Day 1 of our AAT Kings - 17 Day NZ Contrasts Tour - Auckland to Bay of Islands

Sunday December 30th 2012
Weather - overcast with showers predicted 18-25 C

Up bright & early, showered & luggage outside door about 7am. Then off to breakfast & back to room for final last minute packing. We leave Auckland this morning at 8am.

After checking out we board the coach (by now it is pouring rain) and head off at 8am as planned. The coach is almost full, however some passengers are on the end of their NZ tour & will depart when we return to Auckland, others are coming on in Auckland to do both islands and a few will be leaving in Wellington after completing the North Island. As I said last night we have a mix of mostly Australian & UK passengers with a few others from NZ and Europe. The age average appears to be 50-60 with just a few young ones and a few maybe 70 +.

Our coach driver is Mark and tour guide Lu, until we return to Auckland then we have Phil as our tour guide. After about 2 hours we stopped for coffee (can't remember where as these Maori names trip me up every time) then on the road again until we stopped for lunch and a look around Whangarei. We found a supermarket (they all sell alcohol here) & purchased a bottle of wine and some cider. Just as well because I just checked the wine list here at the hotel and a bottle of the cheapest Jacobs Creek wine is $43! We paid $14 for a good quality NZ Sav Blanc.

After a brief stop in Paihia to organise optional tours we arrived at our hotel, Copthorne, Hotel & Resort, Bay of Islands around 3.30pm. We will be spending 2 nights here, leaving for Auckland on New Years Day. The resort is quite nice with all rooms opening out onto a lovely tropical garden area. Birds everywhere and ducks wandering the grounds give it a nice feel. After a brief rest and putting the old feet up, we sat outside with a cider. The showers keep coming, then the next moment we have sunshine. It is very steamy though with high humidity.

I haven't been able to get any mobile reception here, nor is there any obvious free Internet, however I will check when we go for dinner to see what can be done. Otherwise it will be a communication free New Year!

Not many photos taken today which is a shame, because the countryside was just gorgeous and so green, but because of the rain visibility was low and when I take photos from within the coach they come out very poor quality because of the reflection.

The weather cleared around 6pm and by the time we finished dinner around 7.30 it was beautiful outside. Clear blue skies & a nice cool breeze. We took a walk around the resort and along the waterfront, walking through the water at the beach. This really is a beautiful spot, more so if you are into swimming as there is the beach and several shaded pools. We came back to our room about 8.30 & sat outside with a glass of wine watching the wildlife. Within in a period of 30 mins we saw ducks, rabbits, quail, parrots plus some other bird varieties I can't name. I will add a few pics below.

Tomorrow is a free day so weather permitting I should get some nice photos of the bay.

Auckland Day 2

Saturday December 29th 2012

Weather - Fine and Sunny 25C

After an early night last night, we awoke fairly early following a sound sleep. It was a beautiful day so we showered & went out for breakfast, locating free Internet so I could check emails & upload yesterday's blog. Even at 8am it was warm & humid. We returned to our hotel and collected our paperwork with details for the next stage of our holiday. We are meeting our tour guide and fellow passengers tonight for a drink at the roof top bar here at the hotel at 5.30pm before dinner.

We then rearranged our luggage, deciding to place all clothes/items we are unlikely to use for the remainder of the holiday, in one suitcase & leave it on the coach for the entire trip. We have placed the remainder of our clothes etc in one large suitcase, plus 2 smaller carry on bags. Hopefully this will make loading & unloading easier. Our formal clothes, shoes, Xmas decorations are not likely to be needed during the next 17 days.

Once the luggage was sorted we took a walk to the Ferry Terminal and purchased tickets to Waiheke Island. It is a 30 minute trip each way & very scenic. Once you reach the island there is a large terminal with little I side except an information centre & coffee shop. There were lots of wine tours offered but sooooo expensive. We just strolled around for a while but was getting too hot so we headed back on the next ferry to Auckland. Just to give an idea, the ferry tickets (2 adult return) cost us $70. I think a 2 hour wine tour was around $150 each. Makes the Manly Ferry seem cheap! When we returned I needed to find a pharmacy, so we located on in a large shopping complex. I picked up a packet of Nurofen Cold & Flu (yes I have been fighting off the dreaded Flu for 2 days). When I took it to the counter they charged me $39 NZ. I know the NZ $ is worth less than the Au $ but that is still a hefty price.

We then decided to avoid the tourist areas around the harbour as another large cruise ship had docked (HAL Oosterdam) and found a pub in town for lunch. We discovered they had Speights (brewery in Dunedin) Cider on tap so ordered fish & chips to go with it. Best Fish & Chips we have had in a long time. The cider was pretty awesome as well. And the cost more reasonable than previous purchases. On our walk back we found a little liquor store near our hotel (remember it Jan?)& purchased a 1.25 litre bottle of cider in a plastic soft drink bottle which looked like Mountain Dew. It fits nicely in our little refrigerator and will be prefect for afternoon drinks. The hotel sells only 300 ml bottles for $8 each, which is the same amount we paid for 1.25 litres!

So after all that activity we came back to our room for the now compulsory afternoon nap. It is now around 4 pm & we are taste testing the cider ..... Very nice actually!

We attended the meet & greet with fellow passengers and our tour guide. Lots of fellow Aussies plus quite a few from UK. Would you believe there is a lady from Bathurst & a couple from Portland?

Time for dinner so will attempt to send this when out.

I will add a few photos taken from the Ferry this morning and one of the cider bottle.

Auckland

Friday December 28th 2012

We are having a pretty quiet day as we are both feeling really tired. Must be all the excitement of the Hobbits yesterday. We managed to get our room just after 12pm so sorted some clothes & discovered there is a guest laundry just a few metres away on the same floor. So we have done our first real load of washing in 2 weeks. We avoided using the laundry on the ship for a reason I will share shortly, however we had a full size bath with a clothes line running the length of it, plus clothes hooks & plenty of hanging options. It was easy to wash our unmentionables each day & a pair of casual pants or a shirt each. Anyway, this afternoon we washed all the other stuff and dried it within a couple of hours.

After a wander around the local area (hotel is very close to the harbour) we had a little nap & then wandered up to the top floor where the restaurant & bar are located. I am almost positive this is the same hotel I stayed in about 6 years ago when I was in NZ with a group of friends. As soon as we reached the top floor I recognised the bar/restaurant area which overlooks the harbour. A certain reader may not remember the night she spent in the hotel for reasons which shall remain untold, she will know what I mean. Beautiful views so we had a cider and booked a window table for dinner. When we returned at 6.30pm we had a table with a view of the Diamond Princess. She was still in port when we left so must be sailing late tonight. Dinner was very nice, but very expensive. Wine was also pricy at an average of $50/bottle of average quality. Maybe we are just too accustomed to ordering whatever food we wanted without paying.

OK .... Now to the story re the ships laundry. On each deck there is a laundromat for passengers to use. On the first day we spoke to several people who had boarded the ship in Bangkok & were doing the full Bangkok to Auckland leg. Apparently there were several reported occasions of "laundry rage" where women were shouting at each other for either not returning in time to remove clothes from the washer or dryer, or removing other people's clothes from the dryer when dry so they could put theirs in. In one instance it became so heated, 2 women (reported from the US) threw irons at each other. Security were called & both women were taken to collect their belongings and escorted off the ship in Darwin. One was with her husband & son, but they chose to stay on the cruise. She had to find her own way back to the US. We were told the same story by different groups so assume it was true. I decided then that I would not risk the laundry! Can you see why?

Getting ready for an early night so will upload this on Saturday. We plan to go on a tour of the city or harbour cruise (not sick of water yet) tomorrow.

Will add a couple of photos of our early morning arrival in Auckland as well as a couple from the hotel restaurant.

Day 14 - Disembarkation Auckland NZ

Friday 28th December 2012

Weather Overcast - Predicted Max 23C

We awoke around 5.30am to discover we had entered Auckland Harbour and were just about to dock. This is a very nice harbour and I took some photos from our balcony in the early morning light.

We need to vacate our rooms by 8am so we showered and headed down for our last breakfast about 6.45 am. Coincidently we were seated with the couple whom we did the Hobbiton tour with yesterday. We had not see them on the ship during the entire cruise. It's a world full of such coincidences. We returned to our room at 7.30, did a final check, brushed teeth etc and said goodbye to our home of 14 days, then headed to the Wheelhouse Bar (no, not for drinks) our designated waiting point until we are called to disembark & collect our luggage around 9.30am. So this is where I am right now.

We can actually see our Hotel from the ship and it seems close enough to walk to, however not sure if we will manage an uphill walk with 4 pieces of luggage, 2 backpacks & my overloaded handbag!

This has been a wonderful cruise, even better than I imagined it would be, so the next stage of our holiday will have a lot to live up to. What I guess we will miss most is the wonderful service, food & not having to pack each day. Our stateroom was just perfect for our needs. I know many people say they just enjoy being on a ship and are content with an inside cabin or ocean view, we ended up choosing a mini suite with balcony and loved it. We had a full sized bathtub which made the bathroom a decent size. Storage was excellent with a huge walk in wardrobe with plenty of hanging space plus a large shelf. Then there was a 2 door cupboard with lots of shelves and a safe. In the bedroom area was our Queen bed, desk/dressing table, small drawers, fridge and TV. Then in the sitting area was a large sofa, small table, chair, TV and storage. Then our balcony contained 2 chairs which reclined plus foot stools and a medium sized table. There was lots of opportunities to sit on the balcony either in port or at sea. If it was too hot or cold we had the sofa, so plenty of options.

Of course we also spent lots of time outside our stateroom and soon found our favourite areas around the ship. Although there are almost 3,000 passengers onboard it rarely feels crowded, so you can always find a nice quite area if you just want to sit and read etc,

Well we are now officially on dry land after leaving the ship around 10.30am. Our luggage is at the hotel & we are filling in time waiting for our room.

I will post a few more pics of Hobbiton.

More later.

Day 13 Tauranga

Wednesday 27th December 2012

Weather - Overcast & humid Temp 22C

We we up bright & early, showered, dressed & up to the buffet to grab a quick breakfast before heading off the ship around 8.15am. We met the other couple, Alan & Mary, who were on the same tour and found our minivan driver who was to drive us to Matamata for the start of our Hobbiton tour.

We had an uneventful drive through beautiful countryside despite a bit of drizzly rain. The trip took approx 50 minutes & we were vie our ticket and boarded another, larger bus for the 15 minute ride to the Hobbiton Movie Set. We then got out & started the official 1.5 hr guided tour. It was a little damp right at the start, but we were given umbrellas which we only needed for a short time. This tour was absolutely amazing and we took 100's of photos (see a sample below). It was just the most beautiful place, words just cannot do it justice. I was concerned that I would have trouble with all the walking, however the sights were worth the pain caused!

After the tour we we taken to the newly opened pub for free drink. The choices were English Ale, Cider or Ginger Beer. All brewed on site and not available elsewhere in NZ. We we had a cider of course and as we were almost the first there, when we had finished I asked Mike to try for a 2nd. It worked and I must say it was one of the best ciders I have tried. If we had more time I could have polished off another 2 or 3!

After that we walked back to the start where the restaurant & shop were located to have our included lunch. The place was packed & we were told it was the busiest day so far this year, however we were shown to our reserved table and they started bringing out a mountain of food. Bowls of homemade coleslaw, fresh salads, jacket potatoes, baked parsnips, carrots, sweet potato & pumpkin, bread rolls as well as a platter of BBQ sausages and steaks ...... All this for just 4 of us. Then out came the home made chocolate brownie & ice cream. We had an amazing feast and I felt so full I was ready for a nap on the return journey.

On the way back Leslie our driver stopped at the new information centre in The town of Matamata for us to take photos. It was amazing & just looked like a larger version of a Hobbit house. Then near the top of the mountain she stopped again at a lookout and once again we took amazing photos. We hopped back on the minivan and about 200 metres down the road it started to blow smoke & then stalled. We were on a steep slope climbing uphill and the road was very busy, large trucks flying past. We managed to roll back just off the road and Leslie phoned the company to send a vehicle to collect us. Not sure how long this will take as we are 30 minutes drive from the ship. The good news is that the ship doesn't leave until 6pm so I hope we will make it in time.

I am sitting in the little mini van on the side of the road typing this, good thing I thought to bring my IPad, not that we have found any Internet service since we left the ship, but hopefully I can manage to upload this blog post before we leave Tauranga. Failing that it will come from Auckland tomorrow.

We have just been rescued by none other than the owner of the farm in which The Hobbiton Movie Set is located in his nice car. He is a really nice man and runs the farming side of the business (he was mustering sheep when Leslie called to say we were stranded) and is married with 4 young children. He drove us back to the port and was interested in hearing what we thought of our tour. He said the business has expanded more rapidly than anticipated & they are much busier than they anticipated. They are beginning to take bookings for parties and weddings which I think will be very popular as it is such a special place.

Now back on board and madly trying to pack so I will attempt to add a few photos and try and upload.

No luck with free Internet so will await our arrival in Auckland.

Our final dinner on board was to the usual high standard, we were seated with a lovely couple who had just relocated from the Blue Mountains to Central Coast. For starters we had the trio of seafood (marinated squid, scallops & crawfish tails) then I had a salad & grilled sea bass with asparagus & grilled squash, Mike had a beef dish can't remember what it was called). No wine tonight as we still had half a bottle in our cabin and needed to finish our packing & have bags out by 9pm.

We called in to check out all the photos which the ships photographers had taken of us during the cruise (there were lots) & chose 2. One from the 2nd formal night & the other when we left the ship yesterday to go on the Hobbiton tour.

Back in our stateroom we put our bags out & sat down to finish off our wine stash. We are feeling a little sad that its our last night on board.

Off to bed!

More tomorrow from Auckland.

Day 12 - At sea Wellington to Tauranga Part 2

Wednesday 26th December 2012 (Boxing Day)

Weather - Fine to partly cloudy top of 21C

We had a very brief period of slow Internet service earlier today so I attempted to upload this mornings post. I won't know for sure if it worked until I have service again .... so please bear with me and or give any repeat information!

We had another little rest after lunch, then had a glass of wine and watched the coastline pass by. It is a bit windy today but not cold so we have spent some time on the balcony. Then it was time for me to paint my fingernails and begin preparations for tonight's Captains cocktail party & dinner. We donned our finery for the last time this holiday & was a great opportunity for me to show off some Christmas presents (new watch, pearl necklace & earrings as well as perfume). We had some photos taken, declined the champagne and headed for The Savoy dining room. Boy was there a treat in store on the menu tonight.

I have resisted the temptation all cruise to take photographs of the food at dinner, however, when I discovered that escargot & lobster tails were on the menu tonight, I just couldn't help myself (see below). I was the only person on our table of 8 who wanted the escargot, so instead of ordering it as a starter and then my usual salad as entree, I ordered the escargot for both courses. Yes I had 2 serves of 6 in cute little dishes floating in a garlic butter. They were fantastic. Mike chose the Asian vegetarian rice paper rolls & soup. We both had the shrimp & lobster tails (3) with asparagus and a pilaff rice for main & went all out with the floating islands dessert. We also had a bottle of Nobilo NZ Sav Blanc & coffee! Great meal and great company with 2 Aussie & 1 NZ couple.

We are very full so went for a little walk and decided on an early night as we need to get up at 6am to be ready to get off the ship as soon as they drop the gang plank in Tauranga tomorrow morning. We have booked a private tour to the Hobbiton Movie Set and will be picked ip from the dock around 8.30am. This is our only organised tour from the ship and we are really looking forward to it.

Time for bed and I will hopefully be able to upload this when we land tomorrow.