Melbourne (Pronounced Melban)

We are in Melbourne today. Did a four hour guided walking tour all around the city center. Sydney had seemed a little overwhelming, since we were on our own. We enjoyed it thoroughly, but we didn't quite know how to approach seeing the city. What we did see was great, but we felt like we had only skimmed the surface. That is most definitely all we did in Melbourne too, but with a guide, we came away really having enjoyed all we saw and having had the chance to ask lots of questions along the way.

I won't attempt to describe everything pictured below, but you may enjoy seeing the architecture and some of the sights, and there are a few shots of us in the mix. I did add a few comments here and there.

Inside a very old shopping mall.

A giant coin purse––one of the city's many public works of art.

See the platypuses on the fountain below?

Great public transportation, and free!

Uniforms seem to be standard for school children, both in AU and NZ.

Helpful information volunteers at nearly every corner.

We bought lunch from a street vendor selling terrific burgers and fries. This is Maddie, who made our burgers.

We sat with the local couple at the right of this picture and had our lunch with them while we chatted about their fine city.

Mickey D's by another name here!

Sydney

A couple of asides first. I love watching the pilot boats assist as we enter and depart ports. Then there is the part of the process where the pilot boat comes along side as we are steaming away, and the actual pilot leaves our big ship and jumps aboard the pilot ship through a side hatch. I always think that takes some bravery and some careful timing.

Our past two days were at sea crossing the Tasman Sea on our way to Sydney. One of the things to do onboard is to watch a glass blowing demonstration. The day we went, the four kids who are onboard came too. They had drawn things they would like to see the glass blowers make, and so they chose to make "Alice the Peacock" for one little Chinese girl. It was pretty impressive to see this done from scratch.

We arrived in Sydney, AU this morning at 6:30AM. Our ship is parked directly across from the famous Sydney Opera House.

We did a harbor tour first, and I got this photo from that tour boat. The city is quite impressive.

You may have heard of the opportunity to walk the arch of the harbor bridge. You can see a few brave souls up at the top as we passed below.

After the harbor tour, we took a tour of the Opera House. Wow! What an amazing facility. We got to see the two main halls and even heard a brief bit of a rehearsal by the Australia Symphony.

The interior is a study in interesting architecture. How do you like the all purple carpet?

Later, we walked through a bit of the botanical garden and noticed lots of wild cockatoos flying about. Noisy show offs!

At sea again tomorrow and then Melbourne.

Dusky, Doubtful, and Milford Sounds

These sounds on the southwestern coast of the south island of New Zealand have rain and fog more than two thirds of each year. So, we were extraordinarily lucky to have a beautiful sunny day for our cruising of this majestic area. Though called sounds, these many inlets into the surrounding national park are really fjords, where the sea has entered areas carved by glaciers long gone. We have been in fjords in Norway and in the archipelago area leading into Stockholm, but these fjords are the most amazing we have ever seen. They have remained completely untouched over thousands of years, even since Captain Cook discovered them. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. I took lots, but you will get the idea. We are now crossing the Tasman Sea on our way to Sydney, which we will reach in two more days.

Dunedin and Taieri Gorge Train Ride

When we arrived in Dunedin early today, I watched this tug assist us into port. The dock was covered with pine logs that are a major industry in NZ. These, I understand, will become paper. These pines mature in only 20 years here, due to the climate, though they would take 60 years or more in the US. (All this according to someone we asked about them.)

Today's excursion was a train ride from Dunedin up through Taieri Gorge. The pictures below will give you some idea of what we saw. Amazing vistas, lots of tunnels, several trestles, and two fun stops.

The end point was at Pukerangi where a kind gentleman took this picture for us.

The originating station at Dunedin is said to be the most photographed building in New Zealand and possibly in the entire southern hemisphere. The tiles on the wall are Royal Dalton.

After, we toured the city and enjoyed stops in the botanical gardens and at several other impressive areas of the city. Tomorrow we cruise the fjords on the west coast of NZ.

Akaroa, New Zealand

Yesterday was spent completely at sea. There are lots of fun things to do onboard ship, so we enjoyed lots of activities and conversations with other guests. Many are from the UK, it seems, and we have enjoyed visiting with them. Dinner last night was the first of several formal seatings, so we donned suits and ties and fancy dresses for dinner. After, there was an excellent musical show in the theater, preceded by the captain introducing his staff and offering a toast to all of us.

Today, we were in Akaroa, NZ, a small, originally French village along the coast. There is no dock here, so the ship anchored in the bay, and tenders (lifeboats in other situations) took groups of us back and forth to the town. I got a couple shots of the ship during our tender ride.

And, I did an official selfie of us as we rode along atop the tender. It was all sunshine and blue skies today.

Here is what a tender looks like. This one was heading back to the ship as we headed to town.

And here are a couple pictures of the village. We enjoyed several hours there, just strolling along the streets and stopping in the many shops. Lots of restaurants were available, and we stopped at one for a beverage and some fish chowder, which was quite fresh and interesting.

Tomorrow we will be in Dunedin and have a day-long train ride through the more mountainous scenery of the south NZ island.

Hobbit Movie Set

Yesterday, we did our first shore excursion, this one to the actual movie set for the filming of scenes in Hobbiton for both The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies. Those of you who love these stories as much as I do and as my children and grandchildren do (or will) would find this set more than charming. Lots of Hobbit holes are built into a little glen, and all are authentic looking and detailed. We heard many fun stories about the filming of the movies here. You can learn more about the movie set, which is now essentially a major tourist attraction, by clicking here. In the interests of conserving my precious on-ship Internet minutes over a very slow satellite connection, I'll save the stories until we are together sometime. For now, just enjoy these pictures.

We enjoyed a great show onboard last night and then a good dinner. We are at sea today, so this calls for relaxing and games. Tomorrow we reach Akaroa, New Zealand.