Australia
Victoria Dock

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    • Day 57

      Hobart, Tasmania. AU

      February 28 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 82 °F

      For some reason I overlooked this port. Nothing was planned.
      All ship tours were sold out. I found short one tour online to go to Mt. Wellington. Great, we can spent the rest of the day in the town.
      When we came to meet our tour, I asked if they have any afternoon options. They had a tour to historic Richmond Village and Bonorong sanctuary. Great, we will have one hour break between tour to grab some lunch.
      When we got on the bus, the tour guide/driver told us we can stay with him all day long. Some people were taking all day tour.

      The morning drive to Mt. Wellington took 30 min.

      The views from Mount Wellington are amazing. We were fortunate to have a lovely clear day and were able to wander around and see the views in all directions. The road up is narrow, steep, winding and 2 way traffic, including buses, so it's a bit hairy.

      We came back around noon and our next stop was The Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens. Beautifully manicured grounds, unfortunately we had only 40 min to walk around. We rushed to see beautiful Japanese gardens and rushed back to our bus.

      Fifteen minutes later we arrived to Richmond Village.

      The intact colonial-era town has more than 50 Georgian buildings, many operating as cafes, restaurants, galleries and accommodation. Richmond Bridge (1825) is the oldest bridge in Australia.
      We settle in one of this restaurants and has a great lunch. Unfortunately, that did not leave us time to explore the village.

      Back on the bus we went to the sanctuary. Lots of animals. The only probe it was an afternoon and quite warm and animals were resting and hiding from the sun. I had a chance to walk among kangaroos and feed them. Also we saw Tasmanian devil.

      Overall it was a good stop.

      We came back on the ship at 5:30PM, took a shower and were planning to go back on the shore (the ship was in port till 5:00AM next day), for dinner, but then we felt so tired and not very hungry and decided to have a light dinner on the ship and go to sleep. It was a good decision as around 6;30 there was a pouring rain and lightning.
      Tomorrow we have another port day.
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    • Day 27

      Bye Tassie, its been fab….

      March 10 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

      …….and hello NZ

      Having called the packing war a draw last night, this morning I noticed things still needing a space 🫤. I was sure there was no more room, but some small gaps had materialised as the bags settled over night, and the errant items were duly shoved in without ceremony.

      The taxi to the airport was quick, and we arrived before the check in opened (a first). Hobart airport is tiny, and everyone goes through security into the domestic area first. The international lounge is opened 90 mins before a flight is due to depart, and you have to go through another round of security shenanigans.

      We bumped into a familiar face from a couple of days ago, from the motor home drop off, which was cool (the one who’d been surprised by her family).

      Whilst we were waiting in domestics Col spied Mel & Shaun, whose flight had been delayed, so we had a good ol’ catch up with them too!

      The Air NZ flight was just over 3 hours, but we found ourselves in the ‘have nots’ camp. Seems you had to pre order meals, but as our flights were booked by Trailfinders, no meals were ordered for us. The smell of wafting food trays is always appetising when you’re in a plane, regardless of the actual meal, so it was torture to sit amongst the ‘haves’ as they merrily chomped through their Thai red curry etc!

      The online security and visa system (which we’d completed beforehand) worked really well and we were through security pretty fast, with our bags following quickly too.

      We sorted our NZ phone sims at the airport (with far less hassle than in Aus with Telstra) and emerged blinking in the late pm sun. Despite the flight being fairly short, we’d been in transit one way or another all day. I guess it gave us a chance to rest which was much needed.

      Our accom in Akl is very nice, great view from our room, I’m not sure how much it cost, as our whole trip is a package, but I suspect it was more pricy than we’d have normally gone for!
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    • Day 12

      Life aboard the Noordam

      February 1, 2020 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

      Settling nicely into our cruise ship - Holland America’s Noordam. It has had a recent makeover and looks fresh and very comfortable with all new carpets and furnishings. We have a nice stateroom on the Upper Verandah Deck, with a large balcony. The bathroom even has a small bath as well as a shower, although I don’t know if I would get out of it once in! We have bathrobes and Elemis toiletries which is nice. Given the number of sea days, we decided to buy the Green House Spa Package, featuring hot mosaic-tiled beds, thalassotherapy pool, steam rooms and sauna - lovely to relax in with views of the ocean.

      The entertainment is not as varied as Royal Caribbean, and the emphasis is on more classical tastes, with musicians performing on the intimate Lincoln Center Stage or in BB Kings Blues Club. The Duelling Pianos are also very popular. There are a number of Coffee and Chat sessions with the personable Cruise Director Chris (beep!). He delivered a very interesting audio-visual presentation on the history and development of the Holland America Line, including its role during the war transporting troops. Interesting to note that the line’s first ship - the Rotterdam - was built in 1872 in Renfrew! All very different from our usual fare, but very enjoyable. The first full show in the World Stage Theatre featured the singers and dancers in a tribute to Billboard hits, and was of a very high standard.

      The food so far has been outstanding. We have a lovely table for two in the dining room (how anti-social!), but usually go to the Lido buffet for breakfast - great variety including excellent omelettes.

      Our Captain’s welcome toast was a poignant occasion as the the officers and representatives of all departments came on stage to pay tribute to Captain John Scott in this his final voyage after 45 years before disembarking in his home city of Auckland. The Captain delivered a heartfelt speech. He finished by saying that, as we will have noticed, the first day at sea had been quite rocky, and we can all claim to have sailed through a hurricane - defined as 64 knots, when we had experienced 64.5 knots.

      All in all a very relaxing and pleasant start to the cruise. Just arrived in Hobart, Tasmania. The ship has docked within walking distance of the town so we are looking forward to exploring it - hopefully no Devils! 👿
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    • Day 9

      Seaplane

      February 21 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

      So the seaplane plan worked out! Had a fab 30 min flight over the bay this morning.

      The waters were crystal, the weather perfect, and the coastline just beautiful.

      The pilot works in Tassie in the summer and Alaska in the summer - the best of both worlds!Read more

    • Day 69

      Hobart

      March 15, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

      Après des jours et des jours de navigation, nous arrivons sur le continent Australien.
      A 07h00 notre navire est à quai à Hobart.
      Le ciel est dégagé, mais il fait frisquet ce matin , la température devrait grimper à 24deg cet après midi.
      Nous avons RdV à 08h30 au théâtre pour le départ de notre excursion.
      L’immigration Australienne n’est pas commode, une très longue attente pour sortir du port
      Vers 09h45 nous sommes finalement dans le bus qui nous conduit à la réserve animalière de Bonorong, le parc n’est pas grand mais abrite de nombreux Kangourous ainsi que des Diables de Tasmanie, qui trouvent ici un refuge et des soins.
      En début d’après midi nous prenons le Hop on Hop off bus pour visiter la ville. Hobart est une ville de taille moyenne, le quartier de Battery point est particulièrement joli avec ses belles maisons accrochées à flanc de colline. Nous terminons notre tour par le jardin botanique ainsi que la visite du petit quartier de Salamanca.
      En résumé une petite ville bien sympa avec un très joli port et des habitants très accueillants.
      Nous venons d’apprendre que suite au passage des cyclones sur le Vanuatu, notre escale à Port Vila est annulée. À la place nous ferons escale à Nouméa le 21/03. Départ à 19h00 pour Sidney.
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    • Day 42

      Hobart, TAS … Disembarking Regatta

      January 22 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 57 °F

      New-to-us-Port #13.

      Lucky 13 marks the end of our circumnavigation of Australia … and the beginning of our overland adventure Down Under.

      By disembarking in Hobart, we are adding a few zigs … a few zags … a few jigs to our circumnavigation. Eventually, we’ll make it back to Sydney to complete the circle.

      Captain Giulio brought Regatta alongside at the Macquarie Wharf around 11:00a.

      Having already enjoyed the yummy brunch goodies in the GDR, Mui and I were in the card room as instructed by the purser’s office … waiting to complete the early-disembarkation formalities.

      Australia has strict biosecurity laws. In fact, the first announcement at every Australian port we’ve called on has been a reminder not to take any food products ashore. To permanently disembark with our luggage, first our bags had to go through a check for any contraband. We were good … the food items in our possession were all purchased in Australia.

      The biosecurity check complete, next we had a quick face-to-face meeting with an Australian Border Forces agent. Easy peasy.

      Once the formalities were completed, we were required to disembark the ship … and not allowed to return. So, we bid our friends farewell, scanned out one last time, and made our way down the gangway.
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    • Day 14

      Handsome Hobart

      February 3, 2020 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

      We had a long time available ashore today - from 8am till 11pm. Tasmania’s capital city, Hobart, lies nestled between the peak of Mount Wellington and the River Derwent. A city of only 220,000, it is an attractive place with a dark history - apparently 80% of Hobartians are descended from the convicts sent here in the 19th century. Many of the warehouses around the port and Salamanca / Battery Point area have been gentrified, and there is now an abundance of coffee shops, restaurants and boutique hotels.

      We decided to take a hop-on, hop-off bus again to get an overview. The temperature had dropped to a cool 15 degrees (when we have been used to 30-40), and I needed my zipper for the first time. We were reminded that Hobart has strong connections with Antarctica (‘Oh, please!’ as the Drowsy Chaperone would say).

      We visited the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens and enjoyed a pleasant walk around. Hobart is an interesting place to visit and spend some more time in.

      As we will be at sea / cruising fjords for the next 3 days it is unlikely I will be able to post any updates. Please be patient and normal service will be resumed as soon as possible. 😘
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    • Day 126

      Sunny afternoons

      January 28, 2023 in Australia

      Spent my afternoon after the Markets, wandering around the city. It is somehow bigger than I expected and smaller. It is my very spread out, across the river and up the mountain. But also very easy to walk around and the central area is a lot easier than I expected.

      The first photo is the view from my new room. I have a window right next to my bed and a very pretty view of the church. The rest are of different parts of the city. I found two more parks that I liked. One had a big fountain in the middle and is right near my hostel. And another that sits atop a 'hill' next to the river. The war memorial sits atop it and it has a great view of the river and city, as well as Kunyani. The sun sets behind the mountain and is so pretty.

      Also saw some cute statues down in the port. And there was a random lama in the middle of the city. And the video is of my room. The window is on my left and all the other beds are through in the other room. Doesn't reay feel like I have roommates.
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    • Day 69

      In Tasmanien angekommen

      March 15, 2023 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

      Heute schon im Dunkeln angekommen.
      Ziemliche Schlange beim Einlass nach Australien, wir sind zum Glück etwas später dran.

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