Day 79: Fiordland National Park

Happy New Year (as it is here in New Zealand, one of the first places on the planet to greet the New Year)!

Happy New Year’s Eve (as it is nearly everywhere else)!

We had the best day, but it is nearly 1:30am, so this post will be a placeholder until tomorrow morning. Or afternoon. ;-)

Stay safe on New Year’s Eve!!

11am on New Year’s Day now, and I will continue this post...

The day began as so many of our New Zealand days have begun:  overcast, foggy and rainy. The Golden Princess entered Dusky Sound at the southern end of Fiordland National Park around 8am...or so the Park naturalist who had come on board told us. We really couldn’t see a whole lot out of the windows in the Horizon Court Buffet, and standing outside in the rain wasn’t an attractive alternative. The Buffet quickly filled to overflowing as so many passengers camped out there to see what little there was to see. After breakfast, we gave up and returned to the cabin. We’ve seen the park on a stellar weather day; today was no comparison. 

When the announcement was later made that we would miss Doubtful and Thomson Sounds altogether due to the weather, I gave up, and packed away the camera that I had fully charged for the day. How silly of me!  Haven’t I learned by now that rain is simply the way New Zealand greets each day?  Apparently not. By noon, the sun was out, the sky was clearing and the southwestern coast of New Zealand was looking spectacular. I dug the camera back out of the suitcase. We passed by the openings to Thomson and Doubtful Sounds and, around 2pm, sailed into the narrow entrance of Milford Sound on the northern end of Fiordland National Park. 

When we did this itinerary in late November, we did it in the opposite direction and entered Milford Sound at 7am. The sun was shining only on the highest peaks, and the fiord, though spectacular, was full of deep shadows. Not so today; our afternoon arrival meant that the steep mountains were in sun, and the rainy morning resulted in (literally) hundreds of waterfalls of varying lengths and strengths. I skipped the ‘bow of the ship’ experience this time and chose instead to view it all from Deck 16 aft, crossing the ship from side to side to take best advantage of the views. 

Also different today: all of the other small boats providing tours to travelers who had arrived in Milford Sound by road. These small boats- often fishing boats re-purposed for the day- can sail right up to the waterfalls, as their passengers stand on the decks and get sprayed. That has to be cold water, and I was happy for my dry and (relatively) warmer viewing position in the Golden Princess. Just before 4pm we disembarked the National Park pilot and naturalist, waved our goodbyes to both and returned to the cabin to get ready for New Year’s  Eve. 

I know it was the fact that the day had been a quasi-sea day that allowed us to make it to all five (!!Yes us!!) parties on board last night. Dinner was very special - a seafood starter, salad, intermezzo of raspberry sorbet with candied ginger, and lobster (hold the butter) and broccoli as the entree- accompanied by a glass (or two) of the bottle of Veuve Cliquot champagne from our first Most Traveled Guest award this season. Though we’ve returned all of our other award champagne for the drawings at the Captains Circle parties, we held on to that one specifically for New Year’s Eve. 

The Princess Theater entertainment was New Zealand vocalist Russell Harrison, and we went to the 7:45pm performance. We then listened to piano entertainer Juan Carmelo Escobar play in the Promenade Lounge until he finished at 10pm, which is when the various parties began. We started in the Vista Lounge (best combination of seating and dance floor) listening and dancing to Blue Jade from Argentina. Just after 11:30pm, we made our way back to the Wheelhouse Bar to listen to the Golden Princess orchestra (the dance floor was packed), then to Explorers Lounge for the family New Year’s Eve party with a DJ (cute to see the kids dancing) and finally to the Piazza where party band Soul Vacation from Bulgaria had been playing. It was predictably packed, SRO and no room to dance, but we stayed for the countdown and big balloon drop. These Australians know how to party; within 5 minutes after midnight, I was kissed by at least 20 men I don’t know. Oh, the germs that were swapped last night!

We backtracked then, to the Wheelhouse, to the Vista Lounge and finally up to Skywalkers where the late night/early morning party was being held. I don’t know what was more exciting: the New Year, the music and dancing, or holding on for dear life as the ship tackled the South Tasman Sea. The only thing that kept everyone from falling to the floor was how tightly we were packed in and the fact that there were railings around the dance floor. There was safety in numbers as we’d all shift side to side, front to back in unison as Skywalkers shuddered and shook. It reminded me of that old commercial (dating myself here)...weebles wobble but they don’t fall down. ;-)

 We left Skywalkers shortly after 1am, though the party up there on New Year’s Eve usually continues to 7am or so. The Horizon Court Buffet was open until 1:30am with a special late night Buffet and our waiter Alona was working. We had promised her we’d stop by to say Happy New Year, and, while we were there, had beautiful fruit cups I topped with walnut halves. It had been more than 6 hours since dinner and we were hungry. 

I don’t believe we’ve ever made it to every party on a cruise ship on New Year’s Eve, at least not for a few years. It was a fantastic night made all the better because there was no drive home in bad weather with scary drivers on the road. Though I may always have mixed feelings about Christmas on a cruise, nothing can top a New Year’s Eve at sea!

Here’s to a happy and healthy 2018 for all of us!

Day 78: Port Chalmers / Dunedin

We had a really wonderful day today, though it was a little bittersweet because it was our final port day of this cruising season. I agreed even more today with what I felt during the New Zealand cruise in November:  I could live on the South Island of New Zealand. Except for the earthquakes (which scare the bejeebers out of me) of course. But it’s really one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been, the climate is never really hot nor really cold, and snow, at least at the lower elevations, is fairly rare. It’s pretty darn perfect. 

While the Golden Princess was scheduled to arrive in Port Chalmers, about a 20-minute drive from Dunedin, at 8am, the local officials must not have had us on their schedule. It was closer to 9am by the time the ship was cleared and passengers could go ashore. We were very good and waited in our cabin instead of crowding the gangway, but we were getting anxious. After our plan to ride on the Dunedin Railways Seasider train was scuttled in November, we had re-booked it for this morning at 10am, never imagining that we might have trouble getting to the railway station in time. 

In the interest of time, we boarded a shuttle to Dunedin ($15 NZD round trip, paid in the terminal) instead of taking a local bus to town. The bus dropped us at The Octagon, about a 5-minute walk from the picturesque Dunedin Railway Station (the most photographed building in New Zealand). We made it, only because the train was delayed a few minutes to wait for a group to board. 

We chose this train trip because its length (only 90 minutes round trip) still offered some great coastal views, but it also afforded us time to do a little more exploring in Dunedin. Although we had seen a lot of the town and the scenic Otago Peninsula on our last visit, there were still a couple of places we wanted to visit. It wasn’t a brightly sunny day, but it was a nice day, and the first part of the train ride, on the historic Dunedin Silver Fern railcars, followed along Otago Harbour back toward Port Chalmers and the cruise ship. The Holland America Maasdam was also in port with us today (we did two cruises on that ship during our first winter of cruising, but I didn’t blog then), only the second time this season we’ve had to share a port with another ship. 

Source:  http://www.dunedinrailways.co.nz/our-journeys/seasider

We continued along the harbor, climbing through three tunnels to reach the top of the cliffs overlooking Otago Harbour, and then the Pacific Ocean and Blueskin Bay to Waitati. Because we had been among the last passengers to board the train, we were not seated on the water side on our outbound journey. But, on the return, the train seats were literally turned (as in twisted) around, and we switched sides across the aisle, so our views on the return were spectacular. I took a hundred photos (that I’ll confess to, but actually far more) and we returned to Dunedin about 11:40am. 

For $50 NZD per person ($35 USD), it’s the perfect trip for someone who has either already done the Taieri Gorge (as we had) or doesn’t want a 7-hour train ride, as the Gorge trip is. 

We photographed all the beautiful blooming flowers in front of the Dunedin Railway Station, and then made our way across the street and around the block to the Cadbury’s factory and store. We had not stopped there last time, but today thought we really should buy at least a little chocolate while we were in Dunedin. For $10 NZD ($7 USD), we purchased four giant bars of 70% cocoa, dark chocolate with almonds, dark chocolate with fruit and even an Oreo bar for G. We tucked into the 70% bar almost immediately; that was lunch. ;-)

Our final stop for the day was the Toitū Otago Settlers Museum, located next to the Dunedin Railways Station. We knew there was no admission charge (donations accepted) and really weren’t expecting much but I almost couldn’t get G out of there. It is New Zealand’s oldest and most extensive historic museum, and it is a wonder. It starts with Maori life and culture but has even more exhibits about the European settlement of New Zealand. 

I could write forever about the huge collection of artifacts and information, extremely well displayed, but one of our many favorite areas was a full-sized model of the sleeping quarters on a 19th century sailing vessel on which immigrants would have traveled from England. There were several short videos depicting an immigrant’s life at sea and a display that featured the minimum items an immigrant needed to be able to show in their possession before they would be allowed to board the ship (with separate lists for men, women and children). Fascinating stuff. 

Living quarters on an immigrant ship

Very interesting!

Times have changed

I had one of these!

While G might have lost me in the exhibit about the history of fashion (including several old sewing machines and handmade laces), I barely got him out of the vintage transportation exhibit, housed in the former bus station of Dunedin Railways Road Services. And the exhibit of the history of office machines, from old typewriters to comptometers to the first Apple Macintosh computer to the first iPad fascinated both of us. We stayed far longer than we had intended to. 

Inside view of the trailer

Steve Larkins of Mercury Rising is from Dunedin. 

This must have been an ancestor. 

Too many of these were familiar...

...including this, which got us both through graduate school. ;-)

We left the museum and sat for a few minutes in Queen’s Gardens, directly across the street, where the Dunedin Cenotaph honoring the veterans of the two World Wars is located. It was 3:30pm by then, and the last shuttle from town back to the ship left The Octagon at 4:30pm, so we walked the few blocks back and reboarded the ship about 4:15pm. For the final time these season, we rushed through showers to go to dinner in the Bernini Dining Room. It was the Italian menu (love it) and I had a seafood starter, spinach salad with pine nuts and balsamic dressing and a wonderful combo of penne arrabbiata, shrimp and broccoli. Headwaiter Sean says he has something special planned for me for New Years Eve dinner tomorrow night. Spoiled!

Vocalist Peter Bryne returned this cruise with his tribute to Neil Diamond. We had seen him in the Vista Lounge at the beginning of this season but tonight’s show was in the Princess Theater. He kept an audience exhausted from six port days in a row and, for many of them, a full day train excursions very engaged and entertained, no small feat. 

At 9:50pm, it is foggy but still light out, kind of that same twilight that Alaska has during its longest days of the summer. Though it’s currently calm, sea sick bags have been set out around the ship. Captain Pomata announced that we’re in for some rough seas overnight and tomorrow due to a low pressure system around the southern tip of New Zealand. I hope it doesn’t affect our ability to get into Fiordland National Park tomorrow. You know how much I enjoy those days when we stay on the ship and the scenery comes to us!

Day 77: Akaroa

The rockiness of yesterday evening abated sometime overnight, and we actually slept fairly well. I watched the final part of our sail into Akaroa harbor this morning from the Horizon Court Buffet and took my phone off Airplane Mode as soon as tender operations began. The Golden Princess’ anchorage was considerably further away from town than it had been during our last visit here, and I had just enough of a local cellular signal to receive a text containing horrible news about an extended family member. However, I didn’t have enough of a signal to get a phone call out to Mom. I covered the ship...top, bottom, forward and aft trying to get internet, to no avail. And the ship’s WiFi wasn’t strong enough to call out either. 

Akaroa Harbour Heads

Eventually, we tendered to shore where I did have a signal and made a phone call. It’s hard to move past news like that, and we did not feel up to taking any tours (we had already done what we believe was the best one, Pohatu Penguins, during our last visit). Still, we took a nice walk along the harbor and beach and up on the hill on one end of the harbor. The views accompanied by the solitude were just what we needed. Though the day had started (typically for New Zealand) overcast and chilly, the afternoon was sunny and warm. There were plenty of families in Akaroa for the holidays, and the water was full of kayakers and SUPs and even jet skiers, though everyone was wearing wetsuits. 

Boar War, WW1 and WW2 Memorial

We tendered back to the ship about 4:30pm, leaving just enough time to get cleaned up before going to dinner at 5:30pm (shrimp, salad and sea bass with roasted peppers and broccoli). Sail away started about 6:45pm, and we opted to skip vocalist Donna Campbell’s show in the Princess Theater in favor of going up to Skywalkers to watch the gorgeous views of Akaroa harbor and the sea cliffs of the Banks Peninsula. 

Shrimp starter

Sea bass 

We sat alone in Skywalkers until nearly 9pm as the eastern coast of New Zealand faded in the distance, waiting for sunset. It was nearly 9:20pm when it finally sank into the ocean but now, at 9:50pm, it is still light out and the entire horizon is aglow in oranges and reds. What a fantastic time of year to be this far south!

Ship’s webcam at 9:50pm

Today was our final tender port, and tomorrow in Port Chalmers is the final port of our seven cruise season. Given an empty cabin, I think we’d stay even longer. G said today that, except for the Pacific Princess in French Polynesia (which we know will never be topped), the Golden Princess has been the best ship experience of any of our extended cruise seasons, and these itineraries have been ideal. Five countries, varied climates offering different kinds of activities, and always with those friendly Aussies...it will be hard to see this one end.