Mariner Grand Pacific Paradise Voyage: Miami - Sydney, 10/10 -12/15/2018 - Rich48100

[papaflamingo]

Like Rich, we also enjoyed a wonderful day in Wellington.  We opted for a tour of the city that also took us to Mt. Victoria, a ride on the cable car, the Botanical Gardens, and a visit to St. Pauls Cathedral where they still honor the U.S Marine Corps from WWII by flying a Marine Flag and a 48 star U.S Flag.  After the tour we went into town briefly and quickly went through part of the Te Papa Museum where we visited the Gallipoli exhibit, a very emotional exhibit, and their great exhibit about the South Pacific people who migrated to New Zealand. We only wish we had more time to see the wonderful museum.

Here are a few pics of our day in Wellington.

[WesW]

Thanks Papaflamingo/Jim & Margaret and Rich48100/Rich and Barbara for your

continued outstanding posts coupled with beautiful photos.  Continue to enjoy our Grand Voyage (alas, vicariously) especially your New Zealand post & commentary.  

[rich48100]

Well, we woke up this morning, and Christmas arrived on the Mariner.  I am sure entertainment team and staff worked well into the night to surprise us.  They did a great job.  Here are some photos.

[rich48100]

In Dunedin today where we were supposed to go on the train ride to Taipei Gorge.  Unfortunately it was cancelled because the rains over the last few days have caused some of the surrounding countryside next to the tracks suspect, so the Train company cancelled that excursion.  Sadly the 12:30 train ride was still scheduled, but our ship is leaving at 6 so no luck.

 

instead we did a Dunedin tour, Olveston House tour and Botanic garden tour.  Rain let up enough to let us do those things without getting soaked.  It was an alright excursion, but still disappointed that we couldn’t do the train ride.

 

here are some photos

[papaflamingo]

Backtracking a bit we seemed to have missed Christchurch.  We were in Christchurch after Wellington.  

Arriving in Lyttelton, the harbor city that serves Christchurch, we did a tour that went on a scenic drive to the Manderley Farm for a demonstration of sheepshearing and using dogs to herd the sheep.  After the farm we drove to Christchurch and we spent a few hours on our own wandering around.  Christchurch was devastated by earthquakes in Sep. 2010 then again in Feb. 2011.  The damage was so extensive that they are still recovering from it.  The quakes killed 185 people and the city was evacuated for a significant time while buildings were inspected, stabilized, and demolished. 

On our walk we visited the Earthquake Memorial, similar to the Vietnam Memorial, it’s a wall with the names of all the victims inscribed.  We also went into a beautiful old church, had a nice lunch, and wandered around.  It was a beautiful day so we made the most of it.  

[papaflamingo]

As Rich said, we arrived in Port Chalmers, the port town for Dunedin, to a rainy and windy day.  

Port Chalmers serves as the port for Dunedin, NZ.  We did a tour to the Royal Albatross Center followed by a tour and lunch at Larnach Castle and a quick bus tour of Dunedin.

The Royal Albatross Center is the only breeding ground of the Albatross that’s on a mainland.  The Royal Albatross is the third largest Albatross and has a wing span of 10 feet!  Since they return to the place they are born, they return to the Otago Peninsula to lay their eggs.  They are monogamous and only lay one egg every two years.  This year they are excited to have 50 eggs at the Center.   Usually they only have around 20 eggs.  

We were lucky as the weather was cool and very windy, so we saw up to 3 Albatrosses flying at once. We also saw a few nests on the hillside. 

The Royal Albatross Center is also located at Fort Taiaroa.  Fort Taiaroa was built in the late 1800’s and has the only restored Armstrong Disappearing Gun.  This gun is the first successful breechloader and shoots a six inch shell.  Using a hydro-pneumatic lift system, the gun is aimed while below ground, then they raise it up to fire and it uses the recoil to lower again so it can’t be seen by ships at sea.  

After our visit to the Albatross Center we went to Larnach Castle and had a wonderful lunch and tour of the castle.  Also located on the Otago Peninsula,  Larnach Castle is the only Castle in New Zealand (it’s actually considered a “mock castle”).  Built in 1871 by William Larnach, it has 43 rooms and required 46 servants.  After a storied history, it has been restored by the current owners and although most of the furnishings are reproduced, they are attempting to find and recover original belongings.  

After our visit we returned to the ship and took a quick walk into Port Chalmers for a few photos.  Sailing away we passed the Albatross Center and had a wonderful view of the nests on the hillside. 

[RachelG]

Finally just catching up--this is a very busy time of year for me.  I am enjoying your posts from New Zealand as we have been to most of these ports before.  The pictures and posts bring back wonderful memories, though I must say the picture of the steepest street in the world in Dunedin does not do it justice.  It really is VERY steep. 

Don't know how I missed the cathedral with the Marine Corps memorial in Wellington.  That is something we would have liked to see, but we spent a lot of time at the museum instead which was great.

 

[Wendy The Wanderer]

And I'm really interested because most of these ports are on our world cruise two years from now!

[rich48100]

Yesterday we spent the day cruising Fjordland National Park in southwestern New Zealand.  Absolutely beautiful weather and awesome scenery.  Glaciers really worked their wonders carving out the fjords, and the Dusky and Doubtful fjords were great, but Milford was the most spectacular.  Snow covered mountains, waterfalls, and fantastic weather all combined to make that last one a memory moment.

 

now cruising to Tasmania.  Expected arrival in Bernie on our 9 th of December.

 

enjoy some photos from the fjords.

[flossie009]

Stunning photos 😀

[Hambagahle]

Totally agree - absolutely stunning scenery and photos!!

 

[RachelG]

Milford Sound has to be one of the most beautiful places in the world, at least that I have been to.  I could go back a dozen times and still not get tired of it.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

How great that you had good weather!

[boblerm]

Rich, your photos have induced me to add yet another place to my bucket list. Thanks for sharing!

Bob 

[Travelcat2]

On 12/7/2018 at 7:46 AM, RachelG said:

Milford Sound has to be one of the most beautiful places in the world, at least that I have been to.  I could go back a dozen times and still not get tired of it.

 

Agree 100%!

[rich48100]

Yesterday we made it to Burnie, Tasmania.  Another great weather day, and the Wildlife sanctuary we went to had lots of animals that had been rescued and cared for.  There is breeding in captivity, and those little ones stay in the sanctuary.  We were fortunate to see Tasmanian devil feeding and spent time with Kangaroos.  Nice drive there and back with beautiful rolling countryside.

 

just arriving in Melbourne, where we will spend two days, and more nice weather has been predicted.  As we are rapidly coming to the end of our cruise, we have been mainly blessed with good weather after our bout with hurricane Willa off the western coast of Mexico.

 

here are a few photos from yesterday.

[papaflamingo]

Like Rich, we also enjoyed Burnie and the Wildlife Park.  Our tour took us to the Gunns Plains Caves prior to the Wildlife Park.  The caves were beautiful but definitely not for anyone with any mobility issues.  Steep steps and some very narrow passageways with lots of "head knocking" opportunities.  But we really enjoyed both the Caves and the Wildlife Park.  Here's a few pics of the Gunns Plains Caves.

 

[mrlevin]

Rich and papaflamingo:

We are so looking forward to joining the ship in Sydney next Saturday; do you know if a large number of passengers on your cruise are continuing on?

 

thanks,

 

Marc

 

 

[briar14]

30 minutes ago, mrlevin said:

Rich and papaflamingo:

We are so looking forward to joining the ship in Sydney next Saturday; do you know if a large number of passengers on your cruise are continuing on?

 

thanks,

 

Marc

 

 

We are looking forward to boarding Saturday also and are curious about the answer to the question. Thank you to Rich, papaflamingo, and Wes for a very entertaining thread with wonderful commentary and pictures. 

 

 

 

 

[mrlevin]

On 10/18/2018 at 12:55 PM, WesW said:

JMariner, all; per speaking with Massimo this morning at Officer’s challenge (Ring Toss) your Mariner Circunavigation leaders currently (subject to change) are:

 

Captain Teo is scheduled to replace Captain Daniel Green in Auckland (Daniel told me this may change)

GM:  Michael Coghlan replaces Massimo Oct 21st and will be on board thru Jan 20

CD:  John Barron leaves in Auckland and Ray Solaire replaces him and will be your CD.

Exec Chef:  Chef Odul will be your Xchef replacing XChef Wesley now on board.

F&B Manager now and for your voyage is Vladimir (already coordinated a Travel Agent cocktail party with Vladimir in San Diego—he is very attentive to every detail)

 

 

Any updates?

[rich48100]

Yesterday we went on a city tour of Melbourne.  Eureka sky deck, tallest building and sky deck on 88th floor.  Elevator took 40 seconds to get there.  Went to Melbourne Museum and monument for soldiers.  Good weather day, and saw a lot of the city.

 

here are some photos

[RachelG]

I know the Tasmanian devil and kangaroo, but what are the little gopher looking animals with the masks?

[Wendy The Wanderer]

I think those were meerkats.  Native to Africa.

[Hambagahle]

Looked like meerkats to me too - and I love them!!

[papaflamingo]

11 hours ago, RachelG said:

I know the Tasmanian devil and kangaroo, but what are the little gopher looking animals with the masks?

They are Meerkats.