Reset search
Dream vacationDream vacation
SatelliteEdit route

Dream vacation

March - April 2023
I never thought this early in life that I'd be going on my dream vacation. The opportunity arose last June, and I couldn't turn it down.
I'm starting in Auckland, New Zealand and will end in Sydney, Australia. Read more
  • 32footprints
  • 3countries
  • 21days
  • 396photos
  • 9videos
  • 13.8kmiles
  • 12.3kmiles
Follow Calendar Share Bucket list
Date ascending
  • TravelerDream vacation
    112
    Day 6

    Tauranga Facts and Scenery

    March 26, 2023, South Pacific Ocean ⋅ ⛅ 63 °F

    Lots of information learned as we headed to Skyline Luge. Once again, I took notes to share all the neat things I learned about Tauranga, NZ.
    Also, the first couple of pictures are the sunrise from my walk around the promenade.

    ▪︎Taraunga is the 5th largest city in the country. It is the fastest growing city right now though, especially among young families.
    ▪︎The $2-10 million NZD houses are the ones that face the water.
    ▪︎The beaches and parking are free. You also don't need a license for a boat or to fish unless it's trout, which is found in Lake Rotaura.
    ▪︎There are 400 golf courses in the country; the most in the world.
    ▪︎Three whales legend: a family of whales (mom, dad, baby) got tired and stopped for a rest, but the water receded before they could get back out. They drank some of the water around them, and the water turned them to stone. The 3 hills are said to be their bodies.
    ▪︎In NZ, there are 5 million people; 2.9 million registered cars, the highest per capita in the world. However, there are lots of older model cars as they don't trade them in as often as us Americans. They prefer to keep a car as long as possible.
    ▪︎7 sheep per every human in the country.
    ▪︎cattle (beef and dairy) is their biggest export. There's 4 cows per human.
    ▪︎Kiwis (the fruit) are not native to NZ, but someone traveled to China centuries ago and was given kiwi seeds. After 4-5 years, they took root.
    ▪︎Kiwis are handpicked. They bring in about 25k people from the islands to harvest kiwis. These workers live in communal homes in the orchards. The harvest is 3-4 months long.
    ▪︎There are 3 types of kiwis: sun gold, green, and ruby red. The ruby red is a newer variety with many health benefits.
    ▪︎NZ is a large exporter of timber, a $5-6 billion industry! The timber is sold in volume primarily to Asian countries.
    ▪︎The last spot after Skyline Luge was Government Gardens. Lots of battles fought here among the Maori tribes and Europeans. As with any fighting way back when, it was over land. At the end of the last battle, whoever was in charge stated in a treaty that this particular section of land should remain a public place for the world to enjoy.

    If you've gotten to the end of this, note that I learned all this in the 75-minute bus ride to Skyline Luge. I typed it all up on the 75-minute ride back. 😁    Read more

  • TravelerDream vacation
    Day 6

    Tauranga: Gondola and Luge Excursion

    March 26, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 64 °F

    Oh what a fun afternoon this was.
    I took a gondola ride to and from the luge tracks. We got back to the top of the track via chair lift.
    We got 3 runs on whichever of the 5 tracks we wanted. I chose the tiki track twice to get the hang of it before venturing to a more advanced one.
    Totally enjoyable.    Read more

  • TravelerDream vacation
    11
    Day 7

    Napier

    March 27, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 59 °F

    Not much in Napier today. We had an excursion, but it was canceled. We are also only in port for 4 hours today. We took the shuttle into city centre. I chose to work for just over an hour; I have to work a total of 8 hours over 2 weeks, so I can have a couple days to recover from the travel back to the States.
    I did a 3 mile walk this morning around the promenade deck. I'm sharing sunrise pictures with each passing lap, so you see the progression.
    Also, Napier had a Starbucks, though I told the barista what I wanted exactly, it still didn't come out as I wanted... too bitter.
    Lastly, the ocean view - this is what I looked at while working... not a bad view if you choose to work.
    Tomorrow, we're off to Picton    Read more

  • TravelerDream vacation
    2
    Day 8

    Picton

    March 28, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 61 °F

    Today's port was Picton.
    As I mentioned previously, one of New Zealand's main exports is timber. Here is one of the yards that holds the timber and fills orders. The ship was docked next to the yard, so lunch was spent watching them move logs from one pile to another and then stacking the logs higher.
    We also went into the city centre of Picton. It was small and quaint with several little shops and restaurants.

    In the afternoon, I went Marlborough to visit a vineyard and go to a chocolate factory Makana where no chocolate is molded. It's either rolled into balls by hand or cut with a knife.
    I also learned a few more facts about the cities:
    ▪︎First, the railroad here has narrow rails since they go through lots of tunnels (video 1). Thus, the freight cars are narrower too.
    ▪︎Ferry has been going since 1962 (previously steam ships). It takes people, their vehicles, and railcars also ride right onto the ferry as well!
    ▪︎Willow trees were planted to help with erosion a few decades ago. However, they've spread like wildfire causing them to affect the wetlands. They have to "kill" the new sprouts, but they keep the native willow trees. In the video (2nd one), the sticks seen/recorded are the willows that were killed. It rained this afternoon, so it was a challenge to get good pictures.
    The chocolate was good. 😁    Read more

  • TravelerDream vacation
    Day 9

    Windy Wellington was too windy to dock

    March 29, 2023 in New Zealand

    We were supposed to dock in Wellington today, but the winds and storm did not permit us to do so. We had quite a rocky ride from Picton to Lyttleton; Lyttleton being our next port of call. When I mean windy, the wind was about 17 knots (24 mph) and 6-10 ft waves. Fun times. Thankfully, the dramamine did its job.
    We got moving for breakfast finally and sat up there for 3.5 hours and talked with a nice couple for the last hour. We came back to the room around 11 and took a nap. When we got up, it was time for lunch.
    After lunch, I decided to hit the hot tub, read, and enjoy the sauna a bit too.
    By the time, we docked in Lyttleton about 12 hours earlier than scheduled, we got clearance to go off ship. After dinner, Ms. Cinda and I ventured to Lyttleton, which was a quaint little town with nothing open and super windy. 🤷‍♀️
    It was good to get off ship for a bit and get our legs under us. Tomorrow, we venture to a wine tasting. Hopefully, I'll have lots to report and show from that excursion. 😀    Read more

  • TravelerDream vacation
    Day 10

    Waipara Wine Tour Pt. 1

    March 30, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 46 °F

    Caught a rainbow as we were leaving port and heading to wine country.

    First winery today was Waipara Hills. It was started in '96 by an American radiologist who had money but not any knowledge of starting or growing a vineyard. Though he sold it 6 years later, the growers have remained the same. They primarily grow white wine grapes being more of cold climate growers. The vineyard is a total of 500 acres now from the 100 acres it originally started with. We sampled their premium line Saving Grace.Read more

  • TravelerDream vacation
    Day 10

    Waipara Wine Tour Pt. 2

    March 30, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌬 55 °F

    Not too many pictures here. Waipara Springs was stop #2.
    This winery has been around for now 4 generations, and it's the longest family winery in the region.
    We tasted 5 wines here. One of them being a Rose', which they have labeled as Moore Rose' because the family surname is Moore. In addition, the joke goes, if you want another glass, you say, "More Rose'".
    We also had lunch here. It was quite the platter, but I didn't have the mussel? or the pate's.    Read more

  • TravelerDream vacation
    1
    Day 10

    Waipara Wine Tour Pt. 3

    March 30, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌬 55 °F

    Stop #3 is to Torlesse Wines
    Here, I samplee 5 more wines... let's just say all of us on the bus back to Christchurch are a bit schnockered. I believe we sampled at least 15 wines between 3 wineries.
    Torlesse Wines has been around for 30 years here in Waipara Valley. They especially in just white wines but also dessert, and is the only one that makes a port.

    The sun has finally made an appearance and has warmed us up a bit (or it's the wine that has warmed us up).    Read more

  • TravelerDream vacation
    Day 11

    Larnach Castle

    March 31, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 57 °F

    Took an excursion to Larnach Castle

    William Larnach was doing quite well and needed to move his family of 7 (5 children) out of the small apartment in city centre to the countryside. He was doing quite well for himself in the financial district and wood industry (hence the hardwoods and ceilings in the house). The castle didn't stay in the family though, and after several decades, a couple on their honeymoon bought the house in 1967 and have worked on restoration of it since.
    On the very top is a turret to get a walk around view of both the Pacific Ocean and the harbor aka Port Chalmers where the cruise ship entered and docked. The stairs to get up to the top was a narrow spiral stone stairway but definitely worth the climb.    Read more

  • TravelerDream vacation
    11
    Day 11

    Otago

    March 31, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 61 °F

    As we headed out to Larnach's Castle, we got quite a bit of a good info and some nice views of the area. As before, I am going to list all the fun facts, and hope you enjoy them.
    ▪︎We came into Port Chalmers, which much like the ship, the early settlers came into as well.
    ▪︎Several of those settling here were whalers and sealers and obviously set up on the coast to do their job
    ▪︎When the settlers returned to Britain, they spread news about this new place, but Edinburgh, Scotland residents heard the most of this new state Otago and thus settled here and named the city Dunedin: Edinburgh of the South.
    ▪︎Much like in California, there was a gold rush here that brought more people to the area. Dunedin became a fast growing city.
    ▪︎ But with any new city-settlement, supplies were needed. Instead of going to the UK or Australia to obtain these goods, they decided to make thenitems themselves from buttons to locomotives.
    ▪︎However, as the north end of the island started to be built up in the 20th century, Dunedin lost its appeal. The city didn't grow as fast as it once had. Some companies moved up in that direction as well. Dunedin is known as the heritage capital of the island.
    ▪︎The rugby stadium that is pictured is now the new "Cathedral". It holds between 30-35k fans. When it isn't holding a rugby match, it is an entertainment venue much like in the States.
    ▪︎University of Otago was the first established university in the area and is the home to 30k students, 80% of the student body coming from out of town.
    ▪︎There's 2 pictures of Cabbage Street. This street is the steepest in the world with a 1:3 ratio as you climb up it. Fun fact: once a year, the candy company makes 30k jaffers wrapped in orange foil (size of a marble) to race down the hill. Each jaffer is numbered, and people buy however many jaffers they wish to see if their jaffer wins - gets down the hill first... they end up in a funnelnso the first one out of the funnel is the winner.
    ▪︎The houses here aren't as high priced as in Auckland. Mid-level suburban home runs about $600k NZD, so about $400k USD or a little less. Seems about right in our current market.
    ▪︎Dunedin used to have the busiest train station running about 100 trains a day. Now, no passenger trains except for tours; now primarily freight. They did have the last built locomotive engine out but in a shed, but I didn't see it until I was back on the bus.

    Those are all the fun facts to Dunedin... that I wrote down anyway.

    I am at sea for the next 3 days. We are headed up to Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. I won't be sharing until I get there.
    Hope you've enjoyed my New Zealand adventures. Time to go to Australia for more adventures.    Read more

  • 2024© FindPenguins
  • Home
  • About us
  • Blog
  • Group Tracking
  • Press
  • Terms
  • Privacy Policy & Cookies
  • Support
  • Legal notice
  • English