Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

I_r_a

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    1,317

  • Joined

 Content Type 

Posts posted by I_r_a

    A Visit to the Antipodes

    in Holland America Line

    Posted

    Interesting places to eat - in no particular order.

    Creperie Suzette - across the street from the hotel. Very good for Breakfast.
    Shiki Japanese Restaurant - about 1 blk down the street.
    IMG_1720A.jpg.fed40db6c32a38c0597053998c9fe8bb.jpg

    Pony Dining - across the street from Shiki
    Masuya (Japanese)      Basement Level, 12-14 O'Connell St.  Excellent
    Sir Winston's  at the Queen Mary Hotel. -  Very, Very, Very Good
    IMG_2339A.jpg.7e3ea77a16a370acaf0e8b9f7fbf5f4b.jpg


    More to come

    A Visit to the Antipodes

    in Holland America Line

    Posted

    Hi All,

         My Lady Wife and I recently experienced a lovely visit to Australia and New Zealand.  Here is a short report on the visit.

         Packed up the car and drove to Atlanta airport (ATL), where they had changed the roads and I couldn’t find the off-site lot I wanted.  Ended up in “economy” parking, from which we had an unpleasant walk through the parking lot to the terminal.  The return was much easier as there is courtesy transportation – if you know how to find it.

         Off to Los Angeles, where we spent the night at the Hilton Curio Collection.  A new super-modern hotel with all sorts of buttons and switches – eg, open and close the drapes.

         The next night it was off to Sydney on a really, really big Qantas Airbus A380.  Although it was a very long flight (15 hr) it did not seem any worse than crossing the Atlantic (8 hr) in a smaller plane.

         On arriving at SYD, we discovered that we had flown right past Wednesday and into Thursday  The return trip was even faster, as we left SYD at 09:30 on Wed and arrived in LA at 06:30 the same day.

         Very nice stay in Sydney at https://www.rendezvoushotels.com/hotel/sydney-the-rocks.  Our fifth-floor room looked directly out over the harbor to the Opera House.   (See image below).  The hotel does not offer breakfast, but there are several cafes very close by.  In addition, there was a small kitchenette from which you could cook your meals if you wished.

         Sunday, we taxied to the White Bay Terminal to embark The Noordam.  The ship has a $20 special – all you can pack into the laundry bag.  Very useful.  We used it twice.

     

         At 6:30 PM we set off for a 14 day tour around New Zealand.  The scenery is spectacular, the people are wonderful, the wine is excellent.  Pictures to follow. 

     

        After the cruise, we spent a few more days in Sydney at the same hotel, before the whirlwind flight back to LA.  We spent two very interesting nights aboard the Queen Mary (hotel) before flying home.

     

        More to come.

    Ira

    IMG_1670.JPG

    • Like 1
×
×
  • Create New...