Live from Voyager—Feb 20 to Mar 6, 2018–Sydney to Auckland with RachelG

[RachelG]

Looking down on the port. You will note that the huge Queen Mary 2 is covering up the view of our ship.

 

Funny sculpture

 

Tree hugger

 

 

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[RachelG]

Beach walk

 

The pine trees were loaded with more pine cones than I have ever seen in my life.

 

 

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[RachelG]

Scott Memorial

 

 

Sail out

 

 

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[WesW]

Thanks for sharing your terrific Dunedin photos Rachel. Enjoy Akaroa--we loved walking around this beautiful port city and visiting the Giants House.

[petlover]

I love keeping up with your journey Rachel ! Thanks for taking so many of us along with you.:)

[Hambagahle]

Loved the sculpture of the person "walking down under" - very original!!

 

Hope your nice weather keeps up.

[Travelcat2]

Also loving this blog - especially the photos of animals (the penguins are too cute!). Looks like the weather is improving. Continue to enjoy yourselves.

[RachelG]

March 1, 2018–Akaroa, New Zealand

 

The seas were totally smooth all night long. When we awoke, we were just entering the very narrow mouth of Akaroa Harbor. On all sides were fairly high peaks covered with short grass and clumps of trees. At the end was the small town of Akaroa which was settled by French originally. A lot of the street names are in French, and there are several French restaurants. The temperature is in the upper 60s with partly cloudy skies, slight breeze, again perfect hiking weather.

 

We had been here 3 years ago and had went to one of the local farms for a sheep shearing and herding demo. This time, I had booked an excursion into Christchurch to see the Antarctica exhibit and to go to the Air Force museum, both of which George would have loved. This was an extra cost excursion, and I received the news yesterday that the operator had cancelled it because not enough people had signed up. Very disappointing, particularly since by this time, the only excursion left with any availability was the sheep excursion that we had taken previously.

 

Time out now for a rant. This issue has happened to us before with the extra cost excursions. I have booked them, then they are cancelled at the last minute because not enough people sign up. But there are no other excursions left for us to book. I think Regent should figure out a way for people who book an extra cost excursion to have a backup choice booked just in case of cancellation.

 

At any rate, we decided we would just go hiking and have lunch on our own. This is a tender port, so we waited until open tendering started. While waiting, we heard Ray make announcement after announcement about not taking food ashore. Why people can’t listen and follow directions, I don’t know. There is no food allowed to be taken ashore at any port in Australia or New Zealand.

 

The Queen Mary 2 is also in port today. They seem to be following us around, so when we got off the tender, the area was really congested. Fortunately we had been here before, and I had a plan of where to go for lunch—Ma Maison which is sort of a French, New Zealand, and Indian fusion. It was delicious. I had an amazing salad while George had more fish and chips.

 

We then set off on our hike. We went up through town, and the crowds dissipated as we walked up and up past cute little cottages with beautiful flowers then out of town to the trailhead. The path took us through eucalyptus groves and some huge cedar trees. There were lots of sheep relaxing in the afternoon under the trees. After a few miles, most of the trees had thinned out, and we were pretty high up, in direct sun on a steep path. We made it to the ridge just below the top of the mountain, but with the heat we were moving slowly. So we decided to turn back.

 

I had had a good look at a map before we set off, and I knew there was another path called the woodland path going down to the village. Woodland sounded more shady to me, and we were able to find the start of this path down which went through completely dense forest, so dense it was almost dark. George said he felt like Bilbo Baggins. All in all, we hiked over 9 miles, and NOT flat.

 

We made it back to town, which was still crowded and chaotic and tendered back just in time for trivia. With a WIN the second day in a row.

 

Dinner in Compass Rose was delicious as usual. I had the crab appetizer as well as the tomato soup from the always available, followed by chicken with falafel.

 

The show tonight was Dancing Fool, which I have seen before. They had reworked it, and I liked this version better though it is still not my favorite show. It was very well performed, but most of the music is just not my favorite. But the singing and dancing were very well done.

[eliana]

Just to say how much I enjoy reading this thread from bitterly cold London. It warms me up and makes me very envious. Can’t wait to getting aboard Voyager in May.

[RachelG]

Early morning sail in to Akaroa

 

 

 

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[RachelG]

 

View from our table at lunch time

 

Poignant WWI memorial

 

 

Quaint cottages are all over in Akaroa

 

 

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[RachelG]

 

These wooly guys greeted us on our hike

 

 

Hard to appreciate in this pic how high up we had climbed, but look at the ship

 

 

We got this close to the top before having to turn back

 

 

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[Travelcat2]

The picture of you, the ship and the lake is awesome and brings back memories of New Zealand where you can drive for miles with little traffic, find lakes with few (if any) boats on it. Such a lovely place (the sheep are pretty cute too!)

[palamoh]

Rachel, it is refreshing to see someone as fit as you and your Husband enjoy the Hiking and Outdoors. My wife and I are in our 80’s, but work out in the Gym almost every day and Hike as much as possible, We also try to take the most strenuous Tours available and also try to work out in the gym on the ship as often as possible. You two should be an inspiration to older Cruisers to do the same. I am so very sure we would make excellent companions on a future Cruise. I spent my life as an Outdoor writer writing about Fishing around the World and was blessed in the opportunity to see the Wilderness that most people only read about. Keep up your lifestyle you are a Credit to Cruise Critic and to all Senior Citizens

[WesW]

Mitch, so nice to see you posting here.

 

Know well your military training has infused you with the lifelong fitness discipline y’all continue to practice.

 

Wellseasoned continues to sail their line of choice often urging us to join them. We find Regent does entertainment (day & nite) so much better.

 

Anyway, back on thread point, Rachel we remember that WWI memorial well from our Voyager cruise last January.

 

 

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Edited March 2, 2018 by WesW

[ronrick1943]

RachelG (quote)

Time out now for a rant. I have booked them, then they are cancelled at the last minute because not enough people sign up. But there are no other excursions left for us to book. I think Regent should figure out a way for people who book an extra cost excursion to have a backup choice booked just in case of cancellation.

 

 

We'll I agree with you 100%. I know people will say Regent has no control over a suppler that cancels a tour. But when they take your money (I know you get it back), they take you off the list for tours--they should have back-up and do something in line of what you had---or at least do something special for you--again it's the cost of doing business. PS--really enjoying your post and photos, I don't have to tell you have a great I can see that, but enjoy! Rick

[Travelcat2]

Rachel and Rick..... I understand the frustration of booking an excursion - paying for it and having it cancelled. My question back to both of you is what you really expect Regent to do? Should they provide an excursion for a handful of people for the same price - even though it costs them more?

 

At the risk of sticking up for Regent once again, In my opinion, this is completely out of their control. Rachel, I do think that they should have been able to accommodate you on an included excursion since all they do is add buses. If you spoke with Destination Services and they denied you any other excursion than the one that did before, it once again speaks to the level of competency of Destination Services.

 

In any case, as we all know, there are so many risks when it comes to cruising - missed ports, cancelled excursions, etc. This is something that is no better or worse on other luxury cruise lines (again, IMHO).

 

Continue to enjoy your amazing cruise. Can't wait for the Voyager to finally get to Bali!

[RachelG]

Palamoh, thanks for your positive words regarding our commitment to fitness. We both exercise regularly at home and continue to do so on board. One reason is because I like to eat. And I don’t want to gain a bunch of weight on a trip. Wes is also an inspiration.

 

Jackie, I understand that the extra cost excursions sometimes get cancelled because not enough people sign up, but there should be a mechanism where, when you sign up for an extra cost excursion, you could also chose a backup excursion in case the one you chose First gets cancelled. The other day, the only excursion that had any extra availability after ours was cancelled was the sheep farm one that we had done 3 years ago. Akaroa really doesn’t have any big bus tours, so adding another bus wasn’t an option.

[cwn]

RachelG (quote)

Time out now for a rant. I have booked them, then they are cancelled at the last minute because not enough people sign up. But there are no other excursions left for us to book. I think Regent should figure out a way for people who book an extra cost excursion to have a backup choice booked just in case of cancellation.

 

 

We'll I agree with you 100%. I know people will say Regent has no control over a suppler that cancels a tour. But when they take your money (I know you get it back), they take you off the list for tours--they should have back-up and do something in line of what you had---or at least do something special for you--again it's the cost of doing business. PS--really enjoying your post and photos, I don't have to tell you have a great I can see that, but enjoy! Rick

 

 

Rachel, I totally agree with you. The same thing happened the other day on the Navigator in Fremantle. We found out a few days before that our extra cost tour was canceled and there was nothing we hadn't already done open. Since we have been on the ship since Jan 8, I feel the least that could have been done was to warn us that the tour was not very full and this was a possibility.

 

We were able to work out something on our own with the help of the Fremantle Tourist people that day...a tour of the Fremantle Prison, but of course that was an extra cost to us.

 

This is one of the biggest reason we don't sail much on Regent....they have already built in the cost of the "free" oops I mean included excursion in every port into the price of the cruise ticket. So you pay up front whether you do a tour or not. Regent is the only high end cruise line that does this.

 

Of course we know this and it is worth it to us on some long and/or exotic voyages. But still irritating when the tour fails to make for some reason.

 

Love your pictures!

 

Carolyn

[RachelG]

March 2, 2018–Wellington New Zealand

 

We are still being stalked by the Queen Mary 2. We sailed into port in Wellington, and there she was again. Wellington is the capital of New Zealand, but not a large city by US standards and very walkable. The port is close to downtown. You could take a shuttle bus and explore on your own easily if you wanted. We were on a ship tour to Te Papa, the National museum of New Zealand.

 

The day was overcast and pretty humid with temps in the low 70s and a slight breeze. We had a short bus ride to the museum where they divided us up into 2 groups of 14 each. Our guide was a Maori gentleman who had been a professor at University of Oklahoma. So we had a good time visiting.

 

The museum is mostly about the history of New Zealand, starting before people arrived, continuing through Maori times, the settlement by European immigrants and on today. It is very well done, and was much more interesting than I expected.

 

Currently, they also have a big exhibit about the Battle of Gallipoli as it is the 100th anniversary of the end of WWI. This is very significant in both Australia and New Zealand as many Anzac soldiers were killed there, a really huge number when you consider the small population of both countries at that time.

 

After our tour, we were taken to the museum restaurant for a sampling of Maori food. They had some potato like veggie cut into pieces like French fries then cooked, some interesting bread, some pesto like dipping sauce, local herbal tea, honey, and a mayonnaise like spread. It was interesting. The pesto stuff was the best. The tea tasted a lot like green tea to me.

 

George and I walked down to a restaurant I had scoped out for his birthday lunch, an Italian place called Ombra. Delicious arugula salad with blood oranges and olives, burrata cheese with really good tomatoes, margarita pizza. The only disappointing dish were meatballs which seemed somewhat undercooked but at the same time dry, though I am not sure how one would achieve both at the same time.

 

We walked some more, then made our way over to where the shuttle would take us back to the ship. On our way, we ran into some friends who were on a Silversea cruise with us a few years ago. They had just had lunch with Daniela. They are getting on Voyager in Auckland and are just visiting Wellington before. How crazy it that?

 

Back on board, our room was decorated with balloons for George’s birthday. Unfortunately, we did poorly at trivia. If we had not changed one answer, we would have come in 3rd. George is mad because I second guessed his answer which was also my first answer.

 

I went to the top deck for sail away which was a smart choice. Weather was perfect, and there were lots of dolphins, including a pod of over 30, swimming and jumping up, having a great time.

 

There was a flutist performing at 6 pm. I am ashamed to say I didn’t go, because I just needed a little downtime. I really do like to support musicians, but every so often, I have to rest.

 

Tonight was a very special birthday dinner for my sweetheart, George. He is another year older, so time to celebrate. We had dinner in Chartreuse with Daniela, who we have known for over 10 years. It was very nice, wonderful food and wine and company. We feel like Daniela is like our daughter. She has done so well since we have known her.

 

Then Ray did his one man show—outstanding. He even did “Surrey with the Fringe on Top” for us from Oklahoma.

[Travelcat2]

Wishing George a belated happy birthday! Your dinner with Daniela sounds wonderful - she is such a lovely young women - we keep in touch with her via Facebook (just asked her if she could save some finger limes for our cruise but don't know if they will last that long).

 

We haven't been in New Zealand in many years but did visit Wellington and, unlike other places, do not remember much about it. I do remember that some of the food is NZ is prepared differently than we are used to but fortunately did not get undercooked and dry meat balls (what an interesting combination).

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to blog while on vacation. The Voyager blogs have been so excellent that I'll have nothing to write when we are in Asia but that is fine with me!

[eliana]

Wishing George a belated happy birthday! Your dinner with Daniela sounds wonderful - she is such a lovely young women - we keep in touch with her via Facebook (just asked her if she could save some finger limes for our cruise but don't know if they will last that long).!

Pardon the ignorance but what are ‘finger limes’ and will they last until we join the Voyager in May.

[Travelcat2]

Pardon the ignorance but what are ‘finger limes’ and will they last until we join the Voyager in May.

 

Actually I had no idea until I read the threads from people that were on the Voyager last month and this month. I believe they are from either Australia or New Zealand. The chef apparently creates some type of salsa with them that was very tasty.

[forgap]

Pardon the ignorance but what are ‘finger limes’ and will they last until we join the Voyager in May.

Finger limes are small, oblong limes with a tart flesh in the form of tiny beads - a bit like lime caviar. The chef on Voyager found them in an Australian market and used them in a salsa for a piece of fish. Delicious!

 

Rachel, your Akaroa story brought back memories when we were there alsmost 20 years ago. It was late fall and we had a day to kill before our flight home. We decided to drive to Akaroa as it was the oldest French settlement in the South Pacific. We didn’t realize it was the queen’s birthday and a major holiday so there were tons of people and no hotel rooms. We decided to drive back to Christchurch as rain turned to sleet which turned to ice. The roads are narrow, very steep, and there were no guardrails. We lived to tell the tale and I’ve always wanted to go back and explore the town.

 

How nice to share the birthday meal with Daniella. She is a remarkable person!

[RachelG]

Te Papa museum

 

 

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