Hubby saw a show on New Zealand on TV on Sunday.....

[aussiebossyboots]

Now we are booked on Ruby Princess departing Sydney on 22 November. Any and all recommendations very welcome.

 

As it will be Hubby's birthday on the cruise we will be doing the Chef's Table - good eating is very important.  Now looking at options for shore excursions so if you have any recommendations please let me know.

 

White water rafting and winery tours come to mind.

 

Really excited.

[andlep]

45 minutes ago, aussiebossyboots said:

...... good eating is very important.  

I highly recommend Carey's Bay Hotel at Port Chalmers. Fantastic fresh local seafood and a beautiful pub. 

Edited July 30, 2019 by andlep
fixed linl

[mum and son]

On 7/30/2019 at 2:11 PM, aussiebossyboots said:

White water rafting and winery tours come to mind.

 

Hi, we went white water rafting in Wellington. Does your cruise go there? The rafting company transported us to and from the dock as well for a minimal additional fee. http://www.captivate.net.nz/index.htm

 

I've been jet boating in both Akaroa and Rotorua, which is also not a bad sightseeing activity and the jet boat drivers also give pretty good information as tour guides.

 

I also love the Antarctic Centre in Christchurch. Haven't done any wineries, sorry... 

[getting older slowly]

On ‎7‎/‎30‎/‎2019 at 2:51 PM, andlep said:

I highly recommend Carey's Bay Hotel at Port Chalmers. Fantastic fresh local seafood and a beautiful pub. 

 

Was thinking of going on are next visit in November.....   Now will have to go.. thanks you the info

 

Do you know if they have Bluff Oysters ,,, last time we were there one of the locals was telling us about them

 

Cheers Don

[MicCanberra]

On 7/30/2019 at 2:11 PM, aussiebossyboots said:

Now we are booked on Ruby Princess departing Sydney on 22 November. Any and all recommendations very welcome.

 

As it will be Hubby's birthday on the cruise we will be doing the Chef's Table - good eating is very important.  Now looking at options for shore excursions so if you have any recommendations please let me know.

 

White water rafting and winery tours come to mind.

 

Really excited.

Great stuff, getting  motivation from seeing a TV show is what has inspired many of our trips to various places. I am sure you won't regret it. NZ is marvellous.

what ports are you visiting?

[andlep]

4 minutes ago, getting older slowly said:

 

Was thinking of going on are next visit in November.....   Now will have to go.. thanks you the info

 

Do you know if they have Bluff Oysters ,,, last time we were there one of the locals was telling us about them

 

Cheers Don

I don't remember eating oysters but this old review from yelp shows some. You could email or call them just before you arrive to make sure, and also enquire about their shuttle bus.

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, getting older slowly said:

 

Was thinking of going on are next visit in November.....   Now will have to go.. thanks you the info

 

Do you know if they have Bluff Oysters ,,, last time we were there one of the locals was telling us about them

 

Cheers Don

November is the wrong time of year for Bluff Oysters, the season is from March to August. If you do see any don't buy them as they would have been frozen.

[andlep]

7 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

November is the wrong time of year for Bluff Oysters, the season is from March to August. If you do see any don't buy them as they would have been frozen.

Great info.

The golden rule of seafood, only eat what is in season:-)

[OzKiwiJJ]

We did an NZ cruise earlier this year, in late March, so I was able to eat my fill of Bluff Oysters. They were superb. We had them at every port. They are equally delicious raw or deep fried in batter. We often had them both ways.

[getting older slowly]

Thanks for the info about bluff oysters.....

 

we will have a great time ... as we are doing a B2B  of two 13 night trips to NZ... so we get two bites at the cherry.

 

Cheers Don

[aussiebossyboots]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone.  I have been away travelling for work and don't like using my Iphone.

 

These are the tours we may book:

 

Auckland - Waikeke Island and wine Tour with Princess

Bay of Island - Haruru Falls Kayak with Princess

Napier - DYI Heritage Walk and hoping to get a vintage car tour - but they are very expensive. There are also some good walks around - Sea Wall for Murals/Bluff Hill Lookout Walk

Dunedin - getting a transfer to town and DYI.  Good Company Tours does a transfer and an afternoon town tour for NZ$40pp so that may be on the cards

Wellington - DYI again and the Cable Car & Te Papa Museum

Tauranga - Thought we would do a quick town visit and then return to walk Mount Maunganui (around the base), the hot salt pools or walk over to Moturiki Island

Akaror - Jet Boat maybe and just the town DYI.  There is also the Rhino Walk but I need to research this more

 

Does the above look OK?  Any other suggestions?

 

Many thanks for your comments.

 

[OzKiwiJJ]

If your Bay of Islands kayaking excursion is a morning one, and you have time after it finishes, I suggest visiting the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, which is very close to where the tender boats dock. https://www.waitangi.org.nz/ Another option would be to take the ferry across to Russell where NZ's oldest pub is. 

 

The hot pools at Mt Maunganui are great. Even if it's raining, as it was the day we went there.

 

In Akaroa I suggest walking up to the Giant's House, which has an amazing garden full of ceramic sculptures. The garden climbs up behind the house and the views from the top are lovely. http://www.thegiantshouse.co.nz/

 

Check what's on at the Te Papa Museum, sometimes the exhibitions need a timed entry ticket to avoid overcrowding. https://www.tepapa.govt.nz/

[MicCanberra]

Great advice.

[Aus Traveller]

19 hours ago, aussiebossyboots said:

Thanks for the suggestions everyone.  I have been away travelling for work and don't like using my Iphone.

 

These are the tours we may book:

 

Auckland - Waikeke Island and wine Tour with Princess

Bay of Island - Haruru Falls Kayak with Princess

Napier - DYI Heritage Walk and hoping to get a vintage car tour - but they are very expensive. There are also some good walks around - Sea Wall for Murals/Bluff Hill Lookout Walk

Dunedin - getting a transfer to town and DYI.  Good Company Tours does a transfer and an afternoon town tour for NZ$40pp so that may be on the cards

Wellington - DYI again and the Cable Car & Te Papa Museum

Tauranga - Thought we would do a quick town visit and then return to walk Mount Maunganui (around the base), the hot salt pools or walk over to Moturiki Island

Akaror - Jet Boat maybe and just the town DYI.  There is also the Rhino Walk but I need to research this more

 

Does the above look OK?  Any other suggestions?

 

Many thanks for your comments.

 

An additional suggestion for Wellington is the free tour of Parliament House. We expected it to be 'ho-hum' but we really enjoyed it. One fascinating part is an explanation of the earthquake-proofing of existing buildings. Visitors are taken into the basement of the old Parliament House building to see where the earthquake-proofing has been installed. It is easy to walk to Parliament House on the way back to the ship. There are several tours every day, with extra ones on cruise-ship days.

[OzKiwiJJ]

One of the shuttle bus stops is just across the road from Parliament in Wellington. The other is at the iSite information centre, fairly close to the Te Papa museum.

[Aus Traveller]

2 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

One of the shuttle bus stops is just across the road from Parliament in Wellington. The other is at the iSite information centre, fairly close to the Te Papa museum.

Of course, Te Papa is superb. 🙂

[MicCanberra]

23 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

Of course, Te Papa is superb. 🙂

Agreed, we nearly always go up the tram, to the Botanical Gardens, walk down through them and head to Te Papa along the water front. Often have the markets set up along there (waterfront) as well.

[dillpickle48]

If you are looking for something different in Tauranga, try the V8 Trike tour.  A very different way of seeing the countryside and at a decent rate of knots.  We had great fun.

[aussiebossyboots]

Thanks everyone for some great suggestions, the itinerary is really coming together.

 

dillpickle48 - I wanted to do a quad bike tour through Princess but after reading a couple of reviews on Tripadvisor that mentioned people falling off and I have absolutely no experience on one of these - but the V8 Trike tour may be a good alternative - will speak to Hubby about this one.

[dillpickle48]

There is no way you are going to fall off these trikes, you are strapped in.   http://www.v8triketours.co.nz/

 

[aussiebossyboots]

Thanks for the link dillpickle48, this is a great idea and they have a short tour that will take us up to the top of Mount Maunganui so that will save the legs.  It's on the list for booking.  Cheers,

[Aus Traveller]

37 minutes ago, aussiebossyboots said:

Thanks for the link dillpickle48, this is a great idea and they have a short tour that will take us up to the top of Mount Maunganui so that will save the legs.  It's on the list for booking.  Cheers,

Do they take trikes to the top of Mt Maunganui? I have walked up but wouldn't like to encounter bikes on the narrow path - the top section anyway.

[aussiebossyboots]

Sorry.... need to wear my reading glasses, meeting place is Sailsbury Avenue, Mt Maunganuia.

 

Still a good option.

[Aus Traveller]

1 hour ago, aussiebossyboots said:

Sorry.... need to wear my reading glasses, meeting place is Sailsbury Avenue, Mt Maunganuia.

 

Still a good option.

The town where the ships dock is Mt Maunganui. I am glad to hear that trikes aren't going up to the top of the mountain!! The walk isn't difficult.

[banzaii]

22 hours ago, aussiebossyboots said:

Thanks everyone for some great suggestions, the itinerary is really coming together.

 

dillpickle48 - I wanted to do a quad bike tour through Princess but after reading a couple of reviews on Tripadvisor that mentioned people falling off and I have absolutely no experience on one of these - but the V8 Trike tour may be a good alternative - will speak to Hubby about this one.

I do think 'quad' bike is a rather unfortunate term for these things but infortunately there are plenty of cases where that's exactly what eventuated.  I'm a bit surprised the tour companies can still get insurance.