Monday Jan 26, 2026 Napier to Hamilton

It was nice in Napier (no rain), worthy of a last walk downtown to the Sunrise coffee shop for tea, coffee and a shared almond butterscotch muffin. Then we plotted the course for Hamilton after a stop to fill the tank. We are seeing gas here for $2.50 per liter which equates to about $5.50 USD per gallon. But the Prius C (Aqua down here) gets 50-55 mpg so it's not too expensive.

We downloaded “The Hobbit” as an audio and played it today since we are in Hobbitland. Maybe we will watch it on the plane tomorrow?

We stopped part way and had coffee and tea and pies for lunch.

Goodbye Flat Whites..

Deb found a museum in Hamilton (Classics Museum) which has some beautifully restored trucks, motorcycles, scooters, toys, garage stuff, you name it. Obviously someone spent endless money and time restoring these old cars and trucks. A little hurt by them restoring a 1972 Datsun B110, but I guess I gotta deal with that.

We had a little time so we went to the Hamilton Zoo, which was very high quality. Lots of exotic animals that are very well kept. We heard the new polite term for being old enough to get a discount. It’s called “Premium Youth Pass”. The guy taking the money was very funny. And you bet we took the discount!!

After the zoo we found the hotel (Hamilton Motel) and checked in and then walked a little down the street to The Helm Bar and Kitchen which was great. After dinner we looked in the local Pak & Save store (mini Costco) to find some local chocolate assortments but no luck. We tried another corner store but no luck there. Maybe tomorrow.

Back to the room where we are getting everything packed for tomorrow where we hope to drop off the car, get a shuttle to the airport to check our bags, then get an Uber into town to catch a museum. Stay tuned..

Sunday Jan 25 2026 Napier day 2

It felt good to stay put today. Our scheme to stay out of the rain has been successful. Slept in and walked down the street to a coffee place (there is one on every corner here) and got coffee and tea and split a muffin. Today’s adventure is to go to the town next door, Hastings, to the weekly Sunday Hawkes Bay farmers market. It seems a very popular spot since there were a couple of hundred cars parked in the field next door and hundreds of people milling around. The musicians were just setting up so we were a little early. This farmers market has a focus on fruits and veggies with some local honey, cutting boards, baked goods, meat, cheese, you name it.

Deb picked up some fruit and some kettle corn (remember we pack our suitcases in two days..) which we promise to eat before we leave.

We then drove to a local winery for a wine and beer tasting. The ginger beer was pretty good but the others were so-so. Deb found a wine or two she liked but not enough to buy a bottle (remember the airplane thing). They had a couple on stage providing music and within an hour of when we arrived the place was packed with friends, families, kids, a real local event. We decided to order a flatbread pizza and soak in the nice vibe here.

Then back to Napier where Deb hit the info center and did some gift shopping in town while I walked up the Marine Parade (walkway next to the beach) and soaked in some sun.

After some down time we walked to an Irish pub (The Rose) and had a nice meal and drinks, then a walk down the beach to see the sunken garden and our last view of the ocean before heading back inland tomorrow.

Every place we go we're impressed with the “public wealth”, that is, clean working public bathrooms, well maintained walking and biking trails, town centers with plants and flowers. Nicely done New Zealand.

Then off to bed. Tomorrow we drive to Hamilton partly using the same twisty road we came into Napier on. Goodbye ocean!!

Saturday Jan 24, 2026 Ohope to Napier

Deb here. So this morning the big discussion was where to go next, given the weather. Unfortunately Ocean View was fully booked tonight, so one way or another we had to move on. 

We walked to the Quay Cafe in town for a flat white, chai latte and date scones while we pondered our options. We met a lovely younger couple who owned a house in Ohope Beach and lived there for many years, but now their permanent residence is Auckland. They’d raised their daughters in Ohope and plan to move back at some point. We talked with them for some ideas, thinking maybe we’d go north to Tauranga, although the recent devastating landslide that tore through a campground means a lot of chaos. As we looked at the weather it looked like driving to Napier might be our best option. The other couple gave us some ideas of what to do along the way, suggesting a walk around Blue Lake (Lake Tikitapu). They also filled us in that Glynnis, the owner of the Ocean View, is mom to the most celebrated Kiwi Olympian ever, a kayaker named Lisa Carrington. Once back at the Ocean View we talked with Glynnis and sure enough, her daughter has won 8 Olympic gold medals and will be competing again at the LA Olympics in 2028. Who knew?!

By about 10 am we were on the road. We decided to take our cafe friends’ advice, and made the short detour to Blue Lake. It was about a 4 mile walk around the lake and beautiful in the bush. There were lots of people out and about since it was Saturday, in spite of a bit of rain along the way. There was also a triathlon for all ages that morning, so many families were around.

By the time we finished it was after 1, so we stopped at a cafe attached to a gardening store for a late lunch. Boy, do I love toasties! Such a comfort food, this one with ham, cheese and tomato. John was excited about “breakfast all day” on the menu, so he tried the pancakes with fruit.

Back on the road, we took the 160km, twisty road to Napier. There were no services on this road but we had enough gas to make it. The road was beautiful and partly flat paddocks with sheep or beef grazing and partly twisty mountain road. New Zealand has very good roads. We passed a lot of stands of trees planted for commercial harvest. Our tour guide the other day said it takes 30 years of growth before they harvest the trees and ship them to China.

We arrived at Napier by 5. I’d reserved a room in The Dome, an art deco building right across from the I-Site we’d visited on our ship stop. We have quite a luxurious spot for a couple of nights and it felt good to know we’d have a day not to travel anywhere too far.

By 6:30 we walked out looking for dinner, and John found a pasta restaurant called Ilona Pasta and they were booked until 7:15, so we went down the street for a drink. I found the Peach Bomb on tap and John ordered an IPA. Fun to sit on the street and watch the action. At 7:15 we went back to the restaurant and had a great dinner. Salad to share, garlic bread and two pasta dishes. It’s a family run place, the two daughters of the owners (Ilo and Ona) were taking orders and waiting tables in the small restaurant while their dad cooked and their mom managed the front of house. One of the daughters is only 8 and the other’s 13, but they were both really charming.

A walk back through town and bed by 9 pm. Glad to see the sun again!

Friday Jan 23, 2026 Tongariro National Park Village to Ohope

 

OK, time to find some sunshine. The news is full of reports of mudslides, flooding and closed roads all over the island. A mudslide destroyed a campground under Mount Maunganui just outside the town of Tauranga with a couple dead and several missing so far.

 We checked the weather on the entire north island to see where we might find some sun and the east coast seems the most likely, and the most likely place is in the Bay of Plenty where Deb found a nice, inexpensive hotel, the Ocean View Motel, right on the beach in a little town on the east coast called Ohope Beach. The only bright spot in this foul weather is that many Kiwis are not out and about and there are plenty of vacancies.

We left on the early side and planned on a breakfast stop somewhere on the way. We also needed gas. The little Prius is getting about 55 mpg so the tank is small. Taupo is a good sized city and we filled up the car and found The Garden Cafe, a nice little cafe for an eggs and toast kind of breakfast. Sure enough as we got further east, the rains slowed down and by the time we arrived in Ohope, all the rain had stopped and the sun came out.

We got settled in and then walked down the beach in the warm sunshine and a steady but comfortable wind. The beach is very wide here and probably 4 miles long or so. We walked 2 miles or so down the beach into town and got a cider and a beer, then walked back to the hotel stopping at a couple of restaurants along the way to see what we could do for dinner tonight. 

After a little rest we took the car back into town to the Mexican restaurant, Cadera's, which had very nice tacos. After dinner we found a short trail up a mountain nearby to get a birds eye view of the shore and surrounding bays and mountains. After that we toured the rest of the peninsula which makes up the town and then back to the hotel.

Tomorrow morning we will look at the weather again to determine where to go. Stay tuned.

Thursday Jan 22, 2026 Tongariro National Park Village

Deb here. Yep, another rainy day again. This was supposed to be my big Tongariro Alpine Crossing hike day but no chance of that! We had a great breakfast in the Lodge at 8:30, and then packed up for an excursion. We spoke briefly with a British man at breakfast, who’d hiked the Tongariro Crossing on Monday and said he saw absolutely nothing due to the heavy fog and mist. And apparently the trail wasn’t considered safe yesterday so it was closed. I guess it just wasn’t meant to be.

First up was a short walk into Tawhai Falls, the site that was used for Gollum’s Pool in the Lord of the Rings movies. In spite of the rainy day there were 2 large buses parked at the trailhead as well, so it must be a popular spot for LOTR fans. With all the rain the falls were really roaring.

Next we went to the National Park Visitor’s Center in Tongariro Park and it ended up being a great visitor’s center. Lots of info about volcanic activity in New Zealand, including a really good movie giving an overview about volcanoes on the island.

From there we drove about half an hour down the road to Tokaanu for the thermal pools there. Along the way the skies briefly cleared at a lookout over LakeTaupo and we took in the scenery. Once at the thermal pools, we reserved a private hot pool for 20 minutes, which entitled us to a dip in the larger pool after. All for $12 NZD ($7 USD)/person. Not a fancy place, but pretty nice to have 2 soaks.

By this time it was 1 p.m. and we decided to get a coffee/tea. We went into nearby Turangi and found a cafe called Hydro, where we had a flat white, iced chai latte and a ham/cheese/tomato toastie. Once again really tasty and very reasonable.

 We stopped at the nearby historic train station on the way back to the Lodge and learned it’s now a cafe serving dinners several times a week. Once back we took advantage of the free laundry service to do a load of clothes and John caught up with his brother.

Closer to 5 p.m. we walked the .4 miles (yes, still in some rain) to The Station Cafe for a really delicious dinner. Salads, a split chicken burger and fries, local beer and wine, followed up by an excellent (shared) roasted banana pudding with butterscotch sauce, coffee and tea.

Back to the Lodge (yay, no rain on the way back!) for the evening. Fingers crossed we’ll find some sun tomorrow!

Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026 Auckland to Tongariro National Park Village (Tongariro Crossing Lodge)

Deb here. After enjoying the breakfast buffet at Auckland City Hotel (John was thrilled to try an automated pancake maker!) we took an Uber to our car rental spot near the Auckland Airport. By 10:30 a.m. we had the keys to a Toyota Prius C, same car we drive at home. This made the whole driving on the left side of the road thing a bit easier to handle for John.

The weather here is actually pretty comical. We are in the midst of heavy rains, all over the country, which is pretty unexpected for this time of year in NZ. The locals are frustrated because this is supposed to be the height of their summer, and instead there’s flooding, roads getting washed out, mudslides, etc. Nothing we can do to control the weather, but our goal for our remaining days in NZ is to seek some sun.

The only plans I’d made for our last week in NZ was to reserve a place at Tongariro Crossing Lodge for 2 nights. The Lodge is near the trailheads for the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, a 12-mile spectacular hike that’s listed as one of the best dayhikes in the world. As it turns out, this weather makes the hike out of the question, but off we headed for our accommodation.

We had about a 3.5 hour drive from Auckland, and although it was a rainy and cloudy day, the countryside was beautiful. Lots of rolling, green hills with so many cattle and sheep. We stopped at a roadside cafe along the way at lunchtime and split a meat pie and enjoyed a flat white and chai latte. Cell service was pretty good and we chatted with Hannah along the way. She and Erick had hiked the Tongariro Alpine Crossing in 2019, so she knew the area we were traveling into.

Heavy rain and wind when we checked into the Lodge at 3:45. The Lodge recently built a series of 6 efficiency apartments in 3 duplexes and we’re in one of those. Really sweet accommodation with simple design but well thought out. We finally had a chance to facetime with Jake, Nath and the twins.

In the evening we went to dinner at Schnapps, kind of like a ski lodge bar, just down the road. By this time it was raining and blowing so hard that we took the car instead of making the short walk. We each had a pint (mine with Monteith’s cider and John’s with a local IPA) and had their soups of the day (mushroom/blue cheese and pumpkin/feta) for dinner. Perfect on this cold and rainy evening.

Back to our place for a bit of TV watching and bed. We checked out weather in the area and think we have a plan to find the sun on Friday, fingers crossed. 

Tuesday Jan 20, 2026 Off the ship in Auckland

Today they booted us off the ship. Our bags disappeared last night and reappeared on the dock this morning. We got our last breakfast and then our last coffee, said goodbye to a lot of new friends and new acquaintances and walked off the ship around 8:15.

Our yellow van pulled up around 8:45 and there were three other people on the same tour, Dave, Vanessa, her son Sebastian, us and the driver/tour guide Mike.

Mike had a whole day planned for us today in spite of the constant drizzle. It seems we ended the trip with a solid week of rain ahead of us, bummer.

But Mike did not disappoint and everyone on board was up for the soggy challenge.

We got an all day tour of all the beaches and neighborhoods and fancy houses and simple houses all around Auckland. 

We visited the glass houses that had beautiful flowers and plants inside. Mike took us to a volcano where we had to hike in the rain to the top and get an up high view of the Auckland skyline, including the iconic space needle.

We stopped at a high hill where in the 1800’s they dug tunnels to house giant retracting guns for fear of Russian ships bombing the city (a false fear of course).

We did a wine tasting at a vineyard followed by lunch where we got to catch our breath, dry out a little, and get to know each other. Dave is on his honeymoon to his second wife. His first wife passed away a few years past and he found a new love. Very sweet. Vanessa and her son are from Mexico City and the 16 year old son is starting school in Auckland for three months so mom is spending some time here and then going home.

Mike was a salesman for 30 years and this is his retirement gig.

On the way back we stopped at the sailing place where the Americas Cup team is based. There are three thousand boats here, none of them out today because of the high winds.

Mike dropped us all off in town at our prospective hotels mid afternoon. We're staying at the Auckland City Hotel and we rested and dried out a bit and then went downstairs for dinner then bed. This next week we will seek the sunshine somewhere on the North Island, we hope.

A fond memory..

Monday Jan 19, 2026 Bay of Islands

It is a drizzly, windy day but a nice temperature. We anchored in the bay and the tenders started running first thing. The tender ride today was much calmer than two days ago so no free roller coaster ride. Once off the tender we took the short shuttle across the bridge and across the bay into the closest town, Piahia. We found a coffee shop and walked around town. We took the ferry to Russell across the bay. The ferry boat is a one man operation with the pilot, a young guy, doing all the lines and driving the boat. 

Russell is an old whaling town and had a reputation of being a rough place back in the day. Now there is a nice promenade along the shore and various holiday homes rising from the brown sand/gravel beach up the nearby hills. Nobody was swimming as it’s a miserable day. The water temperature is probably 70-72 degrees.

We toured the very tidy and organized (and small) museum ($10) which was well done. Everywhere we go Captain Cook pops up but this museum also discussed the French history here as well who first came a few years after Cook. More research required…

We then went to the Duck of Marlborough Hotel for a pint in their gorgeous bar. The place is beautiful but the beer and cider were so so.

Then back on the one man ferry to Piahia where the shuttle was waiting to take us back to the dock where the tender was loading and back to the ship. We split a lunch near the pool and then hopped in the hot tub one last time. At 4 we attended a great Q and A session with the captain and the hotel manager.

Then dinner at 6:00 with our friends Bob and Stacy and their friends Richard and Sherri and Jenny and Jerry.

After dinner we went to Tom Sartori’s country music show, the only country music we have heard in two weeks. The seas are the roughest we have seen so far on this trip so the poor musicians had their hands full playing and standing. Then off to bed. Tomorrow we leave the ship and we’d packed our bags earlier today so not much to do but try and sleep with the ship tossing around.

Sunday Jan 18, 2026 Tauranga

Deb here. I’d made plans today through Viator to have a guided tour to learn more about Maori culture. Stacy and Bob joined us as well. We met Les in the morning and all loaded into his van. Les was an interesting guy; his mom was Maori and his dad non-Maori and he’s held lots of jobs during his lifetime. He was probably in his 60’s/70’s and is doing all he can to educate people about Maori history and culture.

He first took us to a site where a small group of Maoris smartly outwitted a group of well-armed British soldiers in 1864. There were all kinds of carved Maori poles telling the stories.

Les pointed out a few other Maori sites, then we stopped for pies (and doughnuts!) at Patrick’s Pies, reputed to have the best meat pies around. From there we drove on toward Rotorua and the Maori Living Village. There’s all kinds of geothermal activity in the area, and walking around the historic village there were bubbling pots of sulfur smelling liquids oozing everywhere. We attended a half hour performance of Maori dancing, music and traditional game playing. My favorite was watching the group perform a haka, an intimidating dance to scare off their enemies. 

After spending time at the village we were off again for a scenic tour, going by a large volcanic lake, passing through Te Puke (what an unfortunate name for the “Kiwi Fruit Capital of the World”) and by kiwi orchards. We learned that kiwi fruit now grows with green, gold and red fruit. Who knew?

On the drive and when walking Les schooled us on pronunciation of various Maori words and filled us in with lots of stories. 

Back closer to Tauranga, he took us to a sacred spot that we likened to a community center of sorts for his people. It was a simple building with Maori designs, and we had to be careful where we stepped. He filled us in on a variety of medicinal plants and spoke at length during the day about manuka honey. 

Before getting back in the van he quizzed us about correct pronunciation of a few Maori words, then broke out a bottle of manuka honey infused bubbly water, now in production by one of his nephews. All in all a good day spent learning more about the local culture and history.

Once back at the dock the sun finally came out in earnest, and we treated ourselves to hokey pokey ice cream cones on the dock. We’re not sure exactly what Hokey Pokey is, but we remembered it as a New Zealand thing from our other trip to NZ, and you find it in ice cream and chocolate. It’s kind of a crunchy cookie add in.

Back on the ship for dinner with Stacy and Bob, followed by another great show by the entertainers. Tonight it was “Imagine”, with songs from the 60’s and 70’s.

Saturday Jan 17, 2026 Gisborne

 

Last night the Captain said the seas were projected to be rough and they may have to change how they approach Gisborne. This morning he announced that we would be going ashore in the tenders, which are small boats, I think also used as life boats.

A pretty smooth ride this morning to shore. The tenders hold 100 people normally and 150 in emergencies (life raft). This is the first time we have used the tenders and it was a 10-15 minute ride to the dock.

These shore excursions are handled very efficiently and simply. I haven’t heard of anyone getting left on shore, but it happens. The Captain says we will be leaving at 2 pm today and if you’re not on the last tender, you rent a car and drive to the next port (or fly).

Deb signed us up for a ship’s excursion  to a sheep farm about 20 minutes from the dock.

Deb here. This turned out to be a fantastic excursion. We went to Waihea Station, a fourth generation farm about 15 minutes outside of Gisborne. We were met by Matthew and Caroline, brother and sister, for a thorough overview of farming and their roles. Also there were a variety of their kids, who were quick to help with the demonstrations. First up was a discussion about their farm (1,500 sheep and 180 beef cattle), followed by a sheep shearing demo. We then hopped back on the small buses and went to the beautiful farmhouse, built in 1908 by their grandfather. They’d presented a nice spread with Anzac cookies, shortbread, mini quiches, coffee and tea and we had a nice relaxed chat with all of them. Very genuine and authentic.

Then it was back to the farm for a sheep dog calling demo. Much of the farm is hilly, and Matthew drives the sheep on horseback with dogs. Very impressive, with lots of whistles and dog action.

The captain had announced an earlier departure time of 2 pm due to weather, so the last tender was scheduled for 1:30 pm. Our sheep farm tour caught the tender and it was a really exciting ride back to the ship. Big swells, water coming into the boat and kind of like a roller coaster ride. The tender captain was laughing so we knew we weren’t going down!

Back on the ship for a meeting with Cedric about signing up for another cruise. We decided on a spring cruise in 2028 to Japan, so we finalized that. At 5:15 we went to a social hour for folks who’d cruised with Azamara more than once, along with entertainment. Dinner at Discoveries, and a fantastic show at 9 by Eric DeGray, the cruise director. All good!

Friday Jan 16, 2026 Napier

We woke up to a sunny day, so it felt good to wear shorts once again. What a sweet little town. The town was destroyed in 1931 by an earthquake and within a few years they rebuilt it with an Art Deco theme. 

We discovered the Faraday Museum which was a vibrant, busy collection of any kind of machine, gizmo, gadget you can imagine. And most of it worked. I found my favorite museum person, the old guy that loved to tell me about everything in the museum, its history and how it worked. The museum is in the old power plant and he had the huge oil fired engine running the old generator so it provided the “background music” every museum should have. Lots of old phones and telegraphs and machinery that mostly all worked and you could operate them.

Deb found a 2-hour guided tour through the local Art Deco Trust. They had a history presentation followed by a long, leisurely walk through town with a guide that pointed out all the renovated buildings and styles. The tour guide was a very comical guy and we enjoyed him very much.

We then went to a pub and bought pints, and our friends from Idaho dropped in and they bought us a couple more. Deb discovered a “peach bomb” on tap that was something specific to the area and really delicious.

Back to the ship to rest and get dinner with three other couples and then to the 9:00 show featuring the assistant cruise director Justin and the boat band (drums, bass, guitar, piano, sax and trumpet).

Another great day.

Thursday Jan 15 2026 Picton

 

This morning we pulled into the little town of Picton. We docked next to a big car ferry which left right after we tied up.

Picton is a smallish town and like a lot of New Zealand town on the shores, seems to exist to ship logs from their big timber industry. But it is also a tourist town. 

Deb and I were here a few years ago so we instantly recognized the small, quaint downtown. Deb signed us up for a boat tour of the sounds and fjords (there is a difference but not sure what it is). 

It was raining again today but the small boat kept us dry inside and we could sneak up on deck to take pictures when the rain slowed down. All in all it was a great morning and the clouds added to the beauty. We have also been hearing that they have had a bit of a drought this year so the rain was welcome. We stopped to feed the fish, sea gulls and ducks and then back to the dock. The tour was about 2-3 hours.

Then a walk about Picton for a bit of shopping and then back on the shuttle to the ship. A little lunch back on board and then a quick look at future Azamara cruises. The ship leaves at 4 pm. Tomorrow it's on to Napier on the North Island.

In the evening we had our final reservation for one of the specialty restaurants, and we ate once again at Prime C. Everything about the meal was absolutely perfect once again. After our leisurely 2 hour meal it was time to head down to music. First up was Ike and Charlie on guitar in the Den, and then into the Cabaret Lounge at 9 for the final performance by Mirek Galiczynski, the uber talented pianist/xylophone player from the Ukraine. By 10 pm it was time to collapse after yet another great day!

Wednesday Jan 14, 2026 Wellington

 

Were again at sea all night and arrived in Wellington around 8:00 this morning. Today we had nothing really planned so decided to take the shuttle into Wellington and walk around. The shuttle dropped us right in front of the Parliament building (Wellington is the capital) so we walked in and asked if we could get a tour. They happened to have a couple of cancellations so we got in. We learned about their parliamentary form of government (mostly) and it seems much simpler than ours. The capital is called the “Beehive” and next to it is the Parliament building itself and the last building is the Library. Beautiful buildings, great tour leader. About 20 people in the tour group.

Next stop was to take the cable car up the mountain behind town. Someone bought a large piece of land on the hill above town at the turn of the century but it was hard to convince people to build a house up there so they created the cable car and sold the lots. It was originally run by steam engine but converted to electric motors in 1937. And it still runs regularly today. We had coffee at the shop at the top of the cable car and then visited the cable car museum next door.

Then down the cable car and walk to the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tingarewa across town. Nice walkable town with lots of public spaces.

It’s a large multistory museum and we were only able to absorb the Gallipoli exhibition. Gallipoli was a terrible defeat of beautiful young men. War is stupid!! We did see more Polynesian history but our museum circuit breakers went off and we walked back to the shuttle stop. Along the way we saw teenagers diving off a high dive into the harbor. No lawyers down here I guess!

Back to the ship and we had coffee with the wonderful couple from Montreal. He is 92 and entertained us with exciting stories of his life. The have been married 60 years and are very sharp and active.

We took short naps around 4:15 to get ready for the Azamazing evening back in town. Dinner was early and it was raining when we all left the ship on shuttle buses at 7 pm to go into a church to hear and orchestra and Maori choir. They organized us by what floor we were on and it went very smoothly. I was almost brought to tears by how beautiful the Maori voices and songs were, especially with a full orchestra behind them. They also played some traditional Mozart music. Then somehow we all seemingly made it back to the ship in the rain. The ship set sail around 10 pm. Tomorrow we stop in Picton.

Sunday Jan 11 2026 Milford Sound to Dunedin

Deb here. After 3 days at sea we were finally going to dock today, so a lot of excitement! After a light breakfast at Windows Cafe we packed up our backpack to get ready. At 10 a.m. we attended Professor Plumb’s presentation on Middle Earth. Greg is quite a JRR Tolkien fan, and he presented a fun powerpoint showing the actual NZ locations where The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings Trilogy were filmed. 

By the time this was over it was time to grab free shuttle tickets into Dunedin, which was scheduled for 1 p.m. We stopped at Discoveries Restaurant at 11:30 and had some brunch foods so we’d be well fed by the time we arrived in Dunedin. 

The boat docked at Port Chalmers, a port about 25 minutes away from the city center, so at 1 we hopped on the shuttle and off we went.

Since we’d visited Dunedin briefly in 2023 we didn’t feel the need to visit the historic train station or the nearby museum. Both are excellent, but we’d been there. Instead we struck out on a walk to find the Dunedin Gasworks Museum, about a half hour walk away. This turned out to be a great find. Who knew that starting in the 1860’s the city powered streetlights and later homes with coal gas? I’d never heard of such a thing and it was quite an undertaking. Apparently this museum is one of only a few in the world and happens to only be open on Sunday afternoons and run by volunteers. We thoroughly enjoyed our time there, having an opportunity to talk with two engaging volunteers. Along with the massive old equipment, John even had a cup of coffee from a 1950’s coal gas powered coffee machine. All pretty cool.

From there it was on to the Chinese Garden, which turned out to be a beautiful oasis right in the heart of the city. Another “who knew” moment, learning that many Chinese had migrated to Dunedin in the 1850’s to work in the gold fields. Two good finds for our afternoon in town.

We were thirsty after our walking, so we found a pub right on The Octagon (the hub at the center of the city) and had a beer and cider. Back to the ship by late afternoon, followed by a tasty dinner at Discoveries Cafe seated with a lovely couple from Toronto, Australia (2 hours north of Sydney) and then a fun performance by the entertainment team in Cabaret Lounge at 9. 

Back to our cabin for reading and sleep by 10.