. Hank's knowledge, enthusiasm and skill were great and made such a big, big difference. You could walk these areas on your own, but will you know and understand what you are seeing, why it is of value? Their website is: http://www.lavalandhawaii.com. His firm is ranked at the top for activities in the Hilo area by TripAdvisor.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

AFRICA?!!?: Lots of interesting and dramatic pictures can be seen from my latest live/blog at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2310337

Now at 15,983 views for this reporting and visual sharing that includes Cape Town, all along the South Africa coast, Mozambique, Victoria Falls/Zambia and Botswana's famed Okavango Delta area.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Very nice, Terry. A lot of work and much appreciated.

 

Appreciate these nice comments and follow-up from our "neighbor" to the north in Michigan. Happy to share any added information or answer any questions at my main live/blog location that I check on a regular basis.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

For details and visuals, etc., from our July 1-16, 2010, Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. This posting is now at 200,720 views.

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

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  • 2 weeks later...
I think Terry needs to be our tourism ambassador

 

Radbooks: Thanks for all of this great information' date=' Terry!! I'm doing a 17 day cruise of Australia/New Zealand this December and this is so helpful. [/quote']

 

Appreciate these nice comments and follow-ups. YES, happy to be Australia's Tourism Ambassador. Now, we just need for GUT2407 to be the official Prime Minister of the country so that I can be put on the payroll and have an expense/travel account to cover my travel and other costs. Hint! Hint! Or, is being PM of Australia these days some what of a "Mission Impossible" job?

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

If Venice is one of your future desires or past favorites, look at this earlier posting for many options and visual samples this city that is so great for "walking around", personally seeing its great history and architecture. This posting is now at 61,576 views.

Venice: Loving It & Why??!!

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1278226

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