February 23 to March 19, 2025 Australia and New Zealand Cruise

Sunday February 23, 2025 & Monday February 24, 2025 Heading to Phoenix and then Los Angeles for the long flight to Sydney, NSW Australia : Today we start our journey in El Paso with a mid-afternoon flight to Phoenix.

We arrived in Phoenix Sunday afternoon and spent the night in our hotel. Bright and early Monday we were in the lobby waiting on the shuttle back to the airport.

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Outside our hotel there was this interesting spiral cactus.

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Here is another unusual cactus we saw in the lobby.

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Monday February 24, 2025 The flights to LAX and Sydney!:

When we arrived at the airport we were excited to find that we could check our bags all the way to Sydney. This was really good news because we had a long layover at LAX and didn't want to have to keep track of our big suitcases all day. We caught our 11 AM flight for LAX and arrived just in time for lunch with the hour time change. Near the gate where we arrived was a Pick Up Stix restaurant. Barry was excited becasue he used to eat there when he traveled to Palmdale for business. Lunch was great with big portions.

After lunch we walked onward to our gate and settled in for a long wait. Our flight didn't leave until 10:25 PM. At first we were impressed with the number of charging outlets in the terminal. There were multimple USB-A and -C outlets for each two seats. Unfortunately as we found out...none of them worked inspite of being plugged into power. We had packed our power bricks in our checked luggage, so we finally had to break down and buy a new brick to charge our devices which were running down quickly. That worked well and soon we were back in business.

We watched a number of flights come and go and finally, just before dinner our plane arrived. It is an Airbus A350-900. We walked to a "Ludacris Chicken and Beer" restaurant in our terminal and had dinner. Unfortunately it was quite unappetizing and I opted not to eat mine.

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When we returned, our flight had made the sign! Barry entertained us until we boarded by checking the location of our luggage since we had put Apple AirTags in each of them. Unfortunately, it did not give us the peace of mind we would have liked since at the time of our departure, it looked like they were still on the tarmac.

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We boarded the plane, found our seats and settled in for a long flight - 15 hours and some odd minutes. Because we were a little late in departing, dinner was delayed and Barry actually fell asleep before dinner. We tried new sleep pillows and if you were in a window seat and could lean against the wall - they worked pretty well. My aisle seat didn't work as well. But the flight went pretty fast. We slept, read, had breakfast and before you know it - it was over. We also lost a day to the International Date Line!

A view of our route as we neared Sydney! The total flight was right at 7500 miles. We were a long way from home!

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Wednesday February 26, 2025 Arrive in Sydney: We filled out our customs declarations before we got off the plane, went through the electronic passport control and then proceeded to baggage claim. It all went very quickly. After we claimed our bags (they had both arrived!), then because we had prescription medicines to declare, we got routed off to a different line. When the Australian Border Fence Agent asked what we had and he heard prescription medicine, he said have a nice day and we were free to go. He didn't even ask what kind of medicine.

When we walked outside the airport we discovered they had a dedicated Uber Rideshare pickup. You intereacted with the app, it assigned you a number and a car parked in the rideshare area pulled up. You gave them the code and off you go.

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Our driver was quite friendly and gave us a commentary about Sydney as we drove into the city. I thought this was a very interesting building and snapped a photo. At the time I didn't realize how close to our hotel this was and how important a landmark its colorful sculptures would be as we navigate Sydney streets.

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After putting our bags in our room, we set out to find lunch. The concierge had suggested an open air mall a few blocks from the hotel. We found the takeaway restaurants (no seating on premises), bought some food and went to the open air seating area in the center. We watched the local workforce stream out for lunch. They were professionals, well dressed, and mostly mid-30's in age. Sydney seems to be a city with a very young population.

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After lunch we went back to the hotel for a short nap. We woke up completely disoriented at 8:00 PM. We talked about skipping dinner and going back to sleep, but we decided that would result with us waking up at 2 AM ravenous and unable to sleep. So we went down to the hotel bar and got something to eat. After that we read a little, got in our jammies and went to sleep.

Thursday February 27, 2025 Exploring Sydney:

We decided to try the Hop On-Hop Off bus to get an overview of Sydney. It has narration and goes all over the heart of Sydney. Because we also wanted to tour Sydney harbour and go up into the Sydney Tower Eye, we purchased a package. After breakfast in the hotel we walked to the first stop of the bus route at Circular Quay - not the nearest location but the concierge said it was the most tourist friendly as it was manned and that made it easy to find out information. We decided to ride it all the way around the first time which was supposed to take 90 minutes, then decide from there where we might stop and look around.

On our walk to Circular Quay, we came across this very unusual fountain. It is called the Tank Stream Fountain and depicts the plants and animals of Australia and the tank stream which was Sydney's first water supply. The stream still runs under the city and is part of the storm drain system.

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In another area of the fountain was this cute turtle sunning himself.

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Across from the waiting area for the bus, was a row of buildings built when Sydney was a very young city. Sydney's architecture is an interesting mix of new and old. But much of the old has been restored or repurposed. Our hotel was a former bank and is a grand old building. The business canter is located in a former elevator and is very ornate but tiny.

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We chose to sit on the top of the bus for better views and better photos.

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Here are some of the many skyscrapers in Sydney. The Central Business District, known as the CBD, reminds us a great deal of Chicago.

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This is a wonderful photo that depicts the juxtaposition of old and new in Sydney!

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Here is an interesting view of the Sydney Tower Eye which is an observational and telecommunications tower in Sydney.

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In the Kings Cross area of Sydney is a huge Coca-Cola sign that has been in place since 1974. The locals often use it to give directions.

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This is St. Mary's Cathedral designed and built from 1866 to 1926. It is located between Hyde Park and the Domain at the southern end of the Royal Botanic Garden. It was finally completed in 2000 with the addition of the two spires financed by the govenment to mark the new millenium.

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Everywhere we went in the CBD there was cacophany of construction happening with accompanying scaffolds and closed sidewalks. Here is an example of some of the many construction cranes in the city.

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This was a very unusual "living building" we saw on our route. It is One Central Park and has been awarded a 5-Star Green Star by the Green Building Council of Australia. It is a trigeneration building meaning it combines the simultaneous generation of electricity and useful heating and cooling from solar power. It opened in 2013.

We also saw this interesting building near the waterfront at 1 Bangaroo. It is most unusual in that the building looks like it twists as it goes up. It won the prestigious 2021 Emporis Skyscraper Award. It is Sydney's tallest building and the fourth tallest in Australia.

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We finished the bus loop and continued on to the second stop which was at the open air food court we had eaten at the previous day. As we were enjoying our lunch these two birds stopped by. The one on the left is an Australian White Ibis and the one on the right is a seagull.

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After lunch we walked back to our hotel and rested. We were still recovering from jet lag. We picked out a pizza place for dinner but it was also a bar and unfortunately we got there around happy hour. It was slammed with people getting off work. So we went back to the hotel and had dinner there.

Friday February 28, 2025 The Harbor, Sydney Tower Eye and Giant Bats:

We were feeling less tired today and decided to make the most of it. After breakfast, we walked to Circular Quay and got on the Captain Cook Cruises boat for our tour of Sydney Harbour. It was a beautiful sunny day with temperatures in the mid 70's.

This is our transportation for the morning - Captain Cook Tours.

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As we come out of the quay, we first pass the iconic Sydney Harbor Bridge.

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Once we get into the greater harbor area we see fireboats escorting a cruise ship into the port area. As we get closer we see that it is the Cunard Line's Queen Anne on her maiden voyage around the world. According to our guide, the fireboat escort is reserved for special ships coming into the harbor.

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Here are the fireboats escorting the Queen Anne to her berth.

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We went all over the harbor and it was interesting to see what a wonderful resource this protected area was (and is) to the inhabitants. As we headed back to the dock, we passed the iconic Opera House. We had seen it from a couple of different perspectives, but the most impressive is this view from the harbor. Also in this photo is the ruins of Fort Denison. Prior to 1839 it was a prison and an area for execution of recalcitrant convicts. After that the fort was established to protect the harbour area.

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The history of the Sydney Opera house is also interesting. It was originally conceived in the 1950s and a contract was awarded in 1957 after an international design competition. Work began in 1958 and not completed until 1973 with numerous design changes (the original design for the iconic roof could not be built) and cost overruns. After donations and funding ran low, they created a lottery to raise additional capital. The project finally came in at 1357% over budget.

When we returned, we walked over a couple of piers and found a Subway Sandwich place, take-away, of course. We bought our sandwiches, drinks and cookie then looked for a place to sit and eat. There didn't seem to be any nearby, so we walked back to the Captain Cook Pier and sat on one of their benches. It was in the shade with a nice breeze blowing off the water. A very nice lunch.

After lunch, Barry walked down to the Big Bus ticket office and picked up our tickets for the Sydney Tower Eye. When he returned, we bought ice cream and wandered to benches near the Tank Stream Fountain we had seen yesterday. After finishing our cones, we walked back to the hotel.

At 3:30 we left to walk the other direction on Pitt St. to the Tower Eye. After a couple of blocks we came to yet another outdoor shopping mall with more designer shops. Sydney has a remarkable number of high end shopping venues. We found the entrance for the tower and went up.

The views from the Sydney Tower were breath-taking. It was a beautiful clear day and you could see a very long way. This is looking down at the central business district with the Sydney harbor bridge and the Opera House sails peaking out at the back of the field of view.

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Here is a lovely photo of the south end of the Royal Botanic Garden, the Domain, and Hyde Park with St. Mary's Cathedral nestled between them.

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This view looks toward the Olympic Stadium built for the 2000 Olympic Games.

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Barry with a backdrop of Sydney Harbor.

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We left the tower and walked first to Hyde Park to see if we could see any bats in the trees. We are in search of giant (3.5 ft wingspan!) fruit bats known as Grey Headed Flying Foxes which were reported to fly at dusk. The problem was where? Articles on the internet indicated they used to roost in the Royal Botanic Garden but had been relocated in 2012 because of damage to the trees. But we also had reports from fellow cruisers that they had seen them at the Domain near the car park. Hyde Park is very near there so we planned to see if we could see them tonight after dinner. There were no bats in trees, so we weren't sure what to think.

We walked to dinner at Primi an Italian sit-down restaurant and enjoyed a lovely dinner. The service was top notch and the food very good. After that we walked back to the Domain and pulled up a patch of grass.

Along the way to the Domain, we saw this Ford Mustang. We had seen a few American cars - mostly trucks, all Fords, but this was the first sports car!

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Another view of the beautiful St. Mary's Cathedral showing the twin spires looking from Hyde Park through the Archibald Memorial Fountain.

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This is the Domain - a public space used for sporting activiies, running, concerts and soccer. The unusual name is because it was originally the "Domain of the King", established in 1788. The white sign announces the underground Domain Car Park. So we waited to see what whould happen and if any bats would come to the party.

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Barry spotted the first bat. Soon they were streaming overhead, leaving Lachlan Swamp in Centennial Park (south of us) and headed to their old roosting grounds in the Royal Botanic Garden (north of us). And we were right on the flight path. Some stopped in a large tree nearby and we got a closeup look at them when they took off again. We watched them until nearly dark.

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Here is a close-up of one of the Grey Headed flying Fox Fruit Bats we saw.

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The bats coming out of Centennial Park

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Saturday March 1, 2025 The Australian Maritime Museum and a performance at the Sydney Opera House:

Another gorgeous day and we were headed to the Maritime Museum.

In the lobby area the museum had several interesting 'sculptures' made of fishing net and other sea paraphernalia. Here is a set of sea turtles made from net scraps.

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Hammerhead Shark Net Sculpture.

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A shark made up of small metal pieces. Look for the whimsical shapes included!

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Here is an aboriginal map of the Parramatta River which flows into Sydney harbor. It is embroidered on beaverskin.

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A hollowed-out tree canoe used by Aboriginal Australians. The first peoples of Australians were sailors and navigators.

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Inside the museum was a 1/24th scale modelof the HMB (His Majesty's Barque) Endeavour, also known as the HMS Endeavor.

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This is the world's fastest speed boat, The Spirit of Australia, with a top speed of 317.6 mph! It is a wooden jet-powered hydroplane built and captained by Ken Warby in 1978.

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There was also an exhibit on exploring the ultra-deep part of the ocean which included the equipment and the creatures that live there. This is a sculpture of a cuttlefish one of the deep water creatures that live in the ocean.

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This is a preserved albino starfish taken from the depths - 2000 to 4000 meters below the surface.

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There was a display of equipment used by James Cameraon in 2012 to explore the ocean depths. This is a model of the Deep Sea Challenger which took James Cameron to the Hadal Zone, below 6000 meters.

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Here is a full scale mock up of the backbone and inside of the Deep Sea Challenger. It was designed by a Tasmanian Company.

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This is the pilot sphere, large enough for a single person. Also designed by the Tasmanian company that designed the submarine, it has walls 2.5 inches thick and was designed for 16500 psi pressure. It was tested at Pennsylvania Univeristy prior to use.

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This is a representation of the crushing effects of ocean pressures on a solid cone. At sea level it is undeformed (left end). As the depth increases so does the pressure and at 11000 meters the cone is shortened to about two-thirds of its orginal height.

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Also at the museum was an exhibit of the entries and winners of the Ocean Photographer of the year for 2024. Here is one of the winners with a visually exquisite photograph of a sea turtle.

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Lori stopping by a ceremonial mask.

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Another exhibit included using navigation using the stars. Here is the first clock reliably used for navigation designed by William Harrison. His design was in response to the 1714 Longitude Act which was to award a prize for someone coming up with a way to determine precise longitude at sea. This clock was accurate to 1 second per month.

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We stopped for lunch in the on-site restaurant at the museum where we sat under umbrellas and enjoyed a view of the museum's ship collection. There was a children's birthday party group that walked past led by this pirate. As he told the kids "We pirates are a happy bunch. We will kill yer and murder yer but we'rrrrre happy to do it!"

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This is a full sized replica of HMB Endeavor - Captain Cook's Ship used to map/explore New Zealand and the East Coast of Australia from 1768 to 1771.

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The masts and complicated lines on the Endeavor.

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Below Decks on the Endeavor - the Armory.

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Below Decks on the Endeavor - the Crew quarters; shared and 3.5 foot ceilings.

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Below Decks on the Endeavor - Captain's Sleeping Quarters.

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Below Decks on the Endeavor - the Dining Room

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Below Decks on the Endeavor - the Galley and the only source of heat.

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One of the many cannon used to protect the ship.

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Barry on the aft deck of the Endeavor.

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Our last big adventure in Sydney was tickets to a performance at the Sydney Opera House of Elgar and Vaughn Williams, conducted by Simone Young. This is a view of the Opera House and Sydney Bridge at night, as we were leaving.

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One of the lobby areas of the Sydney Opera House. The use of wood and space makes the venue soar.

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Barry standing with his back to the view of Sydney harbor.

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Lori at the entrance to our seating area.

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A view of the main seating of the Sydney Opera House before it fills up. There was a good-sized audience the night of the performance with this area almost full.

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The orchestra takes its final bows. The violin soloist Andrew Haveron (standing in front, in tails) was magnificent. This was the view from our seats on the side. We intentionally chose the side balconies for a bird's eye view of the interior of the performance venue. But all seats seemed really good and the acoustics were amazing.

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Sunday March 2, 2025 Sail Away:

Today we embark on our sea journey to Melbourne, Tasmania and New Zealand. We had breakfast, checked out and uber'd to the port. The embarkation process was painful - not as bad as San Diego, but certainly worse than others. We stood in a very slow line for almost 2 hours before getting to board.

The ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corp of World War I) Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge in Sydney. We crossed it going to the port to board the Westerdam.

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We went up on the top deck for the sail away and were greeted with some wonderful views. Here is the Sydney Harbor Bridge. We noticed as we were headed to the dock we were berthed in a different area than some of the larger cruise ships. We found out it is because we are small enough to pass under Sydney Harbor Bridge (with a whopping 6 feet of clearance). So as we pulled away from the dock, we headed towards the bridge.

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The Sydney Observatory for research on astronomy, meterology and science.

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As we neared the bridge we noticed some brave folk who were walking the top of the bridge. Considering the wind was very strong it seemed particularly foolhardy!

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The Sydney Skyline as seen from Sydney Harbor.

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As we were passing under the bridge the Sydney Opera House was just peeking out from the other side. It was a beautiful exit from the harbor. Afterwards we went down to dinner and met our waiters for the duration.

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Monday March 3, 2025 Day at Sea:

This was a very lazy day at sea cruising to our next port. We refamiliarized ourselves with the ship. We had been on the Westerdam 2 times before but she has been refurbished since our last cruise and she is unfamiliar. We also napped quite a bit still getting over jet lag and some busy days in Sydney. It was nice to not have any obligationsand nowhere to be!

After dinner we went to The Billboard-Onboard and then in spite of napping we went to bed early.

Tuesday March 4, 2025 Melbourne, Australia:

We had no shore excursions today but wanted to look around Melbourne. We timed it so we could have lunch ashore.

As we sailed into Melbourne Harbor, we were greeted with a beautiful sunrise over the city.

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We also saw a number of hot air balloons coming up behind the Melbourne skyscrapers.

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We uber'd into downtown Melbourne and Barry was intrigued by this Yield sign which indicated drivers should "Give Way"

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We had lunch at Queen Victoria Market. I had an authentic meat pie - very different than a US pot pie in that is was only meat and a thick gravy. No vegetables. Intense but quite tasty.

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Instead of plasticware, they used 2D wooden utensils for knives and forks and a molded paper spoon.

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After lunch we wandered through the Queen Victoria open air market. Half is dedicated to fresh fruit, vegetables, eggs, milk and bakery goods. The other half is small touristy shops.

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Among the tables of handbags, phone cases, jewelry, and leather goods was a table of 3D printed statuettes and toys. Here are some Godzillas.

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St. Paul Anglican Cathedral in Melbourne

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Melbourne Central Train Station

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There are a number of small streets which are packed with small shops, cafes and restaurants. We walked down a few alleys and then stopped for Gelatto. We had already eaten, but the food looked delicious here as well.

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We returned to the ship and went to dinner in the dining room. After dinner we went to see Australian-Indian comedian Suraj Kolokar on the main stage, listened to some songs from the 60's in the Billboard-Onboard and went to bed.

Wednesday March 5, 2025 Day at Sea crossing the Bass Strait to Hobart, Tasmania:

Today we attended a high tea in the main dining room at 3 PM which included finger sandwiches, sweet cakes and, of course, tea. Later after dinner, we went to the Main stage to see the very talented pianist Bernard Walz. He played a number of classical pieces, the theme from Chariots of Fire, Stairway to Heavan, Michael Jackson's Bad and Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody - a very entertaining evening.

Thursday March 6, 2025 Hobart, Tasmania:

This was the very first shore excursion we booked - a visit to the Bonorang Wildlife Sanctuary where we would get to see some of Australia's iconic and unique animals.

We arrived in Hobart, Tasmania early in the morning. This is a quiant town with a busy waterfront area.

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This was the view of the other side of the dock from our ship.

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We boarded our tour bus and headed off to Bonorong Wildlife Santuary, some 45 minutes north of Hobart. Our tour guide pointed out interesting sights and told us about the history of Tasmania. This was the first gas company in Tasania. He also noted that since the '90s the dock area has been undergoing rebirth and there are lots of new restaurants, bars and businesses in some of the old historical buildings.

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Soon enough we were out of the city of Hobart and starting to get into more rural settings. The country is quite hilly with some mountains.

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More of the Tasmanian countryside. Our guide noted that they had less rainfall than normal and it was much browner than usual.

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After 45 minutes we arrived at the sanctuary. Their signature animal is the Tasmanian Devil.

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Here is a Tasmanian Devil - less than a foot long with red ears and a cute face. But don't be fooled - it is a carniverous marsupial with razor sharp teeth. It has the most powerful bite relative to body size of any living mammal with a bite-force of 1200 psi. By comparison, a Rottweiller has a bite force of 328 psi.

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This was our guide in during the sanctuary tour. She told the story of the toe of her steel-toe boot being crushed by the bite from a tasmanian devil. Fortunately, it did not break through and her toes were ok.

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Next we got to see wombats. They are lovable little bundles of fur when they are juveniles. As our guide was telling us all about them she was scratching his back, backside and tummy and he was enjoying every minute of it. He twirled areound her legs and followed her, almost like a cat!

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What a cute face!

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This is the tiger snake - 5th most venomous snake in the world.

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Next we saw the kangaroo area. Most of the kangaroos present were young. Here are two joeys. They were also very friendly and ate out of people's hands. The humans wandered through their area and they weren't bothered by it.

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Here is one of two grey geese in residence at the sanctary although they can come and go. Officially they are Cape Barren Geese.

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This is a sulphur crested cockatoo.They had a number of different varieties of cockatoo.

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Another interesting must-see animal is the echidna. A distant relative of the spiney anteater he has a very long thin tongue. His fur is not sharp like a porcupine but very coarse and the white nodules on the end are keratin (like fingernails).

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Another view of the Echidna. A very genlte creature which ate out of the guide's hand. Echidnas and platypus are the only living monotremes (egg laying mammals).

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Here is a pair of Kookaburras. We did not get to hear their call.

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Soon our tour was over. While we were waiting on the bus, this very interesting black and white bird showed up. It is a Pied Currawong. It is a relative of the magpie.

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On the way back to our ship we saw it in the distance - the HAL Westerdam.

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We had seen all of the animals we had hoped for. The sanctuary rescues animals that have been injured. Some they can rehabilitate and re-release in to the wild. Others can't be released because the contact with humans make them unable to survive. Surprisingly the wombats, as tame and friendly as they appear, reach a certain maturity and become aggressive and no longer want human contact and can be released into the wild. This was an excellent tour and we saw all of the iconic Australian animals.

We ate dinner in the dining room and then did music trivia - the 70's. We did really well 32/34. Unfortunately there was another group that got everything correct. After that we went back to the room and turned in.

Friday March 7, 2025 Day at Sea - Crossing the Tasman Sea:

Last night we started our two day journey across the Tasman Sea headed for New Zealand. While the seas are not rough there is a very rhythmical and noticeable rolling of the ship from side to side. The Tasman sea is deep - up to 15000 ft in some areas. And the ship is noisy. As it rolls there is a fair amount of creaking, groaning and chattering. The wi-fi coverage still seems very strong and unlike when we crossed the Pacific, we have never been out of range. Starlink probably helps that.

For dinner, we participated in the Seafood Boil. It was not what we expected. You got a big pot of a mix of clams, shrimp, fresh fish and crab in lovely mild white sauce. There was also some fingerling potatoes and corn on the cob wheels. Everything was very tasty until you started trying to extract crab meat from the shell. After a period of trying we just gave up. While we are glad we did it, we probably wouldn't again.

The main stage featured Daniel Thompson and his Johnny Cash Tribute. We went and enjoyed ourselves as he was quite talented. He sang completely without an Aussie accent, but when he talked it was quite strong..

Saturday March 8, 2025 Day at Sea - Crossing the Tasman Sea:

Another day at sea. These are very relaxing and probably my favorite part of the cruise. In the morning we attended a port talk on Wellington and Napier. We are looking forward to both of those ports of call. After lunch we went to an enrichment talk on Aotearoa which is the Maori name for New Zealand. They discussed the Maori heritage, history and place in society today. It was very interesting.

The Maori came to Aotearoa around 100 AD, in a migration that ultimately started in Taiwan and extended as far as the Hawaiian Islands. The speaker also discussed the Maori haka or dance/ceremony and moku or face tattoos and the customary types of tattoos from whole face for men and the chin and lips for women. He also indicated early tattooing involved not ink but carving grooves into the face.

Dinner was back in the dining room and then Bernard Walz took to the main stage again for a different piano concert of both classical music and show tunes. Once again, an outstanding performance.

Sunday March 9, 2025 Cruising Milford Sound and the Fjordlands National Park:

When we awakened today and went up to the Crow's Nest, the ship was sitting off the shore of New Zealand (not very far) and as the sun rose, it seemed to be playing chicken with a large rock wall. We sat until daylight and then with our Kiwi navigator onboard, we started heading toward the rock wall. It turned out to be the narrow entrance to Milford Sound on the south west coast of New Zealand. As soon as we got a ships length or two inside, we had to make a hard left turn.

Because of this hidden entrance, this was the last of the fjords discovered. We were treated to towering rock walls, some lush vegetation and lovely waterfalls. Barry captured a short video of this waterfall as it tumbled down the rock face.

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This was a particularly knobby hill that we saw.

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As we proceeded down the sound these mountains appeared in the distance, along with another waterfall and a glacier perched atop one of the peaks.

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Some more majestic peaks in light and shadow.

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At the end of Milford Sound is the town of Milford Sound which serves as a base camp for hikers and fisherman. It boasts one of the busiest airports on the South Island of New Zealand. While we were sitting and waiting to turn we saw multiple small planes come in and land.

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As we turned around to leave Milford Sound, we caught one of the many airplanes flying in. It can be seen right at the horizontal divide between light and shadow in the middle of the photo.

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After we retraced our path and left Milford Sound, We proceeded down the coast of New Zealand to the Fjordlands National Park. We stayed pretty close to shore the entire time and decided the land must drop off pretty quickly to provide the depth of water needed for the ship.

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This is the entrance to Thompson Sound where we will make our way to Doubtful Sound and then back out into the Tasman Sea.

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Here we are about to make our way into Doubtful Sound. The day is perfect, the scenery is breathtaking and it is all quite enjoyable. Our commentator told us that the sounds were named sometimes for people and sometimes by James Cook's impression of either navigability or usefullness of the sound.

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Sitting on our veranda enjoying the sights and birds of the Fjordlands. And yes it is pretty chilly outside!

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This little island we passed was named Seymour Island.

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This is the exit from Doubtful Sound back into the Tasman Sea. These very distinctive rocks served as a marker for the entrance to the sound.

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Later in the afternoon, we went through one more fjord - Dusky Sound. Here is a view of some of the mountains.

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This fjord had lower mountains and more little islands so much so that Captain Cook gave one group the clever name "Many Islands". Here is a small island with some granite outcroppings on the mainland.

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One of the bare islands had a few seals sunning themselves.

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A few more seals and many seagulls.

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There were also numerous waterfalls along this sound. Here was a particulalry large and visually appealing one.

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Monday March 10, 2025 Port Chalmers and Dunedin:

Today we go on a railway journey to the Taieri Gorge. The train picks us up from the ship at Port Chalmers and takes us through Dunedin and up the old rail lines to the gold fields at Pukerangi.

Our dock at Port Chalmers before sunrise.

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Here is a map defining our trip today. At Wingatui we get on the rail line up to the former gold fields. The track is maintained for this rail line tour and for the locals to use.

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The salt marshes and birds of Otago Bay. Among other birds are black swans. They were quite spectacular and from this distance their feathers look like black velvet!

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One of the agricultural products of southern New Zealand is logs. We have seen them stacked up at numerous stations and ports. Timber exports accounted for AU$5.75 Billion. Fifty seven percent goes to China. Much of it is radiata pine.

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This cow was really inspecting the train as we rolled past. This was in the plains before we started up into the mountains. This area also had a number of horse ranches raising race horses as well as sheep farms. The guide indicated that the horses raised here were competative in the Melbourne Cup - a big horse race in this part of the world.

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These rolling hills went on for miles and were so lush and green. In the center of the photo is also an example of one of many tree hedges we saw along the way. They are hedges but grow quite tall and are trimmed into the huge block of green.

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The Wingatui Viaduct is the second second largest wrought iron trestle bridge in the world. This was built over a century ago in the late 1880s.

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Here is the headquarters of one of the largest sheep stations in the region.

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Another bridge across the Taieri gorge. Unfortunately it was impossible to take good pictures of the gorge itself with the reflections in the windows from the train. But it was impressive with the Taieri river running below, the rocks walls of the gorge and the twists and turns. At times it seemed the walls fell away and the rails were riding on air.

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When we reached Pukerangi - the end of the line for us, we got to get off the train for a bit and stretch our legs while they moved the locomotive to the other end of the train. Here is a picture of our train.

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In Pukerangi there was a small ad hoc market set up where some of the local ladies sold arts and crafts and fabric! Lori bought several New Zealand-themed fat quarters and a lovely hand knited wool-silk poncho.

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While Lori was off spending money at the market, Barry took some photos of this high pasture area. Here was a herd of sheep grazing. These were in a pretty tight herd but we saw other areas where there were clumps of one or two or five and wondered how the sheep farmers rounded them all up.

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We could see these mountains in the distance from Pukerangi. According to our guide they were used by Peter Jackson as the "Misty Mountains" where the Orts lived in Lord of the Rings. They are actually known as the Southern Alps.

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Here was a lone tree at the top of one of the gorge walls.

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This is the interior of our train car.

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This is the Dunedin Train Station, a beautiful and impressive Flemish Renaissance Revivalist building designed by George Troup in the early twentieth century. It is (accordingto Wikipedia and the tourguide) the second most photographed building in the southern hemisphere behind the Sydney Opera House.

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Interior lobby of the Dunedin Train Station - including the mosaic floor made up of almost 750000 Minton tiles and a frieze of Royal Doulton porcelain around the balcony.

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Much of the architecture in Dunedin is quite stunning. This is the Dunedin Law Courts and Dunedin Distric Court building. The red building to the left is the jail.

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We walked down Stewart street among the shops to to town square which had a lovely park and series of fountains. We saw a number of birds enjoying the fountains. While we waited on the bus back to the ship, we enjoyed a gelatto and watched the birds.

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After dinner we went up on deck to watch the departure from Otago Harbor. There is the Royal Albatross Sanctuary and breeding and nesting ground at Taiaroa Head and we hoped to catch a glimpse of the large magnificant birds. We saw a number of them and Barry captured this photo of a family. The Royal Albatross has an average wingspan of 9.8 feet.

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And our last view of the area is of the Taiaroa Lighthouse. It is the oldest working lighthouse on the South Island of New Zealand. It was first lit on 2 January 1865.

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Tuesday March 11, 2025 Timaru:

So today is the Westerdam's first time to go to Timaru (and maybe the first cruise ship ever). Apparently they are auditioning it for next season. It is a small working port but our plan is to get off the ship for lunch and walk around.

On our port side we had view of some of the cranes used to offload cargo.

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On our Starboard side were two other docks. This one had a cargo ship taking on a load of timber. The brown piles on the far dock are stacked logs. As you can see it is a damp overcast day with fog and a definite chill in the air!

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Around 11 AM we took the shuttle into town, stopped briefly by the artisan market (planning to go back after eating) and walked to Zest Pizza. We had a large New Zealand style Double Pepperoni pizza, fries and dessert. We had a great time, enjoyed the ambiance, conversation and food. The building it was housed in seemed, in a previous life, to have been part of the adjacent Coptic church.

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This is St George's Coptic Church. It was previously Chalmers Presbyterian Church built in 1903 in the Gothic Revival Style. In 2018 carpenters from Egypt came to remodel the interior into the Coptic Style. In 2021 the roof was replaced after being damaged by hail and reinforcement for earthquake resistance was undertaken.

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St. Mary's Anglican Church built in 1880 and consecrated in 1886 with the distinctive tower added in 1910. In 2011 during the Christchurh earthquake, one of the tower's four pinnacles fell down prompting the removal of the other 3 for safety reasons. All pinnacles were restored in 2023.This church has been a distinctive landmark in Timaru for some time.

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When we walked back to the shuttle, the artisan market vendors had started shutting down in spite of it only being 1:30 (all aboard was 2:30). So we didn't get a chance to browse. We returned to the ship. After dinner in the Main Dining Room, we went to see Comedian Simon Palomares. He had some funny material, some not so much.

Wednesday March 12, 2025 Picton ... now Day 1 in Wellington:

Sometime during the night, the ship had turned around to go back to south of Christchurch for an emergency medical evacuation. That meant we are late for our call into Picton. As it turns out the weather is also fighting us so the bad news is we won't be calling in Picton, instead we will continue on to Wellington, arriving late morning. We will spend the night in Wellington and leave tomorrow evening.

We are diappointed because we did have a shore excursion planned - Cruising Queen Charlotte's Sound but we are also excited because this means we can eat dinner in Wellington off the ship. It is also good because Barry had started having some sniffles and perhaps a day of rest will allow him to fight it.

A tugboat guiding our arrival into Wellington.

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We decided to go into Wellington late in the afternoon to visit the Space Place and the Botanincal Garden then catch dinner. Last minute we decided to forgo dinner and come back to the ship for the special of Beef Wellington in the Main Dning Room. We caught the shuttle bus into town which dropped us off at the Beehive. The Beehive, shown here, is the nickname of the building which houses the Executive Wing of the New Zealand Government

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Because many of the New Zealand ports are working industrial ports, we have to take shuttles out of the port area to a common drop-off point. This part was no exception and right outside the entrance is a very busy cement plant that would make walking very dangerous. And, because of port security, cabs and ubers are not allowed to come in. So shuttle buses it is!

After getting off the shuttle, we then walked a few blocks to the cable car - a funicular railway, to take us up to the Wellington Botanical Garden. A funicular railwway uses the weight of the cars, one at each and of the line, to move the train up and down the cable. Clamps on the cable provide the stopping power at intermediate stations. Funniculars are typically used on steep inclines. This is the car we rode up in. Cost was NZ$6.50 per person one way.

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The cable car runs between Lambton Quay's main shopping center and Kelburn at the Wellington Botanical Garden. It rises around 400 ft over a distance of a little over a third of a mile. It originally opened in 1902 when Wellington expanded up the mountains to provide transportation between the upper areas and the coastal areas.

The view of Wellington Harbor from the top of the cable car line.

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Our first stop on the walking tour were the observatories, Space Place and the Krupp Gun. Here is the Carter Observatory adjacent to the Space Place. Unfoortunately the Space Place was closed until March 16th. This is the site of the original Wellington Observatory which was demolished in 1941. The Carter Observatory houses a 9.75 in Cooke refractor telescope as well as the Ruth Crisp telescope - a 16 inch Cassegrain Reflector.

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This is the Thomas King Observatory which houses a 5 inch Grubb Telescope which was refurbished in 2001. Until recently it was used for public viewing of the Sun during the day with the addition of a hydrogen-alpha filter. This observatory was originally operated by the Astronomical Section of the Wellington Philosophical Society.

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Also located on the grounds of the Botanical Garden is the historic Dominion Observatory. It was built in 1907 and its primary purpose was to maintain New Zealand Mean Time for the time service based on astronomical observations.

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Another view of Wellington Harbor from near the Dominion Observatory.

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This gun, manufactured by the arms-manufacturer Friedrich Krupp in 1907, was captured by New Zealand ANZAC troops in Septemebr 1918 near Vacqueria, France. It, along with several other weapons was shipped back to New Zealand after the end of World War I as war trophies. It was gifted to the city of Wellington in honor to the soldiers from the Wellington District. It is believed to be the only gun of this kind remaing from the original production of 190 guns.

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It is a 135 mm (5.3 inches) breech loading piece of field artillery with a recoil of 1420 mm (56 inches) with a range of 16,500 meters (a little over 10 miles). It took "standard 42 kg (92 lb) shells". It was known as the 13.5 cm Kanone 09 by the Germans.

After leaving the observatory area, we wandered through the botanical garden. Here were some of the majestic trees.

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The botanical garden was located on the side of a hill with some pretty steep paths and staircases, some of which were in a poor state of repair. It is quite extensive and we only covered a third to a half in our hour long wanderings. It has species from all over the world and is well worth seeing but not for people with mobility issues or in a wheel chair.

This was a very interesting tree with what looked like red fox tails that matured to yellow corn cobb pine cones and finally turned a mouldy black. It is a banksia ericifolia, also known a the lantern banksia, which is native to Australia (not New Zealand)

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These looked like Century Plants from New Mexico. It is a distant cousin - a spiral aloe - aloe polyphylia from Lesotho in Southern Africa.

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Here was a lovely flowering garden we passed.

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A towering palm tree and the beautiful blue sky that finally emerged from the drizzly, overcast day we started with.

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We uber'd back to the ship in time to make dinner. The Beef Wellington was outstanding. Then we went to the Ocean Lounge for a bit, and finally to the Main Stage show of GoldenEye - a trio of singers who specialized in Bond movie songs. After that we played Majority Rules in the Bill Board Onboard and then back to the room.

Thursday March 13, 2025 Wellington Day 2:

Because we had arrived early in Wellington, we had a second day to enjoy the city. Today we went out for lunch on Cuba Street to walk around. We took the shuttle to the Beehive and then uber'd to a sandwich place we had picked out for lunch. Because it was tiny and had no available seating we decided to walk around and see what other food options there were.

Cuba Street is an ecelctic collection of stores and restaurants along one of the historical streets in Wellington. Part of it has been closed off to cars.

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We finally settled on a Thai street food restaurant called Aryo. This guy was lounging out front next to a slide for children.

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One of the buildings we passed displayed this sign. We wondered if that implied all of the other buildings were earthquake-safe?

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We went into a store selling 3D statues assembled from flat pieces of wood. They were interesting. Then we saw this sign and wandered down an alley to see what type of store Turtle Therapy was. They sold small exotic house plants.

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We went back to the Beehive to catch the shuttle to the port and got a good photo of the Cenotaph. It was originally built to commemorat the ANZAC troups of World War I and was unveiled on ANZAC Day (25th April) 1931. Two bronze lions and two bronze friezes were later added in commemoration of World War II losses.

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Our ship was docked next to the ferry to Picton and here she is leaving on one of her many runs for the day. The day we arrived, the ferries were suspended due to rough water in the Cook Strait. The Cook Strait is the body of water between the north and south islands of New Zealand which connects the Tasman Sea to the Pacific Ocean. It can be a very rough crossing in general because of the different water temperature of the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean but also when the prevailing winds go against the tides.

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Today is Orange Day, celebrating Holland America's Dutch heritage. Dinner in the Main Dining Room included orange dinner napkins and a special Dutch night menu. We enjoyed a dinner of a shrimp cocktail with Dutch cocktail sauce, hodge podge klapstuk (roast brisket with potatoes and carrots) and Tompouce (stroopwafel with vanilla custard and an orange frosting). It was all quite good. After we talked for a while in the Ocean Bar and when we went back to the room Barry stepped outside to get this lovely photo of the full moon just off the ship's bow.

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Friday March 14, 2025 Napier:

Our port stop at Napier was a short one - arrive at 8 AM and "all aboard" at noon. So we opted to stay aboard the ship.

The port of Napier, like so many of the other New Zealand ports is very industrial.

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We spent most of the morning sitting in the Crow's Nest watching the ship right in front of us being loaded with timber. It was mesmerizing to watch the large cranes pick up 10-12 logs from the dock and swing them over to the ship where 3 or 4 backhoes with pincers would move the logs into the stacks already there. They would also carefully sort them by size. It was a slow process and by the time we left port they were only about 30 percent finished.

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The harbor was quite interesting in that the ship backed into the berth and had to make a sharp turn as it came through the port entrance. This is a view of the very narrow mouth of the harbor area. You can see the rock jetty near the middle of the photo jutting out from the ship. The left side of the harbor entrance is defined by the dock on the left side of the photo. The width in-between didn't seem much wider than the width of the ship.

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As we were walking around the ship, we noticed the bank of Starlink antennas near the aft part of the ship. There were an addition bank on the opposite side.

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A view of the pool with the roof partially open.

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It was formal night again which meant towel animals! Here is the rabbit we got when we returned from dinner in the specialty restaurant the Canaletto. Also shown are Edna the echidna we picked up at the Bonorang Wildlife Sanctuary, Seymour the long legged turtle, Fred the Jellycats turtle and PQ, the moose.

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Barry and I got changed and went up on deck to see if we could see the lunar eclispe from the ship. We took the Canon R6 camera and tripod and a 70-200 zoom lens. He got this great shot using ISO6400 and a 1/30 second exposure, zoomed to 200mm. While he was photographing the eclipse, I wandered around and pointed out the moon to other passengers since it was faint and hard to see when it was at maximum eclipse. Barry was a rockstar because he would zoom the image on the viewfinder screen and people could walk up and see it.

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As we were packing up to go back to our cabin we noticed behind us, high in the sky, sat the Southern Cross (4 stars in a kite pattern, upper left) and the two pointer stars (Bright stars, on diagonal, lower center) . So Barry took photo using ISO51000, the lens set at 70 mm and a 1 second exposure. It was somewhat ironic since we have tried to photograph it from different ships and struggled to find it in the sky and get a good picture. The tripod made a huge difference as well as the inky skies of New Zealand.

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Saturday March 15, 2025 Tauranga:

Based on all the shore excursions being 4+ hours to get somewhere else, we did not have high hopes for this port. But we were so pleasantly surprised. This turned out to be our favorite port. We walked of the ship maybe a quarter of mile into the shopping district which had restaurants, coffee shops, ice cream stores, souveniers and shopping venues. It was very cheery and pleasant.

Tauranga Harbor and Mount Maunganui. It was a beautiful day with blue water and bright sunshine and around 75 degrees.

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In the bay was what looked like a sandbar. In the morning (at high tide) it was quite small with a dozen or so seaguls precariously perched. As the day went on and the tide went out it grew in size and attracted more birds and finally small boats.

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We walked into town for lunch and finally settled on The Barn for lunch where we had some delicious burgers with chips. We are so over french fries (chips) right now. It seems to be the most common way to cook potatoes. While we were eating we were watching the seagulls perch on the adjacent umbrellas.

After lunch we walked around and browsed in some of the shops. We finally stopped at the Polar Dessert Bar. Wow! They had scoop ice cream, rolled ice cream and sundaues and desserts you could make a meal out of it. And the ladies doing the rolled ice cream are really fast.

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The main shopping street in Tauranga - "The Mall".

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Coming back to our ship after the afternoon in Taranga.

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We got back to the ship, spent some time packing, had one last dinner in the dining room and said good by to our dining staff and room stewards.

Sunday March 16, 2025 Auckland:

Today we leave the ship for the last time and start the next phase of our downunder adventure!