Christy Johnson

Visiting New Zealand and Australia had always been on my list of places to explore and I finally got to both countries in December 2022. I traveled with my husband and adult daughter from Los Angeles to Sydney, where we spent two nights before embarking on a cruise for two weeks that concluded in Auckland, New Zealand.

Our overall opinions of both countries were that they seemed very safe and clean, environmentally green and we wouldn't mind living there!

In Sydney we stayed at the Marriott at Circular Quay, just two blocks from the major transportation hub with trains, light rail and ferries available. There were also many places there for dining from fast food to pubs and eateries to fine dining. And, to my daughter's delight, there were souvenir shops. 

On our full day in Sydney we walked to the quay, purchased some ferry tickets to take us to the Taronga Zoo and enjoyed the day there viewing the various animals in their habitats.

During our cruise on Holland America we visited nine ports of call. We booked a shore excursion for just about every port, although there were one or two where we just walked around a bit and explored on foot. Many of the ports were industrial ports so we were required to take a shuttle bus out of the port into town. 

Our favorite shore excursion was to Hobbiton, the movie set of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings films. This location was beautiful and is well-maintained. It looks just as it does in the movies! Our tour guide was knowledgeable and patient with us as some of us really took our time along the trail, photographing hundreds of shots.

On our day in Wellington, we rented e-bikes and rode along the waterfront. It was great to get out in the fresh air and we were able to cover much more ground than if we were walking. We even stopped at the Te Papa museum for a while.

Melbourne was a city that we just hopped on the courtesy shuttle into the city's center and wandered around. It was wonderful walking along the river as everything was decorated for the winter holidays. A visit to the ACMI - formerly the Australian Centre for the Moving Image - was delightful with lots of hands-on activities. We had gotten a late start that day and didn't want to rush back to the bus station for the return trip to the ship, so we actually ended up walking the 7 miles or so back to the pier expecting to stop and call an uber somewhere along the way. We would have rented bikes and/or scooters which were plentiful on the sidewalks, but we had issues trying to download the app to pay for them.

Tasmania was a beautiful port - very lush and green. We had an excursion that took us to the Trout and Salmon Ponds, than on to to Mt. Field National Park. Both places were great. You can feed the fish at the ponds and it's crazy to see them jump out of the water for the food. At Mt. Field we did a short hike along a trail to some waterfalls. We could have enjoyed more time there, and moved on to a further waterfall. 

During the cruise we did some sightseeing through a couple sounds. Milford Sound and Dusky Sound were on different days. Dusky Sound was not on our itinerary, but our captain got clearance to take us through. Both mornings called for an early wake up to go out on the bow of the ship (normally closed to passengers) and enjoy the serenity of the sounds.

In Dunedin, our tour took us to the Otago Settlers Museum, Chinese Gardens and Larnach Castle. All of these were wonderful and full of history. 

In Picton, we simply walked along the waterfront and did some shopping.

Our tour in Napier took us through the Art Deco capital of the world, exclaiming over the detail of the old buildings that were built after much of the city had collapsed in an earthquake. We also saw the Sunken Gardens, a sculpture garden, a couple of lookouts like Bluff Hill, and a honey farm.

On our last day we opted for shore excursion that included a transfer to the airport. We had purposely booked a late flight so we could see some of Auckland before going home. Our excursion took us out to Waitomo to the Glow worm Caves.

All in all, it was a wonderful trip and I'd love to share in more detail with anyone looking for a vacation to Australia and New Zealand.