recommendations for New Zealand + Pacific Islands

[bne54]

I will be on HAL, LA to Auckland, Sept 2008. Stopping at various Pacific Islands and NZ.

I will to arrange my own excursions and not with the cruise line. Can anyone recommend companies or independent tours for NZ ports of Napier, wellington, Bay of Islands and Tauranga.

Any suggests for

Port Vila Vanuatu,

Noumea,

Il Des Pins

Suva - on a sunday

Apia Samoa

Pago Pago.

Many thanks Jennifer

[SheilaNC]

We used Indigenous Trails in Tauranga and had a wonderful tour including the Kiwi Plantation, Rotorua thermal area, and many other sites - this is a Maori owned company and we loved it despite the rain. Some people rented cars and drove themselves which is certainly a good option if you can drive on the left and follow often winding, narrow roads. The scenery is lovely. Tauranga is a lovely town and climbing Mt. Wainganui (sp?) is an option there.

 

Wellington can easily be done on your own. Be sure to visit the Te Papa museum and take the cable car to the lovely overview of the city walking back down through the Botanical Gardens, visit Parliament, and walk along the Harbor.

 

Also search this forum for other discussions of fun things to do throughout NZ. You'll have a wonderful trip. We just returned!

[kaseyoz]

for noumea, vila , isle of pines etc, come check out the P and O australia forum. We are a friendly lot there and will help you with any information you need as nearly all our cruises from sydney stop at these places

[Kiwi Kruzer]

In Apia it is worth a visit to Vailima, the home and now museum of Robert Louis Stevenson.

 

 

(Note for Sheila. The name of the Mount you're looking for in Tauranga, is Mount Maunganui.)

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Pacific Dawn,ex Regal Princess, is in Pago Pago today.

Here is a shot from the bridge cam.

[bne54]

Thanks so much for your ideas. mr Kiwi Cruiser - how did you get that shot taken from the bridge.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Thanks so much for your ideas. mr Kiwi Cruiser - how did you get that shot taken from the bridge.

 

There is a big selection of bridge and port cams at Kroooz cams.

http://www.kroooz-cams.com/

 

Pacific Dawn is in Apia today.

[SheilaNC]

David,

Thanks for the correction of the Mountain's name...I was too lazy to look it up that day. Will teach me to look before posting :)

[kiwijo]

Wellington is a really compact little city so you can get around a lot without taking a tour. If you want to go further afield, we're a great place to do Lord of the Rings tours - this is Peter Jackson's hometown after all. Zest Food Tours are another really popular option, as is the half day trip to the South Coast to see the seals. The Martinborough Wine region is a short journey away - it'd be a full day trip but if you're a wine fan, it's worth it! You can get some good ideas from http://www.wellingtonnz.com/plan_your_visit/suggested_itineraries If anything really takes your fancy, feel free to ask me some questions.

[M&A]

Wellington is a nice city to walk around. We took the cable car to the top of the city and walked around the beautiful Botanical Gardens. We walked down through the Gardens and the graveyard and ended up at the Parliament Buildings. We also walked around the harbour on the walking/bike trail.

 

In PagoPago we got off the ship and walked to a beach not far away where there was good swimming and snorkelling. We saw some giant sea turtles swimming around.

 

Suva was not one of our favourite places, the town is dirty and run down and one woman had her purse snatched while she was walking around the market. I think all tours take you to the Cultural Center which is not very interesting. We took a taxi with two other couples and asked the driver to take us to a resort. The resort was close to the cultural center, it was a nice resort but the water around that part of Fiji is brown and murky so not good for snorkelling.

[Dortmunder]

I have to agree to M&A. By all means, get out of Suva. It is not a beautiful place. Get out to see the country or the cultural show.