Dunedin was the home of Robert Burns and his statue sits prominently in the center of this quaint New Zealand city. Some people took a train tour, although we decided to do our own thing again. The train comes directly to the port to pick up passengers. It was a strange site to wake up in the morning, look outside and there was a ten car train parked right beside the entire 1,000 foot length of the ship.
From Dunedin we cruised roughly 350 miles to the Fiordlands at the southern tip of the south island. The scenery was beautiful, some of it near breathtaking. I have seem some debates in blogs about whether it is more or less beautiful than the fiords of Norway. Consensus seems to be that they are very similar but that the lushness of the vegetation on the sides of the mountains is greater in New Zealand. There were waterfalls gushing out from the highest levels pouring down into the Milford Sound.The ship went into the Sound as far as possible and turned around. At the time it did not look like the available width was enough to allow the enormous ship to make the turn. There was excellent commentary from the onboard naturalist which could be heard from open decks, as well as via your stateroom TV.
From the Fiordlands it was out to the open Ocean again, into the Tasman sea. The path was nearly due west and gale force winds plus rough seas (waves 20+ feet high) made for some unpleasant sailing. Between this and the Norovirus there were hundreds of sick people on board. Hobart was the first port in Australia, so we had to go through immigration. The line was long and the process not automated. Everyone had to get off the ship and clear immigration, even if they did not plan a shore excursion. Still wondering how the quarantined persons with Norovirus were handled. We took an excursion to Bonorong Wildlife Park — and wildlife there was aplenty. The kangaroos were jumping all over the park and snacks could be purchased to feed them. The park had many other interesting species including koala bears, walabes, wombats and Tasmanian Devils. I knew the latter from cartoons but had never seen a live one. They are nasty critters. The Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) cannot be mistaken for any other marsupial. Its spine-chilling screeches, black color, and reputed bad-temper, led the early European settlers to call it The Devil. Although only the size of a small dog, it can sound and look incredibly fierce. It ate a eviscerated rabbit, skin and bones, for lunch.
The 500 mile cruise from Tasmania on a northwestward trajectory brought us to Melbourne. There was a lot to see in Melbourne and you could easily spend many days there. We visited Melbourne’s shopping mecca, the Queen Victoria Market. The historic landmark is the largest open air market in the southern hemisphere. Officially opened in 1878, the multi-square block covered market sells meat products, fruit and vegetables, clothing, shoes, baggage, toys, pets, travel goods, jewelry and just about anything you can imagine. Some of the meat and fish items I saw there I could not imagine.
Downtown Melbourne was quite modern and full of action. A highlight of the entire trip was lunch at Cookie. Their business card — they have no website — says "Beer Hall, Eating House, Disco". The Thai food was great and the New Zealand wines and local beers were outstanding. The bar was the largest I have ever seen anywhere in the world. (Cookie is at 252 Swanston Street, Melbourne Victoria Australia +03 9663 7660)
The final leg of the journey was the 625 miles along the southeastern coast of Australia to Sydney. The most interesting part was the first ninety minutes which is how long it took for the ship to break loose of the intense winds to get free of the dock. Two huge tugboats plus the engines and bow thrusters of the Sapphire eventually won out. It was quite an experience to watch. We woke in the morning to a view of the amazing Sydney Harbor Bridge and the famous Opera House. There was no time in Sydney, because we had to immediately go the airport and fly to Auckland. Fortunately, I had been to Sydney a few times before and my wife and I were there for two weeks during the Olympic Games in 2000. From Auckland we flew to Los Angeles and then home. The return trip was approximately thirty six hours. In spite of a few inconveniences and a lot of travel overhead, it was a trip I will always cherish.