NZ Cruise of South Island

Akaroa and Christchurch

We docked at the port of Akaroa - another port created from the crater of an ancient volcano. This is now the port for cruise ships to access Christchurch as the normal port remains closed to large ships following the 2010/2011 earthquakes. A bit cooler but otherwise sunny as we take 20 minutes to ride the tender from ship to shore. Then it was 90 minutes on a large bus over twisty turny roads following ridge lines from the old volcano. Absolutely great commentary from our driver as we took in the fantastic views.

Then we arrived in Christchurch. The city centre has gaps. Deconstruction is ongoing to take down and clear buildings too damaged to save. New buildings are being erected but it does not seem to be at the same pace. The rebuild is set to take another 10 years. But what will the city the look like? It's hard to replace landmarks like Christchurch Cathedral and the other Victorian buildings that used be here - and the new buildings need to not be of brick which is not nearly flexible enough for use it what remains an earthquake zone.

We had free time in the city center so headed out to find lunch. The walk was a bit long for Mom so she stopped and sat on a park bench along the Avon river with punters ready to give tours along its course. I headed over for a closer look at the remnants of the cathedral and then to the "container mall" built as a relaunch for the city out of shipping containers. Many small shops, cafés, restaurants and live performers. Plans were to meet up with Fliss Perkins but although we spoke on the phone our paths did not directly cross. We finally spend a little time at the botanical gardens before the 90 minute return bus trip to re-board the boat.

Dunedin

Onward to NZ's oldest city: the Scottish founded city of Dunedin (Celtic for Edinburgh). The dock was 20 minutes away by bus at Port Chalmers. The bus dropped us off just outside the train station which is said to be the most photographed building in NZ. We had reservations for the 4 hour return train journey through the Taieri Gorge on small gauge tracks and live commentary along the way. It was a great day to be on a train as the weather was amazingly chilly. The tracks ran through 12 tunnels and across 6 viaducts following the path of the Taieri River with sheer cliffs of the volcanic mountains forming the background. Sheep farms and forests were the common sights.

Back in Dunedin we had a bit of time before the final bus at 4:00pm. We walked up to the "octagon" (the hub of Dunedin's cafe and restaurants). Beautiful buildings frame the area with a large scale statue of Robbie Burns presiding. We had lunch at a small Japanese restaurant before joining the very long queue to get one of the shuttle buses back.

The Sounds: Dusty, Doubtful, Milford

We arrived on NZ's west coast under cloudy skies with threats of rain. This jagged coastline is home to the sounds (a narrow stretch of water forming an inlet or connecting two wider areas of water such as two seas) and fjords (a long, narrow, deep inlet with no exit formed by glaciation) the country. Narration throughout the day was provided by the onboard naturalist, Milos.

9:00am we penetrated a curtain of mist with high and dark cloud cover to enter Dusty Sound. I retreated from the open decks to our stateroom with it's covered balcony to be able to keep my camera dry as we navigated through the sound. As we approached 10:30 and the exit patches of blue sky appeared as did a gorgeous rainbow arcing from one island to another. 10:45 we were back in the Tasman Sea.

12 noon we entered Doubtful Sound through its cloud covered entrance. But fortunately that did not last as it became cloud patches in a blue sky. This sound was busier with fishing boats working the area. It also contained some large waterfalls. 1:15 and once again out in the Tasman Sea.

3 hours later we arrived at the entrance of Milford Sound. The weather had improved yet again and provided great backdrop to the stunning views. Dolphins and sea lions were out to play. Small tour boats and fishing boats worked the sound. Propeller planes and helicopters took to the skies. Milford is a very beautiful sound. The waterfalls here had tons of water cascading from the cliffs (one of which allowed small boats to come within its spray area). The passage out of this sound is too narrow for our cruise ship so she had to turn around and exit the way we entered. That occurred after we collected 85 passengers who had taken an overnight excursion from Dunedin to Queenstown to Milford.

Onwards for two days at sea heading to Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.

NZ Cruise South Island: photos all loaded!