13 night cruise around New Zealand on the Dawn Princess

On January 3rd we embarked on our fourth cruise with our friends, the Penney family.  We have known the Penney family since our kids were very young, with our youngest children born only 2 weeks apart.

Given some potential medical concerns, we chose a New Zealand cruise as it would have been fairly easy to access high quality health care if needed.

This was the first time that the Penneys had cruised. We had previously done two P&O cruises to Vanuatu and New Caledonia, and a Disney cruise from Florida to the Caribbean.  This time we were cruising with Princess on the Dawn Princess.

Comparison of Cruise Lines

It was interesting to note the differences between the ships.  We found that the P&O ships had a much younger demographic, with a party atmosphere and an emphasis on the nightlife.  The Disney cruise of course had a heavy family focus. We found the ship, the service, the shows and the theming to be exceptional on the Disney cruise but did not particularly like the ports. They appeared to exist entirely to service cruise ships, where all of the locals worked for the diamond shops or spent their days selling spots on beach chairs.

Ship	P&O Pacific Dawn	Disney Fantasy	Princess Dawn
Destination	Vanuatu / Noumea / Lifou from Brisbane	Bahamas from Florida	New Zealand from Sydney
Pros	Excellent Food Excellent Service Cheap Easy to get to Well organised and resourced kids clubs	Excellent Food Excellent Service Exceptional theming of all areas of the ship Exceptional evening shows Absolutely incredible features in the restaurants such as on demand animation on all walls Heavy focus on families and amazing kids clubs	Excellent Food Excellent Service Excellent ports with lots to do in each port. Very talented guest performers.
Cons	Party atmosphere with intoxicated 20-somethings roaming the halls Lots of small children	The ports were underwhelming in the Bahamas. There was a very heavy focus on trying to get guests to buy jewellery at the ports.	Some issues with the plumbing and electrical systems The kids club did not have enough room.  I assume this is because the ship is shortly going to be transferred to P&O.

Monday 2nd January 2017 - Leaving Brisbane

There were no cruises to New Zealand available from Brisbane at the time that we needed to go, so we booked cabins on the Dawn Princess leaving from Sydney on the 3rd January.

This obviously adds some cost to the exercise, but we managed to get all but $50 of the flights using rewards points.  We decided to arrive a day early to avoid any potential connection issues, so on Monday 2nd January we set off for Brisbane Airport.

We have used Gateway Airport Parking several times now to park close to the airport for long trips and we have found them to provide an excellent service for a reasonable price, especially compared to parking AT the airport or having a whole family catch the train.  You can also usually find a 20% off voucher on the Shop-a-docket website.  We dropped our car here and they took us straight to the airport.  It cost $80 for two weeks.

We deliberately arrived early, knowing that I had recently earned Gold Status in the Velocity Rewards program and could access the Virgin Lounge and have breakfast there.  We did this by setting up an account for each member of the family and enabling family pooling so that all points accumulate in my Velocity account.  We also buy petrol at BP and use FlyBuys to get additional points.  With a business trip to Las Vegas and our last holiday to Vietnam adding to the total, we were bumped to Gold which allows the primary member plus another adult and a couple of kids to access the lounge.

We were very excited to discover when we arrived at the airport that we could skip the very long line for bag drop and go straight through the priority check-in and priority security line.  In addition, our bags received priority tags, ensuring that they would come out first on the other end.  Do the perks ever end??  Clearly we don’t get out much.

Sydney

We arrived in Sydney a few hours before the Penneys.  We took a taxi to the Travelodge Wynyard, which cost $70.  It was more than I expected as I didn’t realise that they would take one look at us with a large duffle bag each and call over a Maxi-Taxi, which costs 50% more than a regular taxi.  This ended up costing approximately the same as the train would have cost, but was far easier, especially since the Wynyard station is currently closed for renovation.

We chose the Travelodge Wynyard because I had stayed there before for work trips and had found it convenient and comfortable.

We arrived before our room was ready, so the front desk stored our bags while we went out to take a look around.  I was confused because I tried to clarify the terms of the “Late Checkout” package that I had selected and paid for on their website, only to be told that they had no such package.  The guy on the desk did tell me that we could have it until 12 though, and noted that we could go out earlier and leave our bags in storage.

We walked down to Circular Quay and had lunch in a food court down there, and then wandered around the waterfront and the Rocks for a couple of hours.   We stumbled across the Big Dig which was very interesting - it is an archaeological dig under the YHA, with some display cases holding things like buttons, pots, and bones.  At Circular Quay we saw the Emerald Princess, a much larger ship than the one we were waiting for.

We returned to the hotel mid-afternoon and were given the three keys to the three “King Rooms for 3” that we had booked.  With nine of us we had booked 3 rooms of 3 people – one for the girls, one for Colin, Konnie and Josh, and one for Dallas, Reid and I.

When we looked at the rooms, we had one with a King Bed and a single – perfect.  One was a Queen bed with another single.  Not quite what was promised but not different enough to make a fuss as it would be fine for the girls.  The last room just had a King Bed in it.  We called down to the office and they said they would bring another bed.  A few minutes later a man arrived with another key for a different room, which turned out to have a Queen bed and a single.  This time we decided to be picky as we had already paid for a King.  Dallas got back on the phone to the office, who told us that they didn’t have any others close by, but had a King bed and couch on another floor.  Off we went again.  A young housekeeper arrived shortly after to set up the couch for Reid’s bed.  The room was small, especially with the couch expanded into a bed, but in the end was comfortable.

I do have to say that the bathroom was a bit icky, with mould on the floor tiles in the shower.  Overall the location was good and the staff were helpful but the run-around with the rooms and the staff having no knowledge of a package that was sold on their website left us a little frustrated.

After getting settled all nine of us went for a walk to Darling Harbour.   We walked across the Pyrmont Bridge and arrived at the Australian National Maritime Museum half an hour before it was due to close.  We learned that there is a section that you can view for free, if you get a stamp on your hand from the front desk.  We quickly obtained these stamps and spent the next 30 minutes viewing the free galleries, which were very informative.  There were diaries, charts, clothing, models and other maritime related artifacts.   The highlight was a display and video about the world record jet boat – a guy literally took a jet engine and attached it to a boat, named it the Spirit of Australia and set a water speed record of 511 km/hr.

By dinner time we were in front of the Harbourside shopping centre, so we went into the food court for dinner.   With nine of us we quickly discovered the food courts were a safe bet to keep everyone happy.  Konnie’s cousin had seen that she was in Sydney and rode his motorbike in to see her, and found us in the food court.  After dinner we headed back to the hotel.   Megan and the Penneys went out again to see the Opera House at night with Konnie’s cousin, but Dallas, Reid and I figured we’d had enough walking by then and went to bed.

Tuesday 3rd January – Sydney

We agreed the night before that it would make the most sense to check out early and leave our bags in storage until we needed to check in to the ship in the afternoon.

After a delicious breakfast from the food court under Wynyard Square, we checked out, made repeated visits to the bag storage area which was in hot demand, then headed out to explore.

We took the Penneys to see the Big Dig, and then made our way up the stairs to the walkway onto the Sydney Harbour Bridge.   From the Bridge we could see our ship - the Dawn Princess – over at the White Bay Cruise Terminal.  On the Dawes Point end of the bridge is the Pylon Lookout, where you can walk up 200 stairs to the top of the bridge.  Dallas, Reid, Megan, Alyssa and Nikki decided to make the climb while the rest of us waited in the shade.

Feeling a bit worn out, we then made our way to Dawes Point Park where we explored the battery and historical information.  It was a nice spot to have a bit of a rest in the shade.

With time growing short, we strolled around Sydney Harbour to the food court at Macquarie Place for lunch.  Megan and I shared some shredded chicken nachos from Mad Mex, and they were awesome.

Boarding the Cruise Ship

Our assigned boarding time was 2pm, and our ship was docked at the White Bay Cruise Terminal, which is not walking distance from Wynyard, so we retrieved our bags and called for a taxi.  An 11 seater bus arrived ten minutes later to deliver us to the terminal.

Not sure we should get on a boat with these 5?

I found the White Bay Cruise Terminal to be very efficient, and the process of boarding was very fast except for the outgoing immigration forms that we needed to complete before getting in line.  I thought they probably could have sent those out ahead of time so we could have come with them already completed.  In no time at all we had dropped our bags off (they had staplers there for those that had to fly first and did not have the bag tags pre-attached), our cruise cards around our necks (if you are going on a cruise, don’t forget to take a lanyard), and were walking up the gangway.

In this next section I will include all of the information that I can remember about the ship, so that if you are going to cruise on the Dawn Princess you will have some information about how it works.

The Cabins

The first place that we wanted to go once we boarded was our rooms.  By the time we found them, some of our bags had already arrived and I did some unpacking.

We had internal rooms for the first time and I was a little apprehensive about how these would feel, as we had always had a window on previous cruises.  In the end an internal cabin was perfectly fine.  The only tricky part was that you lose all sense of time as you have no idea when the sun has come up.  Given that the sunrise and sunset times were very different than at home, this may not have been a bad thing.

A 3 berth cabin is configured in two different ways:

1. Twin beds on either wall and a bunk on one wall

2. Twin beds pushed together in the middle and a bunk on one wall.   This is how our cabin was configured.  The other two cabins were the first configuration.

The cabin steward will put the bunk down in the evening while you are at dinner and then put it up again in the morning to get it out of the way.

The beds were very comfortable and came with 2 down pillows each.  If anything I found the pillows a bit too soft and wished that I had brought my ergonomic one with me.  I did read that they can replace the down pillows with an alternative for those that have allergies.

Despite being a very compact room, there was plenty of storage space.   The storage consisted of a double set of drawers under the bunk which I also used to put medication and paperwork on.  The phone is also on the top of this cabinet, as is a box of tissues provided by the ship.  My clothes went in one side of the drawers and the other side was used for miscellaneous items.

On the other side of the room was a desk with a mirror above it, a stool and rubbish bin under it, and two more sets of drawers under it.  Reid’s clothes filled one side of the drawers.  The top of this desk ended up being the phone and camera station.  Above this desk was a hair dryer.  I tried it a few times and it wasn’t very effective.  At least mine didn’t blow up in my hand like Konnie’s did.

In front of the beds is a tower of cupboards that contain:

a) The TV (with a remote).  Under the TV is a rail that we used to hang lanyards on.

b) The safe

c) An open area that we used for charging, but contained a tray and glasses.

d) A bottom cupboard that contained a small fridge.  It had some water in it that could be purchased.

On top of this there is also a large wardrobe with hanging space and hangers, 3 shelves that we used for our backpacks, some room at the bottom for shoes, and a set of wire drawers.  Dallas’ clothes fitted nicely into these drawers.  We probably could have used some more hangers if we had thought to pack them.  There were some laundry service request forms attached to some of the hangers but the costs were rather high so I didn’t look too closely.

Between the TV cabinet and the desk is the door to the bathroom.  The bathroom was very small but adequate.  On the back of the door is a hook that we hung our bathroom bag from.  Above the toilet are hanging rails.  There was a small basin with a few small shelves above it and a rubbish bin below it.  Each shelf had a small railing around it to stop items from sliding off with the motion of the boat.  

The shower cubicle was pretty tiny and contained the one thing that tortured me throughout the cruise – the shower curtain.  When you turned the water on, the air flow was such that the curtain would start billowing inwards, despite being weighted at the bottom.   Picture trying to shave your legs in a tiny cubicle while the ship is rocking, with a wet plastic sheet flying inwards and sticking to every part of your body that it encounters.  That shower curtain is lucky that it survived my time in that bathroom.

There is an air conditioning control to set the room to be warmer or colder.  Every time I walked past I would push it warmer and every time Dallas walked past he would push it to colder  In the Penney’s room theirs was stuck on freezing for the first few days but was later fixed.

Power Points

In terms of power points, there were shaver points in the bathroom, a US power point above the desk, and an Australian power point in the area that we used for charging.  I had anticipated this and brought a small plug converted so that we could use both power points.  I strongly suggest a mini power board with USB ports to allow you to charge multiple devices at once.  All other plugs throughout the ship appeared to be US ones.  I know because I had to do some work one afternoon and needed to do it anywhere but my room, which effectively blocked all mobile phone (and therefore internet) signals, being so far in the middle of the ship.

Laundry

There was one laundry for each deck of passenger cabins, which did not seem adequate to me, given that the laundry had 3 washer/dryer units and one of them was broken.

I could not find a clear answer on how to pay for the machines before we left.  There is a scanning unit in the laundry that you swipe your cruise card through to obtain tokens that make the machines work.  You need one token for a wash, and one for a dry, and each token was $3.00.  I believe that other products like detergent were $1.50.  I had brought my own and did not need to buy any.

Good times to use the laundry are meal times when others are tied up.  Otherwise you are likely to find someone already waiting for any machine that is about to finish.  Each machine takes about 40 minutes to finish, and the time left is displayed on the front of the machine.  The machines are huge and can easily take a large load.

The first time that I went to use the laundry, both machines were in use but one only had ten minutes left.  I waited until it finished and then waited another ten minutes for the owner to appear.  They didn’t show up, so I moved their clothes to the dryer and put a token in, hoping that they wouldn’t be upset with me for touching their clothes.  Luckily when I came back to move my clothes to the dryer, they arrived and gave me a token to make up for the one that I had used on their behalf.  All’s well that ends well, but I had heard some horror stories so I was rather nervous but also didn’t have the patience to sit around waiting.

I recommend taking a laundry bag that you can just throw in the machine with the rest of your clothes, because then when the clothes are done, you can then throw them back in the bag to take back to your cabin.  I also recommend taking clothes that you don’t have to separate into whites and darks, as you will not want to do laundry very often, let alone doing two loads at a time.

Captains Club Membership

Due to our previous cruises, Dallas and I were given Gold Cruise cards and were invited to a special “Captains Circle Event”.  This consisted of some music, a prize draw for Elite benefits (which we didn’t win), and then they handed out a free drink voucher each.  That seemed to be the extent of Gold Benefits.  Apparently once you make it to Elite you get your laundry done for free.  Now that is something worth having.

On-board Credit

Depending on who you book with, when you book, and what kind of cabin you book, you will probably get some kind of cabin credit for any cruise that you take.  This time we had $280 per cabin.  Princess applies this to the names of the first two passengers, but it doesn’t really matter because the final total is just the sum of anything spent by anyone in the cabin less the credit given to anyone in the cabin.

I am not quite sure how it ended up happening but Megan became attached to our credit even though she was in a different cabin.  This was good because I could see what she was spending but also made it more difficult to use her share of the credit in her cabin.

If you don’t drink a lot or visit the spa, or take organised shore tours, or play bingo, you may find it hard to use all of the credit.  We told the kids that they could order one drink per dinner.    Looking at the totals later, I believe that a soft drink was $2.55 which is quite reasonable, and a milkshake or mocktail was $5.

The kids also had a couple of ice creams from the New Zealand Natural Ice-cream stand, which were $5 each, and Dallas spent a little on some Go-Pro bits, but we still had plenty of credit left at the end.

Konnie and Colin had enough left to use it for the all-inclusive photo package.  I ended up getting a few things from the shop on the last day to use up the credit.  If I had a full picture of all prices before we left, I probably would have been able to plan better how to use the excess credit.  You don’t want to end up wandering the shops, buying stuff just for the sake of buying stuff.

The ship has an app that you can access for free using the on-board WiFi to look at how much credit you have used.  It is quite good although we noticed that even though I could see everyone when I logged in, Dallas could only see himself.  I presume this was because I was the primary contact on the cabin.

Photos

Photos were $10 for a 6x8 and $20 for a 10x8, or $199 for the all-inclusive package, which allows you to take every photo that they take of everyone in your cabin, and get them all on USB.  If you know you are going to do this from the beginning, you could accumulate an impressive collection of photos as the photographers roam the ship, take photos at every port, go through the dining rooms on formal nights, and also have formal and casual sitting almost every night.  Note that the $199 is a per cabin cost, but they have an exception if your immediate family has to be split across 2 cabins.  In this case it is $50 to add the extra cabin.

The photos were high quality and it is worth budgeting for a few in your cabin credit if you have plenty to go around.

They also put together a “Reflections” DVD which is a video presentation of the entire cruise, including each port.  If you go on any of the ship-organised port tours then you will have a chance of being on the video, otherwise you probably won’t be on it unless you are a party animal and seek out the video camera during on-deck parties.  I think this one was $30 or a $50 package with some other DVDs about New Zealand.  It was 3 hours long.  I can’t see myself ever sitting down for 3 hours to watch it.  The 15 minute preview was enough.

Communication

From previous experience, we knew that finding other people on a cruise ship can be difficult.   We have walkie talkies that we have used before, so even though we had read that Princess have a messaging app that you can use on board with your phone, we threw in the walkies just in case.

We were glad that we did.  The messaging app is actually a website that only runs on the ship WiFi, so if you send a message to someone else, they will only get it if they think to log into the app and take a look (it does not do any kind of notification to the phone).

I also brought some pens and paper and string, and I put a few sheets of paper in the message box outside the cabin and tied the pen to it.  When any of us would go out we would write on the paper where we were going so the rest of the group could see what was going on.  This was especially useful with the children as they tended to roam around in a group, so if they came back and we were in another activity, they had an easy way to tell us where they were off to next.

For New Zealand, I had pre-ordered free SIM cards from freevisitorsim.com for the 2degrees network.  This is the second time that we have done this and it works well.  You put the SIM in and as soon as it makes contact with a tower, you receive a text message welcoming you to the network.  You can get straight onto the 2 degrees website where you can firstly “top up”, meaning you load money onto your account, and then you select the prepaid plan that you would like to order.   For $8 you can get 60 minutes of talk and 250 texts which is more than enough for a week.  In terms of data, for $20 you can get 1GB which is also plenty for a week.  Having the phones was extremely useful when in the ports.  We were able to quickly look up information about the places that we wanted to visit when we were on the go, and could use Google Maps for navigation.  I had downloaded Here Maps which I like for offline navigation but if Google Maps is available I prefer to use it.  When we had to split up we were also able to call and text each other.

Kids Club

The kids club activities were well done but the rooms were rather small.  My guess is that as the ship is going to be transferred to P&O and refurbished later this year, they chose not to improve them on this ship.  I received an email the day that we returned detailing the brand new kids club facilities available on other Princess ships.

We had 3 kids in the 13-17 age range and two in the 8-12 age range.  Our 12 year olds found many of the activities a bit “young” for them, but were not allowed to join their older siblings for any of the teen activities.

I enjoyed that our kids are old enough that they could sign themselves in and out of the kids club without one of us needing to go there every single time.

From the activities that they did participate in, the kids all came home with a collection of prizes such as drink bottles and key rings.

Shockwaves Kids Club Program (8-12)

Remix Teen Club Program (13-17)

Dining

Konnie made this great montage of the food

When you are given your cruise card it has your dinner time, table number and restaurant name.  Your table has two waiters assigned and these are your waiters  for the rest of the cruise.

Every night the menu will contain some items that are the same every night and some that are only for that night.

The menu has starters, mains and desserts and you can order as many of each as you like.  There is also fresh warm bread on the table when you arrive each night.

The food was faultless.  Most nights we only understood about half of the words on the menu - they really should print an appendix on it.  Every single night it was difficult to select from the many dishes on offer.  Selecting a dessert was the hardest and more than once Reid ordered 3 desserts.

We learned on the first night that they are stricter about the dress code in the restaurant than other cruise lines that we had been on.  They asked the boys very nicely to please come in long pants and a collared shirt (eg polo) next time.  They did not appear to worry about this at breakfast or lunch.  Reid got away with wearing whatever he wanted.

For breakfast and lunch we could choose to go to the buffet or the sit down restaurant.  As much as possible we went to the restaurant rather than fighting for a seat at the buffet.

They also served afternoon tea in the Venetian restaurant each day. Reid and I went once to see what it was all about.  They seated us at a table of eight with a bunch of ladies that we didn't know. Waiters in white gloves offered tea, sandwiches and sweets.  The old lady next to us looked on in horror as Reid cut up his chocolate cake with a knife and fork and then scooped it into his mouth using the knife.  We made a quick escape after we finished eating.

Entertainment and Activities

With almost 2000 passengers it is impossible to please everyone all of the time, but they offer a wide variety of activities and shows so you can pick the ones that appeal to you.  Some of the ones that I tried included:

• Destination talks – the onboard Destination expert gave a half hour presentation about each port.  These were extremely informative and well worth attending.
• Shopping talk – We didn’t enjoy this one.  She gave out a handout about each port that listed her recommended shops in each town and then spent the time showing photos of each shop and gushing over their merchandise.  She also spent AGES talking about the shops on board.  Apparently no-one has only one watch and you can never have enough of them.  I would have appreciated more general advice about which streets to head towards for shopping for normal people.
• Craft activities – I only attended one – Quilling.  I enjoyed the activity and found it relaxing.
• Book Club – At the beginning of the cruise I saw a notice for a Book Club where you could come and pick up the book for the journey.  I went along and picked it up.  The idea was that you read the book through the cruise and then came back to talk about it at the end.  The final meeting was during the galley tour so I didn’t go but I enjoyed the book, which was Whistling past the Graveyard by Susan Crandall (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16058610-whistling-past-the-graveyard)
• Ship information talks – towards the end of the cruise there were 3 sessions about the ship, all of which I enjoyed very much.
• Life@Sea was a question and answer session with 2 of the cruise directors about what it is like to live and work on a ship.  They showed photos of the crew quarters and mess areas.  I learned that there is a stringent ranking system among the crew and your rank definitely determines how good your room is, where you eat, whether you get to use guest facilities like the gym etc.  We had previously learned from one of the crew that they still have to pay for laundry just like the guests do.  They also have to pay for internet, albeit at a slightly reduced rate.
• Cooking demonstration and Galley Tour.  This was hilarious.  The head chef and the Maître D'Hotel are both from Italy and together they did a cooking demonstration that had us all laughing.  Afterwards we were able to walk through the galley.  The galley tour was not like the ones we had done on previous ships, where they had signs up talking about how much of each food they had to prepare each day.
• Navigation Presentation – one of the officers from the bridge talked about the technical equipment on the ship and how the crew rotations work on the bridge.  He was not the most animated presenter but I learned lots of interesting facts about the ship and appreciated the information.
• Evening guest performers - There were three guest performers that I was very impressed with.



Reid with Scott Williams

• Jane Cho is an impressive violinist.  She uses an electric violin and played songs from a wide variety of genres including rock.
• Nick Russoniello is a saxophonist who also had a wide repertoire.  He even played a piece that he had composed where he uses circular breathing and sounds like he is playing two parts at once.
• Scott Williams is a comedian who calls himself the Laughter Specialist.  He was very funny and had a unique presentation.  He even pulled Reid up on the stage to be a volunteer and Reid loved it.
• There was a magician who did some weird voodoo stuff that I thought was just strange.
• There were a couple of other comedians who were ok but not really my sort of entertainment.
• Lastly there was a Robbie Williams tribute show that I skipped but the others all said it was woeful.
• Evening shows with the Princess Dancers
• These dancers and singers were very talented but I found most of the shows a bit cheesy.  In the end I was so tired most nights that I skipped the shows unless it was a guest performer that sounded like something I would enjoy.

6th January - Fiordlands

We were looking forward to this part of the cruise. We had tried to see Milford Sound on a previous trip but the weather was bad.

I knocked on the girls door at 8am to tell them that we had entered Milford Sound. Megan told me to take lots of photos and went back to bed. Between the dark inside cabin and the late nights in the teen club they were struggling to find the will to get up at a normal hour.

On the top deck it was cold and raining.  The clouds were sitting over the tops of the mountains in the fiord and there were waterfalls pouring down all of the slopes.  We wished for a clearer day but it did have a mysterious atmosphere.

I stayed up top for quite a while before heading downstairs to get warm.  I used the opportunity to get some laundry done.

After we exited Milford Sound they had a park ranger give a talk in the Princess Theatre about the wildlife in the fiords.  I swear they pump sleeping gas into that theatre. I struggled several times to stay awake in there, including through this talk.

In the afternoon we went through four more fiords.  We went into Thompson Sound, then out of Doubtful Sound, then into Breaksea Sound, and out of Dusky Sound.  I found a quiet spot with a window to enjoy the views without getting wet.

7th January – Dunedin

Our first port was Dunedin, on the South Island.  The ship actually berths at Port Chalmers, and a shuttle is provided to Dunedin for $15 per person return ($10 one way).  

We had pre-booked a 10 seater van from New Zealand Rent A Car for $270 including the insurance reduction, unlimited KM and a Port Chalmers pick-up and drop off, which saved us from having to get into Dunedin to pick up a car.  As promised, a man was waiting for us with the van.  It only took a few minutes for him to sight Dallas’ driver’s license and give us the spiel and we were on our way.

Konnie and Colin had been up most of the night with Josh having a migraine, so Dallas took the driving duties for the day.

Children's Guide - Genius

We had decided that it would make the most sense to do the things that were furthest away first, so we set off for Lanarch Castle on the Otago Peninsula.  

You pay as you enter the driveway and it cost $72 for a family.

The weather was cold and drizzly so we were glad to start inside.  The castle has a rich history with plenty of original items to look at.  On arrival the kids were given a kids scavenger hunt and guide to the castle which was genius.   Not only did this get the kids more interested in exploring the various rooms, it also helped to point out interesting aspects for the adults to look at.  Adults also receive a guide on entry that explains each room and the best path to follow through the rooms.

We were especially impressed with the detail on the ceilings of the rooms downstairs.  We also learned that the castle has a rare hanging staircase.  Apparently the ballroom was built for one of the daughters as a birthday present. That's quite the present.  I was also amazed at the 1 tonne marble bath on the top floor and wondered how they got it up there.

It was rather cold on the roof of the castle

At the very top of the castle you can ascend a narrow staircase to access the roof, which offers spectacular views over the Peninsula. We could also see and hear the Scottish bagpiper serenading the tourists in front of the castle.  We did not stay up there for very long as it was still raining and windy.

As we came back down we noticed that the crowds were starting to arrive on buses and were very glad that we had arrived early. The guide for the gardens made them sound beautiful but no one was keen to run around in the rain so we skipped the gardens.

NZ Sports Hall of Fame

Tunnel Beach had been on our list to visit but given the weather we decided to skip it and return to Dunedin.  Most of the streets had paid parking but found free parking on Harrow street which was not far from the Otago Farmer's Market.

The market was small but busy. If I lived in Dunedin I could see myself buying fresh fruit and veggies there.  There was not a lot to see for tourists.

From the market we headed towards the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame, which we could see on the map.  On the way we were walking past the Dunedin Railway Station which I had read was famous for a mosaic on the floor so we ducked in to take a quick look.

We learned some interesting facts in the museum

Inside we discovered that the Sports Hall of Fame is actually upstairs INSIDE the train station.  At the front desk was a sign indicating that they would do family discounts, so we asked how much for nine people and they let us in for $25.  This museum is relatively small but is packed with exhibits.  Anyone from Australia or New Zealand would enjoy the walk down memory lane.  The kids also enjoyed trying to get the highest speed on a bicycle set up near the exit.

Velvet Burger

The kids were very keen to see the chocolate factory but were also starving.  Entering a chocolate factory on an empty stomach didn't seem like a good idea so we went in search of lunch.  A short walk took us to Velvet Burger which was delicious.  I loved that they had mini versions of their burgers as I usually find gourmet burgers too big.  In NZ they call potato gems "hashies".

Back down the hill we entered the very busy Cadbury World. Entry into their museum comes with a bag of "samples" which somehow the kids were hungry for despite having just eaten lunch.  They snacked their way around the interactive displays.

I learned quite a bit including the word "Chocolatitude".

There was a video at the end showing the manufacturing of various lollies and chocolate bars which was frankly mesmerising. 

After the museum you are herded into their shop.  Both kids tried to convince me to buy chocolate but I didn't see anything that I couldn't get at home for a similar price and we certainly weren't lacking for sweets on the ship.

They do have a 60 minute tour here but it is more expensive and was already sold out.  Museum entry is $5 with the samples.

We managed to take the long route to the First Church of Otago.   It was built in 1873 and was fun to look around.  I particularly enjoyed the stained glass windows.  You can look around the church itself and a small museum and shop.

On the way back to the car we stopped at the local supermarket.  The kids couldn't fathom why it used the Woolworths symbol but was called Countdown. They also thought that calling trolleys trundlers was hilarious.   Konnie and Colin found a local sim card and we collected some Whittakers chocolate blocks for a lady at home.

Baldwin Street

Next stop was one that the kids did not want to miss, the steepest street in the world.  Baldwin Street is a busy tourist attraction. It must be like living on Kaiser Drive all year round.  We were happy to watch the kids run up the hill while we took photos from the bottom.  Josh of course made it to the top first.  Even he looked like he was slowing down near the end though.

The last stop for the day was Signal Hill.  It was not far from Baldwin Street and from here we could see the entire area.  The only problem was the freezing wind!

Dropping off the van meant parking it across the road from the port which was easy.  When you get back on the ship you have to show your passport to port security and then your cruise card to the ship security, and scan your bags and walk through a metal detector.  We were back on board in time to make dinner after a very busy day.

Megan took this photo on Baldwin street with her camera flat on the ground, showing the angle of the street

Signal Hill had great views but was FREEZING!

8th January - Akaroa

After the chilly wet day in Dunedin we were very glad to see sunny skies in Akaroa. This turned out to be our favourite port.  Akaroa is situated on the shore on an inlet formed in the middle of an ancient volcano.  Trying to imagine the original size of the volcano was mind blowing.

Akaroa is a tender port, meaning that the ship stops out in the water and passengers are taken ashore in smaller boats.  To manage this process passengers go to the restaurant on deck 5 where you are given a tender ticket.  They put 95 on the first tender and we were on it.

Dawn Princess in the Akaroa Harbour

We had a jet boat ride booked for 11:30am so we had a few hours to fill before then.  We started by walking out to the lighthouse at the point.  This was a nice walk with views around the harbour, but we discovered when we arrived that the lighthouse would be open at 12:30 for visitors so we were way too early.

Dallas had seen a sign about the option to be dropped at the top of the mountain with mountain bike to ride back down and called to find out about it.  They were a bit vague on the phone but said he might be able to do it later.

We wandered back through the town to the adventure centre which is also a shop.  We tried to hire a paddleboat for the kids but they were not ready to start yet.  On the way we explored the war memorial.  We also found free fudge tasting and selected some pieces to take with us.

Seeking a place to sit down for a bit, we walked behind the local motel and found a rocky beach which led to an extended session of rock skipping.  These are the random moments that I think you miss if you only take ship based shore tours.

Rock skipping training session

We had been told to check in at the Akaroa Jet Boat by 11am so by now it was time to head to their shop.  We arrived with a few minutes to spare to find that there were other people there hoping that we would not show up on time.  After checking in and paying they told us to come back at 11:15.  When we came back they put our bags behind their counter and took us around the back where we were each given a splash jacket and a life jacket.

We followed our driver down to the wharf and hopped in the boat and after a safety chat we were speeding towards the harbour heads.  We had a scenic tour around the harbour including inside a cave and around a salmon farm, and our guide gave us information about the history of the area.  We even saw a seal on the rocks along the way.

After the scenic tour it was time for the high velocity spins.  Reid was not quite sure about this part but after the first spin he was loving it and wanted more.  We did a number of spins, getting wetter with each one.  Our guide said that the lack of wind meant that we were getting wetter than normal. The jet boat was definitely a highlight of the entire trip. We chose to do it in Akaroa because it appeared to be more cost effective for the service offered than the alternatives and it turned out to be the right decision.  We appreciated that we received the tour part as well as the thrills part.

Ready to go jet boating

Back on land we collected our bags and looked for lunch.  We all agreed that fish a chips was the go and we found that Akaroa Fish and Chips had a large family package for $63 that included fish, calamari, dagwood dogs (which they called hot dogs), onion rings, donuts, a 1.5L drink and chips.  It also had sausages but he was happy to switch them to hot dogs too, and they gave us nine cups to share the drink out.  We had to stalk other families to score a table but we had one by the time the food was ready. We made short work of the food and although we would have liked to have seen more chips for the money, Megan and I agreed that they have the best donuts.

After lunch we strolled across the road to the paddle boats and hired a four person boat for 30 mins for $35.  Reid was not interested but the other four were keen.  I think they lasted about 20 mins before they were worn out.

Paddleboat fun

Given the decision between an 18 minute walk to a place called the Giant's house that would cost $50 per family and a much shorter walk back to the Lighthouse which would cost $6 per family, we opted for the lighthouse.

The lighthouse was moved from Akaroa heads to its present location in 1980 which must have been a mammoth task.  The story goes that the government was going to bulldoze it but the citizens of Akaroa could not stand to see that happen.

For your entry fee you get a short talk at the bottom and then you get to climb to the top. At the top is another volunteer who explains more about how the light works.  You then go outside where you can walk around all of the way around the top.

We loved Akaroa. It is a pristine town in a beautiful location.  We heard from the lighthouse lady that a cruise ship once got stuck in the harbour for a week with bad weather but our day was perfect.

9th January - Wellington

The night before we arrived in Wellington we were told that because the port is closed to pedestrian traffic after earthquake damage, we would have free shuttles into the middle of the city.  I got the impression that normally we would have to pay for the shuttle.

The shuttle process is similar to the tender process but less people can get on a bus at a time.  As it turned out the cut off for the first bus was right in the middle of our group and Dallas and Colin had to wait for the 2nd bus.

They dropped us on Brandon Street in front of David Jones.  The entrance to the cable car was just around the corner so we went there first.  We purchased return family passes for $18. In hindsight we could have bought one way tickets.  It is a short journey up the hill to the Botanic Gardens but it saved a lot of walking.  In one of the tunnels they had set up a light show which was kind of fun.

Cable car

At the top we were intending to go to the Space Place but found that it does not open until 10am.  To kill some time we went for a walk through the gardens and ended up finding an awesome playground where the kids had a great time on a spinning thing and a flying fox.  

Flying fox

While they were playing we looked up more information about Space Place and decided that Zealandia would be a better stop for us today.  There is a free shuttle from the gardens to Zealandia but sadly with nine of us there were not enough seats left on the next bus.  Colin, Josh, Reid, Megan and Alyssa elected to walk the 2km route and met us there.

Zealandia is an eco sanctuary. It is essentially a huge forest that they have surrounded with pest proof fences to keep out the rats and the possums.  We did the short walk which took a couple of hours and saw a number of birds, insects and lizards.

Birds at Zealandia

When we met the shuttle bus for the return trip we learned that there is a bus that goes back to the top of the cable car, but there is also a free shuttle that will drop you at the Te Papa museum or at the iSite in town.

As luck would have it, we were planning to meet an old Tassie friend in town for lunch, so we took the town shuttle.

David Chick knew Dallas, Konnie and Colin in Tasmania but now lives in Wellington and works for the city council.  He took us to a nearby food court for lunch and then walked us along the waterfront towards the Te Papa museum.

Dallas, David Chick and Colin

As we walked along we saw a decorated piano for anyone to play (Megan had a quick go), a sting ray, and teenagers jumping from a platform into the water.  Wellington also appeared to be a very clean city.  It has a reputation for being extremely windy but it was not windy at all while we were there.

Kids jumping into the water in Wellington

David went back to work and we started to explore the Te Papa museum.  It is massive and it was probably a mistake to start it when we were already tired from so much walking.  There was so much to see and we just could not get through it all.

One part that we could not miss was the Gallipoli exhibit.  It was just incredible. As well as being full of interactive displays it contained a number of larger than life dioramas featuring real people from the war in various situations.  The detail was beyond belief.  If you looked closely you could see the pores in their skin, the individual hairs on their arms, the scrapes and sores from living in the trenches.

Gallipoli exhibit at the Te Papa Museum

We were exhausted by the time we finished in the museum and were ready to walk back along the waterfront to the pickup point.  On the way there were small shops operating out of shipping containers selling souvenirs.  Looking back I would say that they had the best value items that we saw anywhere.  The kids each bought a paua necklace for $5.

10th January - Napier

We wanted to fit in some rafting on our trip and Napier had the best option for the whole group.  We had booked a "family float" with Mohaka Rafting, which was a grade 2 trip suitable for just about anyone.

Napier also had a shuttle service into town for free. There was talk of earthquake damage here too.

Napier was destroyed by an earthquake and rebuilt in the 1930s. They rebuilt in the art deco style. It is another pristine and picturesque town. 

We were instructed to be on the first bus into town to meet our rafting shuttle, so we followed the instructions, as did most of the others that were going on the rafting trip.  Unfortunately one family of 8 either slept in or didn't feel the need to be on time and we waited for them for ages.  Eventually our drivers gave up and we boarded the bus and took off.  That family got lucky as our bus had to go up the road and turn around to head in the right direction just as they got off the next shuttle, and they waved down the bus.

We drove out to the Mohaka Rafting base, where we were given a brief talk and had to sign the obligatory waiver.  

We were each given a sleeveless wetsuit and booties to change into.  Fleeces were offered for those who thought they would be cold.  I seriously contemplated it but opted out and I was glad that I did as it turned out to be very warm.

The change rooms were just large open rooms, one for men and one for women.

Once we were dressed we got back on the bus for the short drive to the river.  As they prepared the boats we were given a life jacket and helmet each and instructions for how to wear them properly.

The Penneys are ready

By the time we were dressed it was time to get into the boats.  We were split into groups.  There were seven in our boat plus our guide, who was from Rotorua. We took advantage of this fact and asked him questions about where to go and what to see.

A beautiful river

The Woolley boat + extras

It really was a gentle float with only a little paddling required and nothing scary.  The river and canyon were gorgeous and I very much enjoyed this trip.  While we were floating the guides passed around a camera and took photos of everyone.  A couple of times those who wanted to could get out for a swim.   It was about a two hour trip.

At the other end we found the bus there waiting for us.  On the shady side of the bus they had laid out all of our bags from the bus, and behind those was a tarp with lunch on it.  There was plenty of food.  They had rolls of various types, egg and bacon slice and a number of sweet slices.  They had cold water or coffee to drink.

We were running a little short on time due to the late start so we ate fast and then made it back to the iSite just in time for the last shuttle back to the ship. On the bus on the way back we were given a USB stick containing the photos from the trip.

The farewell band

As we went up the gangway onto the ship we were farewelled by community members in period dress with vintage cars and a band. We were impressed by the community involvement in the effort to promote their town, especially since this probably happens a few times a week.

11th January - Tauranga and Rotorua

The ship actually docks at Mt Maunganui, just outside Tauranga.  We had again booked a van as we wanted to travel to Rotorua.  This time we had to take a shuttle to the car rental depot (Pacific Auto Rentals) but it was only a few minutes away.  The cost was $198 for the day.

The pickup process was again very straightforward and fast.  This is a vastly different experience than we have previously had with the bigger car rental companies.

Our plan was to drop Dallas in town for his crazy grade 5 rafting trip and then head to Wai-o-tapu in time to see their geyser at 10:15am.  We arrived just before ten.  You have to go to the office first to buy tickets and then drive back down the road and park near the geyser area, then walk in to an amphitheater and wait for the show.  The place was packed.

At 10:15 we were looking for signs that the geyser was about to blow but a guide came out with a bag and started talking.  Turns out they induce the geyser to erupt after a presentation about the history and mechanics of the geyser. The history included a story about early settlers having competitions to see who could get their underwear to shoot highest in the air from the force of the geyser.

The kids were most impressed by the geyser, after which we had to get back in the car and drive back to the office to get to the entry for the rest of the thermal park.

Dallas and I had previously been to Te Puia which is closer to Rotorua.  Wai-o-tapu is 30 mins south of Rotorua.  In my opinion, comparing the thermal areas only, Wai-o-tapu leaves Te Puia for dead.  It is a long walk though so wear comfy shoes and take water.  The kids wanted pegs for their noses almost immediately but had to deal with it.  I didn't find it too bad for the most part.  It was a warm day and by the time we had finished wandering around the hot steamy park we were all very hot.

One of the thermal areas at Wai-o-tapu

Map of wai-o-tapu

We had planned to go and swim in some thermal springs next. I asked if anyone was interested in going to sit in hot water and the answer was a resounding NO.

Crazy colours in the water

The two other items we had planned were a Maori village and the Skyline Luge.

Of course everyone was starving so we drove back to Rotorua in search of lunch and postponed the decision of what to do next until we had eaten.  Reid and Megan and I ate at Carl's Jr and the Penneys opted for Burger King.

We agreed that the Skyline could be busy with a cruise ship in port and knew that this stop was important to the kids so we headed there next.

For $125 you get a return trip on the gondola and ten luge rides to share amongst your family.  Even with only three of us this was more cost effective than buying single tickets.

Your ticket consists of a single piece of card and the attendant punches a hole in it for each ride that is taken, so you all have to go in together but the rides can be taken by anyone.

Ready to luge

At the top they have large containers with four different sizes of helmets. You select one and then join the "first time riders" line.  When you make it to the luge carts an attendant will line them up for you and teach you how to use them.  It is very easy.  Then they send you down one of the easier tracks.  

We did the scenic track first and it was great fun.  You get some awesome views from the side of the mountain while the nine year olds are zipping past you.

At the bottom you hop on the chairlift to go back to the top and do it all again.  I did one more ride and then gave Megan the ticket to share the remaining rides between them.  It was another good decision to come here first as we did not finish until after 3:30 when Dallas let us know that he was ready to be picked up.  We all agreed that it was time to head back to the ship.

Reid and Nikki coming back up on the chair lift

Dallas at Kaituna Rafting

Dallas loved his rafting trip and came back with some entertaining photos.

The kids passed the time by singing in the car today.  They started ninety nine bottles but I don't think they made it to the end.  I was amazed by how many songs they knew the words to.  Colin was driving and begged for mercy around forty five bottles.  At some point they started making up new names for everyone in the car.  At one point everyone was being addressed by their name spelled backwards and they discovered that Dallas is "yellow sallad".    We were constantly amused through the whole trip by how easily they kept each other entertained.

We dropped the car at the depot and walked across the park to get back to the ship.  On this day we made it barely in time for dinner and had to do a super quick change to meet the dining room dress requirements.

12th January - Auckland

Another city, another van.  This time we had to get to the depot ourselves though, so we had to walk about 15 minutes to their office.  The company was Ezi Car Rental and it cost $211.

Our first stop today was Devonport, where we found North Head and the old forts, tunnels and batteries from the war.

North Head

There was a video that talked about New Zealand during the war and the preparations that they made.  I got the sense that it must have been terrifying, being such a small country with the Japanese troops spreading through the Pacific.

Gun battery on North Head

We explored the top of the hill and then used the lights on our phones to explore the tunnels under the hill.  They are quite extensive and it was hard to tell where we had already been.

As we started driving towards the Piha coast it was sunny, but became increasingly overcast the closer we came to Karekare.  By the time we parked at Karekare and started walking down to the beach we were all freezing!  On Karekare beach we saw the black sand.  It was very fine, unlike the coarse black sand we had once seen in Hawaii.

Karekare Falls

We then found the walking track to Karekare falls.  These were beautiful and the girls were keen to swim until they felt how cold the water was.  Dallas of course took a dip.

Piha was next on the list, where we had to find lunch for the starving hordes.  We drove past a burger joint on the waterfront and decided to pass, and ended up at the Piha Store where we found they had a range of  fresh baked goods and sandwiches.  They were delicious.  They claim to have famous donuts too.  We tried one and it was good but sadly not up to the standard set by Akaroa Fish and Chips.

Now full of energy we parked near the water and climbed Lion Rock. It is a short but steep walk with fantastic views over the bay.

Looking out over Piha and Lion Rock

Tired, we headed back towards Auckland. It was not time to drop the car back yet but we had had our fill of museums and walks and views.  Dallas dropped us on Queen street and took the van back while we did a little shopping as we strolled back up Queen street towards Queens wharf where the ship was docked.

As we watched a steady stream of police cars and ambulances with sirens on go up and down the street we asked a shop assistant what was going on.  She shrugged and said it is like that all of the time.  The Penneys saw someone arrested right in front of them.

13th January - Bay of Islands

We did not have any big plans for this port and Dallas and I had already been here before.  We agreed to just go over when we were ready and do our own thing.

This was another tender port.  They told us that it would be a 30 minute tender ride in, but when we got on the boat, we found it was the Russell fast ferry and we made it to Waitangi wharf in record time.

This is another town where the community comes together to make the most of cruise ship days.  There is a free shuttle that stops at Paihia and Waitangi, and two different craft markets.

We stopped at the markets on the main street first which were in a hall.  A lady had made small morepork owls which the kids thought were cute and bought for $3.

The markets on the village green were larger and had an interesting range of goods.

The shopping lady on the cruise ship had given an extremely annoying presentation about where to shop on shore.  Given that she said things like no-one has just one watch, and was heavily focussed on jewellery, we didn't give her recommendations much weight, but as it happened her recommendation in this port was quite good.  The Cabbage Tree had good range of items at a range of prices. We picked up a Christmas tree ornament that incorporates paua shell.

Dallas loves waterfalls so he ran off to find a kayak to get to Haruru falls while the kids and I headed back to the ship.  The timing was good as it turned out that I had a work issue to fix that took up some of the afternoon.

Coming home

We arrived back in Sydney early on the morning of the 16th.  We were asked to put our suitcases out for collection the previous night before dinner, and needed to vacate our rooms by 8am.  Our disembarkation time was set at 8:40am from the Vista lounge.  We met shortly after 7 for our final breakfast in the Venetian restaurant.

We arrived in the Vista lounge about 20 minutes early and it was obvious that they were running behind. They announced that they had not been sent enough immigration officers.  In the end we disembarked about an hour late.  The taxi back to the airport was $79 for an 11 seater van and we were on our way home.

Daily Schedules

3rd January - At Sea

4th January - At Sea

5th January - At Sea

6th January - Fiordlands

7th January - Dunedin

8th January - Akaroa

9th January - Wellington

10th January - Napier

11th January - Tauranga

12th January - Auckland

13th January - Bay of Islands

14th January - At Sea

15th January - At Sea

I loved this holiday.  New Zealand is such a beautiful country that is easy to travel in. Our kids had a wonderful time together.

It occurred to me through this trip that our kids are different people than they would be if they had never travelled. That goes for me too.

Travelling forces us to try new things.  It encourages us to be adventurous. It teaches organisation, patience and confidence.  Travel also gives us context and perspective when we encounter new people or situations.  We learn more about each other when we travel than when we are at home.  I am grateful for the opportunity that I had to take this trip with my family and the Penneys.