Sydney/New Zealand Port Help Please!!!

[mrsmeganford]

Hi Everyone!

Doing some last minute itinerary updates! I know there are SOOO many questions but please comment on any that you can 🙂 🙂

 

1. Cheapest post-cruise hotel to stay in (we'll be arriving in the White Bay Cruise Terminal)? Additionally best things to do for 2 days in Sydney with 12 month old. We love animals, museums and nature. We'll be getting off the ship Saturday and our flight back to the US is at 8:30pm Sunday. We were thinking of trying to do a day trip to the Blue Mountains but not sure if it's too much to cram into a day. 

 

2. Dunedin- I've read the Taieri Gorge Train excursion is a MUST DO but it's only available through our cruise line and it's 389/pp. Is it really THAT good? The other option we're considering is Speights Brewery Tour and Larnach Castle.

 

3. Glow Worms- We've heard about how cool the glow worms are and see options at different ports. What is the best excursion to see them?

 

4. Here are the other stops we're making: Dunedin, Akaroa, Wellington, Napier, Tauranga (Rotorua), Auckland and the Bay of Islands. Please recommend any MUST DO things in any of those places!!

 

5. We're arriving in Sydney at 8am the day our cruise leaves. Can we go straight to James Bay Terminal and drop off our bags and then explore for a few more hours? Do you know the earliest they'll let us drop off our bags with a porter?

 

5b. We were hoping to go to the Tauranga Zoo on Sunday the day we get there. Is it feasible to drop off luggage, head to the zoo and get back to board on time?

 

6. My husband is a HUGE beer connoisseur.  Can anyone recommend any other breweries or bars at any of our ports (#4) where he can sample some amazing NZ/Australian beer?

 

7. Since we're leaving next week- any advice on weather/packing? Should we do 50/50 pants and shorts? 

 

Any other advice is so very appreciated!!

[possum52]

2. Dunedin- I've read the Taieri Gorge Train excursion is a MUST DO but it's only available through our cruise line and it's 389/pp. Is it really THAT good? The other option we're considering is Speights Brewery Tour and Larnach Castle.

 

We have booked the Taieri Gorge train through Viator which uses local tour companies - ours is with Canterbury Leisure Tours. It cost us just over AU$150 each. They pick us up at Port Chalmers and transport us to Dunedin Station and then when we return after a break for lunch. we are taken on a tour of Dunedin and returned to Port Chalmers.

 

Leigh

Edited October 21, 2018 by possum52

[GUT2407]

James Bay Terminal?

[SinbadThePorter]

On 10/21/2018 at 11:37 AM, mrsmeganford said:

Hi Everyone!

Doing some last minute itinerary updates! I know there are SOOO many questions but please comment on any that you can 🙂 🙂

 

 

1. If you really are after the cheapest then I would say the Sydney Harbour YHA.

https://www.yha.com.au/hostels/nsw/sydney-surrounds/sydney-harbour/

They are a backpackers, but they have private rooms as well. Best of all they are convenient to The Rocks and Circular Quay.

 

You have 2 days, so I would not waste them traveling great distances. Do all your sightseeing in Sydney.  Catch ferries at Circular Quay and go to Manly Beach, Taronga Park Zoo and Luna Park. In Sydney itself visit the Rocks, the Opera House, the museums, the Botanic Gardens or even walk across the Bridge.

 

2. Check whether the Taieri Gorge ride actually is only available from a ship's excursion. This has been true in the past, but I'm not sure it's true now. If you still want a train ride, they also do a short coastal trip which delivers you back to Port Chalmers.

https://www.dunedinrailways.co.nz/

 

3. Don't know much about glow worms, but I did notice there were trips to see some from Tauranga when I was there.

 

4. Akaroa, harbour cruise to see tiny dolphins, or swim with them if you are brave.

 

5. I wouldn't. There is such as thing as jet lag.😴

Also, White Bay is a difficult place to get in and out of except by taxi.

 

5a. Taronga Zoo? Tauranga is in NZ. Once again, go easy on yourself. Go slow, if you have to go out try something easy like the Botanic Gardens.

 

6. Your hubby won't need help finding beer in Oz and NZ. It will find him.😉

 

7. Be prepared for cool weather in NZ and hot weather in Australia. Layers on, layers off.😓

 

Edited October 22, 2018 by SinbadThePorter

[mrsmeganford]

17 hours ago, GUT2407 said:

James Bay Terminal?

 

Yep! That's what was listed on our Boarding Pass?

[mrsmeganford]

10 hours ago, SinbadThePorter said:

 

1. If you really are after the cheapest then I would say the Sydney Harbour YHA.

https://www.yha.com.au/hostels/nsw/sydney-surrounds/sydney-harbour/

They are a backpackers, but they have private rooms as well. Best of all they are convenient to The Rocks and Circular Quay.

 

You have 2 days, so I would not waste them traveling great distances. Do all your sightseeing in Sydney.  Catch ferries at Circular Quay and go to Manly Beach, Taronga Park Zoo and Luna Park. In Sydney itself visit the Rocks, the Opera House, the museums, the Botanic Gardens or even walk across the Bridge.

 

2. Check whether the Taieri Gorge ride actually is only available from a ship's excursion. This has been true in the past, but I'm not sure it's true now. If you still want a train ride, they also do a short coastal trip which delivers you back to Port Chalmers.

https://www.dunedinrailways.co.nz/

 

3. Don't know much about glow worms, but I did notice there were trips to see some from Tauranga when I was there.

 

4. Akaroa, harbour cruise to see tiny dolphins, or swim with them if you are brave.

 

5. I wouldn't. There is such as thing as jet lag.😴

Also, White Bay is a difficult place to get in and out of except by taxi.

 

5a. Taronga Zoo? Tauranga is in NZ. Once again, go easy on yourself. Go slow, if you have to go out try something easy like the Botanic Gardens.

 

6. Your hubby won't need help finding beer in Oz and NZ. It will find him.😉

 

7. Be prepared for cool weather in NZ and hot weather in Australia. Layers on, layers off.😓

 

 

Thank you sooo much!

[GUT2407]

10 hours ago, mrsmeganford said:

 

Yep! That's what was listed on our Boarding Pass?

You sure it’s not White Bay?

 

[mr walker]

On ‎10‎/‎21‎/‎2018 at 12:37 PM, mrsmeganford said:

 

3. Glow Worms- We've heard about how cool the glow worms are and see options at different ports. What is the best excursion to see them?

 

 

The 3 main glow worm caves are at Te Anau in Fiordland ( not accessible on a cruise), Waitomo (best done from Auckland [closer], but also possible from Tauranga) & Kawiti in Bay of Islands. I haven't been to any.

 

I read recently where someone asked Waitomo or Kawiti and someone replied that Waitomo are 1,000,000,000 times better, but that may or not be true.

 

We plan to visit Te Anau & Waitomo in January, but this will be as part of a land tour, ahead of our cruise from Auckland.

Edited October 23, 2018 by mr walker
spelling

[mrsmeganford]

12 hours ago, GUT2407 said:

You sure it’s not White Bay?

 

 

I said White Bay Terminal in my post. Now I'm confused. 

[Globaliser]

3 hours ago, mrsmeganford said:

 

I said White Bay Terminal in my post. Now I'm confused. 

 

In your original post, you also said this. That's why we're confused!

 

On 10/21/2018 at 2:37 AM, mrsmeganford said:

5. We're arriving in Sydney at 8am the day our cruise leaves. Can we go straight to James Bay Terminal and drop off our bags and then explore for a few more hours? Do you know the earliest they'll let us drop off our bags with a porter?

 

[dkata]

On 10/20/2018 at 6:37 PM, mrsmeganford said:

 

1. Cheapest post-cruise hotel to stay in (we'll be arriving in the White Bay Cruise Terminal)?

The area around Central Station would be cheaper than the Rocks Area or Darling Harbor. but I liked other areas better. We liked staying in the  Darling Harbor Area, and stayed at the Adina Apartments or look at  the Hyde Park Inn across the street from  Hyde park. It was a reasonably priced hotel in a good location. Anything at CQ or the Rocks will be much more.

There is nothing at/near White Bay Cruise Terminal. You would need to take a taxi, uber or the White Bay ferry to get to any place with hotels

 

On 10/20/2018 at 6:37 PM, mrsmeganford said:

Additionally best things to do for 2 days in Sydney with 12 month old. We love animals, museums and nature. We'll be getting off the ship Saturday and our flight back to the US is at 8:30pm Sunday. We were thinking of trying to do a day trip to the Blue Mountains but not sure if it's too much to cram into a day. 

With only 2 days, you won't much have much time to do anything else if you do a day trip to the Blue Mountains. You'd spend most of your time traveling to and from the Blue Mountains. and you'd want to be at the airport at least 3 hours before your flight, so a day bus trip on Sunday would be cutting it close to getting to the airport on time unless you do the Blue Mountains on Saturday.  You'd be better off seeing the sights in Sydney first. 

On 10/20/2018 at 6:37 PM, mrsmeganford said:

 

2. Dunedin- I've read the Taieri Gorge Train excursion is a MUST DO but it's only available through our cruise line and it's 389/pp. Is it really THAT good? The other option we're considering is Speights Brewery Tour and Larnach Castle.

The train trip is only a Must Do if you are train nut, er, I mean, train buff. We skipped it and did a tour of Dunedin and Larnach Castle and enjoyed that a lot more than sitting in a train.

On 10/20/2018 at 6:37 PM, mrsmeganford said:

 

3. Glow Worms- We've heard about how cool the glow worms are and see options at different ports. What is the best excursion to see them?

We liked the Kawiti Cave Glow Worms in Bay of Islands. After tendering from the ship and taking the free shuttle bus to the town of Paia, we found a third party tour going to Kawiti caves and other sites at a kiosk outside the visitors center, or if you are hesitant to deal with the unknown, you can go inside the visitors center and they can book the same third party tour for you. Paid much less than ship tour cost. we used Mother Earth Tours or Earth Mother tours. We enjoyed the tour a lot.

 

On 10/20/2018 at 6:37 PM, mrsmeganford said:

 

4. Here are the other stops we're making: Dunedin, Akaroa, Wellington, Napier, Tauranga (Rotorua), Auckland and the Bay of Islands. Please recommend any MUST DO things in any of those places!!

Dunedin- take a city and Larnach castle tour. We used Good Company tours and were very happy with them.

Wellington- We booked the there and back tour of WETA cave and movie studio, which includes shuttle from downtown and back and then rode the cable car up and back and had time to souvenir shop in downtown.

Bay of Islands- We did a third party tour to Kawiti caves and the tour stopped at Hararu falls (meh) also.

Tauranga- Book a tour with Shore Trips and Tours to see Hobbiton, if you are a LOTR fan. or  to Rotorua.

 

5. We're arriving in Sydney at 8am the day our cruise leaves. Can we go straight to James Bay Terminal and drop off our bags and then explore for a few more hours? Do you know the earliest they'll let us drop off our bags with a porter?

 

5b. We were hoping to go to the Tauranga Zoo on Sunday the day we get there. Is it feasible to drop off luggage, head to the zoo and get back to board on time?

If you are able to drop your bags off at White Bay, from there you'd take a taxi to Circular Quay and catch the ferry to the Zoo. When we did it, we only visited the Zoo area with the Native Australian/ New Zealand animals and that took us 4 hours.  What time does your boat leave? The zoo opens around 930-10 am, and we got there at opening and finished by 2 pm, took the ferry back and back at the hotel by 3 pm. If you did that, once you arrived at CQ, you want to take a taxi back to White Bay Terminal for the fastest way. What time does your boat leave?

If you are unable to drop your bags off at the Terminal, use the bag storage facility at Central Station. It's not cheap, but it's available. Then from Central Station, you could take the train to CQ to catch the ferry to the Zoo. 

 

I would recommend this for your post-cruise visit. Upon your return, take a taxi to your hotel and drop your bags off. Most hotels will store the bags and have them waiting in your room when you do formally check in after 3 pm . That leaves you bag-free to explore Sydney. There's lots to see in Sydney to keep you occupied for a day

 

[sailco]

You're only looking for one night's accommodation in Sydney. Have you checked the debark tours on offer? You can see a lot with your luggage under the bus rather than wasting time taking your luggage to a hotel. If you do a debark finishing at the airport you can check into an airport hotel, stay overnight, then catch the train from the airport back to the city the next morning to continue your sightseeing.

Edited October 31, 2018 by sailco

[Globaliser]

2 hours ago, sailco said:

You're only looking for one night's accommodation in Sydney. Have you checked the debark tours on offer? You can see a lot with your luggage under the bus rather than wasting time taking your luggage to a hotel. If you do a debark finishing at the airport you can check into an airport hotel, stay overnight, then catch the train from the airport back to the city the next morning to continue your sightseeing.

 

That doesn't sound like such a good idea with a 12-month old in tow. For example, it makes it impossible to pop back to the hotel in the middle of the day, on either day, if circumstances suddenly demand.

[Tommy_dbt]

For 2. Dunedin, 

 

We did the Taieri Gorge Railway and the Otago Penisular in the same day! 

Long day but totally worth it! 😉 

Taieri Gorge Railway

https://discoverbooktravel.com/experiencing-the-taieri-gorge-railway-in-dunedin-new-zealand/

 

 

Otago Penisular

https://discoverbooktravel.com/stunning-otago-peninsula-in-half-a-day-new-zealand/

 

[Markanddonna]

We were in Sydney and Auckland last fall. You can check out suggestions, articles, and reviews I wrote, etc. http://www.DonnaGawell.com

 

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