April 3. As often happens on the Tasman Sea, we awoke to 50 kph winds and a 2m swell. The Captain informed us that we had altered course to avoid 120 kph winds and the accompanying big seas that we would have encountered had we sailed direct from the southern foot of New Zealand to Sydney. It meant that we headed north-west for most of the day.

By early afternoon it was calmer so much more enjoyable for those who suffer from motion sickness. Captain’s Club cocktails, followed by dinner and a show in the theatre were a good way to finish the day.

April 4. Three metre seas this morning, still not as bad as it often is on the Tasman Sea. We didn’t see much sun during the morning and the wind was quite strong so we spent a lazy morning, mainly inside. Then, quite suddenly, the wind and waves dropped and the sun came out from behind the clouds, so we could enjoy lunch outside in fresh air before packing our bags for tomorrow’s disembarkation. By now Jo had developed a cold and was not feeling very sociable so we had a quiet dinner, then went to the musical in the theatre for our last night on board.

April 5. By the time we awoke in Sydney the ship was already moored and passengers were making their way into the terminal. Already 100 mm of rain had fallen, with more rain and strong winds forecast. Our disembarkation time was not until 8.30 am so we had time for breakfast before the very easy, well organised arrival process and a cab to the airport. We flew out just before lunch, just before a severe storm hit Sydney. Later, after arriving home, we heard that flights from Sydney had been cancelled so we were lucky.

We enjoyed our cruise and our first visit to New Zealand, but we were pleased to get home.

We hope everyone keeps safe and well.

Well, the overnight tour option wasn’t the best option after all, because it would have meant missing the chance to wake up entering Dusky Sound in calm seas and bright sunshine. Last time Celebrity Edge was here the visits into the 3 Sounds were cancelled or cut short because of foul weather but today was perfect.

New Zealand has 12 Sounds and we are to visit 3, although in Dusky and Doubtful Sounds we exited back to the ocean via different arms so it’s like seeing 5 Sounds. Today they are particularly attractive because of the weather. Hundreds of metres deep and surrounded by steep cliffs, the Sounds are very beautiful. We spent a couple of hours in each narrow Sound and cruised slowly northward only 1-2 km from the spectacular rugged shore, in over 1 km deep water.

Mid-afternoon we arrived at Milford Sound, the best known of all the Sounds. There is a small township at the inland end of the Sound which is accessible by road so we saw a few small tourist launches and fishing vessels. Apart from the main road and a few walking tracks it is still mainly untouched by humans and is very spectacular.

It was a great day, not surprisingly a highlight of the cruise.

March 29. Choosing a starboard stateroom hasn’t achieved anything yet because again we travelled overnight so we haven’t seen much coastline. We awoke in the port of Mount Maunganui, a suburb of Tauranga. And soon after breakfast departed on a 4-hour coach excursion. When booking an excursion you can’t be sure what you going to get. This one was one of the best we have done.

The tour was all about Māori culture. The guide was a young Māori woman who started as soon as we drove away, teaching us a few Māori words and phrases and a song that was to be part of the official welcome to a cultural house. We were greeted and had to respond during a welcome ceremony, which was a tradition rather than just part of the tour. Photography was not allowed during the ceremony (but several people did take photos) but was allowed away from the meeting place and during a traditional dance display.

Two adults and an 11 year old boy led us through the formalities, with the boy doing a really good job. The dance display by a group of senior students was very well done and very enjoyable.

We had a late lunch back on board, then suddenly we were having drinks in Eden bar, which in turn became 8.00 pm dinner.

March 30. It’s amazing how much and how quickly the ocean can change. During the night the wind and waves rose immensely. We could see it but by 2.00 am the ship was really rocking. We still managed to sleep but it was very uncomfortable. Our cabin is on deck 11 and our windows were covered with sea spray, I estimate that we are 25 m above water level so it must have been very rough. Luckily the city of Napier is in a sheltered harbour so it was quite calm when we moored at 10.00 am.

This was only a brief stop, just long enough for a 4-hour coach excursion involving a drive around Napier and the hinterland. Napier is famous as a World Heritage listed city because of its predominant art deco architecture. An earthquake in 1931 destroyed much of the city and, with labour being readily available during the Great Depression, it was largely rebuilt within 2 years, using materials and architecture of that time. The building are all heritage protected, even to the extent of colour and out buildings. Touring the city and suburbs is very interesting.

The tour took us through vineyards, orchards and pine plantations from which a large volume of produce is exported then back to the port in time for a 3.00 pm lunch.

As we sailed out of Napier for our 18-hour leg to Christchurch we heard that early this morning the wind speed had climbed to 70 kph – no wonder we felt it. We had cocktail hour in Eden, dinner in Cypress and after dinner drinks in Cafe Il Bacci (?) then back to our room. Another good day!

March 31. After a calm night we woke up a couple of hours north of Christchurch so we felt quite refreshed. We went separate ways for the day’s activities, Jo on a double decker bus trip with a woman she has met from Glenelg while I took a combined coach, 4WD, jet boat trip.

Christchurch is an amazing city where 70% of the buildings in the CBD and hundreds more in the suburbs were destroyed by an earthquake in Feb 2011, after the city had been badly shaken and weakened by early another quake 3 months earlier. It is thought that the second quake was an after shock of the first one, which was stronger but further away so it did little damage. The second quake killed 185 people, 167 in one building. The government, city council and especially the citizens have shown tremendous resilience to redesign, rebuild and rehabilitate the city to its now vibrant state. It is now a beautiful, modern city and its inhabitants are very proud.

Jo’s tour was in a double deck bus through the city and suburbs, showing a mixture of new and restored buildings, interspersed with buildings still derelict, beautiful gardens and vacant land, much of which will remain as green space.

My excursion was more adventurous. It started with a 1.5 hour drive through Christchurch suburbs then into the foothills of the alps to a sheep station in the Waimakariri valley. The guide was good and the drive interesting. The working sheep station has a busy tourist business offering both 4WD tours, jet boat rides and a nice lunch. The jet boat ride was exciting and well worth the trip. The river was fast flowing between steep cliffs and with a very rocky bottom. Often it is very shallow through constantly moving rock beds. The boat drivers are crazy and the boats are fast, powerful machines that can travel in very shallow water so it was great fun.

The 4WD tour was actually in a 20-passenger Toyota Coaster with off-road tyres and higher suspension, taking us along dirt and gravel station tracks. The mountain scenery was interesting, through native forests and pine plantations, with good views over river valleys.

Overall, we had a good day.

April 1. This morning we had an early start to catch a train that picked us up at the wharf for our excursion into the mountains, through the Taieri Gorge. Although the scenery was interesting it was a fairly slow, un-eventful day. The excursion lasted 6 hours and might not have been the best choice. A better option might have been to take the overnight trip to Queenstown in the mountains and get back on board tomorrow.

It doesn’t matter though, because we still enjoyed the afternoon and evening on board.

March 28. It’s amazing how quiet a huge vessel can be. We awoke this morning to find that we had moored next to another ship in Auckland – then realised that the other ship was actually a hotel on the wharf, built to resemble a ship. Our ship had moored an hour earlier without us hearing or feeling anything at all.

We took a morning coach tour around this lovely city. The weather was cool but sunny and calm. After wind and rain yesterday the coach driver was very pleased at being able to show us his city at its best. Life for the locals obviously involves the ocean, with the beautiful Auckland Harbour cutting the city in half.

The three hour coach tour was intended just to give us a quick look at Auckland without going into too much detail and it was good value. We heard a little about history and culture provided with the usual attempts at comedy by a guide.

Back on board we had lunch and spent the afternoon watching yachts, ferries and cargo vessels from the buffet dining room and our cabin, with a bit of swimming in between. It’s a hard life.

OK, we broke our rule. We had heard that one of the specialty restaurants provided dinner with a difference so we decided try it. An animated video of a chef and his family preparing and plating our meal, using produce from their farm, was projected from tiny projectors set in the ceiling above each place on the table. The whole table, including plates, was covered with animated preparation of the meal. Called Le Petit Chef, it was very clever. Google it.

Following the nice meal we spent an interesting session listening to music and watching fellow passengers dancing at one of the bars, while chatting to a couple we had met at breakfast. That’s it for today.

Arriving in the Bay of Islands early this morning, it was a little disappointing. We only saw one island! The Bay is 30 km wide so where are the islands? Later we realised that they are on the other side of the ship. After having chosen a starboard cabin, who would have thought that for our first stop in NZ we would be on the wrong side?

Anyway it was a beautiful morning. Bright sunshine and calm water.

We caught separate tender boats into the port so that Jo could do a coach tour to “the Treaty House”, the sight of a treaty between the Moari people and the British early in the 1800’s (which was heavily in favour of the British) and I could take a kayaking tour. Jo found her tour to be a bit underwhelming but I enjoyed my trip. I paddled 5 km in an interesting estuary to a waterfall and quite enjoyed it.

Back on board mid-afternoon we were able to relax before cocktails in Eden bar for more relaxing, this time chatting to others while waiting for sunset. We were so busy chatting that we forgot to look at the sunset. Sailing time was after dark so we still haven’t seen the other islands in Bay of Islands.

Dinner in Tuscan restaurant was good, as usual, then suddenly it was almost bed time – time goes so quickly.

I know!! We said no more blogs but a few people have asked to do a blog when we are doing major trips. So here goes. Just ignore it if you are not interested, or un-follow if that is more appropriate.

It’s 23 March and we are headed for Sydney where we will spend the night before embarking tomorrow. After an easy morning at home we commenced taxiing at Adelaide airport, got half way down the runway then noticed that we slowed down again. The pilot announced that he and the first officer saw a red light indicating that a fuel pump was faulty. “We’ve had a chat about it and decided it’s not a problem so we’re going around and will start again.” OK, who needs a working fuel pump when the plane is up in the air? That’s a good start to a holiday.

Well we did arrive safely in Sydney and settled in at the Fullerton Hotel on Martin Place. We have stayed here before so they offered us an upgrade and a late checkout so now it’s a good start.

24 March. It’s exciting to be cruising again, this time on Celebrity Edge. This is one of Celebrity’s newest ship sand the first time we have been on this class of ship. The checkin process has been streamlined since COVID19 forced changes to reduce crowds and queues, so we were comfortably in our room and unpacking very quickly. Up on deck we took a photo of the Opera House, then got talking to new best friends while looking at the amazing Sydney Habour and forgot to take more photos.

The ship is certainly spectacular, with many familiar features and lots of new facilities. There must be about 20 bars, cafes, restaurants and lounges and lots of staff waiting to attend to every need – and take your money. Meals are included but drinks are extra. The prices are more expensive than Australian prices, and then you remember that quoted prices are in US dollars so it’s twice as expensive in Aussie $’s. Our room package includes a drinks package, which of course we paid for, but at least we can forget the price of drinks.

With so much happening I forgot that we had a drinks package and bought a bottle of wine on the first night. That’s an expensive mistake !!

Instead of one big dining room the Edge has 4 smaller dining rooms, Tuscan, Normandie, Cyprus, and Cosmopolitan (Italian, French, Greek and US cuisine) and we can dine at any of them at no additional cost. The food is great. If we want to upgrade to a better restaurant and are happy to pay huge prices for that privilege, there are lots of options. Not us, we are not that silly.

25 March. At sea all day, with blue skies, even more blue in the ocean very light breeze and calm water. It’s pretty good. There is lots to do at sea – breakfast, morning tea, lunch, welcome cocktails in the Captain’s Club, dinner and lots of walking around trying to find our way around the ship. I even found time for an hour in the gym.

Jo, feeling a little queezy, needed salt biscuits but all I could find was salt and vinegar chips for $14. A bit expensive I thought but she’s worth it. Then I remembered it’s in US $’s. Hope she doesn’t need any more.

26 March, With 2,900 passengers you’d expect everywhere to be crowded but that’s not the case. Sure there are many people in all the popular places at popular times but its quite easy to find quiet places.

The pool deck is another example of quiet in the morning but packed in the afternoon. Too crowded for us. Much better to set up in the Magic Carpet, which is a 40m x 8m structure hanging from the side of the top deck. It slides up and down the side of the ship but we haven’t seen that yet.

Travelling Concierge class is supposed to begin with an early checkin and Welcome Lunch but Celebrity made a mistake and we had been unable to check in until 2 pm so we were promised a substitute lunch during the cruise. After some debate we were able to have our substitute lunch today, a very nice meal in Le Grande restaurant, one of the specialty restaurants. This would normally have cost us an extra $140 so we enjoyed the complimentary lunch even more.

Tomorrow morning we will be in NZ, ready to start the first of our shore excursions.

This post was written in October 2022, immediately after our trip but is posted 7 months later, just to complete our printed journal.

From Pinnarendi Station we drove south to Hughenden. It has been 12 years since we last did this road and it’s better now. While at Hughenden we took a short 250 km round trip to visit the amazing dinosaur museum at Richmond, called Kronosaurus Korner. The display of fossilised skeletons – large, small, walking, flying, swimming – is fascinating.

We took the narrow, rough, sealed road to Winton, driving through what was once the centre of Queensland’s thriving wool industry but is now home to thousands of beef cattle. This season has been good and the cattle are looking very healthy. After the rain a few weeks ago the country looks green and healthy. During our two-night stay at Winton we visited the very interesting Australian Age of Dinosaurs display; not as good as Lark Quarry, 100 km away but still good.

One of our favourite camp grounds, Lara Station Wetlands, was our next stop, for a couple of nights. The hot pool was nice in the mornings but too hot in the afternoons, with the cool water swimming hole nice all day. Damper was served at the camp kitchen one night and a $30 camp oven dinner the next night, with live music to entertain us.

Unfortunately it was time to head for home. For the first 1200 km all the low lying ground as far as the eye could see was covered in water from recent rains. It looked spectacular and the sheep, cattle and goats will enjoy it for years. The next 2 photos show the green camp ground at Wyandra and the same scene taken 9 weeks earlier. The transformation brought on by 2 significant rain events is phenomenal.

We drove 1900 km over 4 long days to Riverton where we stopped for 2 nights to clean our caravan, only 120 km from home. We arrived home on 30 September, at the end of a wonderful 11-week trip. It has been another great trip, having caught up with friends, met interesting fellow travellers and seen more of our amazing country.

As usual, here are some statistics to conclude the blog (approximate figures). During the 11-week trip we travelled 10,300 km; 8,100 km with the caravan and 2,200 km on side trips. We relocated the caravan 31 times at an average of 260 km each time we moved; 300 km or more on 12 days and less than 100 km on 5 days. We used 2,600L of petrol at an average cost of $1.90, making a total of $5,000, or $65 per day. Average fuel consumption was 25L/100 (10% more than usual because we did fewer side trips without the caravan). Although fuel consumption with the RAM was higher than previous trips with the Land Cruiser, the cost of petrol is 25% less than diesel so we actually spent about $500 less on fuel than we would have with the Land Cruiser.

Epilogue

On the way home we decided to sell the caravan. After 14 years of wonderful annual caravan trips, we will continue travelling but will do it differently.

We have done 128,000 kms with 3 different caravans, being away 960 nights (or 2½ years). Australia is an amazing country and we have seen a lot of it, from city to outback, from desert to sea, from mountains to plains, from flood to drought, on highways, rough roads and sandy tracks and from expensive caravan parks to bush camps.

Seven months later, the van has been sold and we are ready for new adventures.

We had a great time seeing all of our Melbourne family then flew back to Cairns where we did some sightseeing, like normal tourists. Visits to Kuranda, the Cairns Aquarium and the Great Barrier Reef were good fun.

We left Cairns yesterday for the drive through the beautiful Atherton Tablelands and over the Herberton Range to Pinnarendi Station Stay and Cafe. We stayed here on the way north a couple of weeks ago and enjoyed it so much that we decided to return. Previously we were wearing jumpers to get warm but today we are in shirts and tee-shirts in 34 deg. A highlight at Pinnarendi is the food; pizza nights, home-cooked sourdough bread, cooked breakfast, etc.

Tomorrow we will continue moving steadily south, 2700 km over the next 3 weeks Although it will be 39 deg here for the next few days, we are not in a hurry to get back to the cool weather

As usual, we are thinking of friends and family. Hope everyone keeps healthy and safe. From Ted and Jo.

It’s very important that caravan trips have a carefully planned itinerary. It’s also important to remember that plans need to be flexible. When we left Rollinstone we thought, as we were heading west, we might as well go slowly back to Adelaide. That wasn’t part of the original plan.

About 20 km before reaching Charters Towers we stopped for 2 nights at Bivouac Holiday Camp, an inexpensive camp in a bush setting beside the Burdekin River. We had a spacious, shady site and enjoyed a peaceful time there. We drove to Charters Towers to look around this nice town, with its many historical buildings.

The amended plan was to go to Barcaldine – but rain caused a road blockage so we changed plans again and went to Hughenden for one night, intending to go to Barcaldine the next day. We had 25 ml of rain during the day so next morning the 2 roads that we could have taken were closed. The two local shire councils couldn’t tell us how long the roads would be closed for so we changes plans again and went back to Charters Towers meaning that we had driven 500 km for nothing. The scenery was nice so it didn’t matter.

Next stop was Greenvale, a small town that services the rural region around it. The caravan park was terrible and one of the most expensive we have stayed in. We could have free camped behind the local hotel but we didn’t do our research properly. We did have a good pizza at the pub so the night wasn’t wasted.

A couple of hours drive further north brought us to Pinnarendi Station and Cafe, so good that our 1-night stopover turned into 3 nights. We had a large non-powered site with about 70 other people, in a bush setting just a few minutes walk from the cafe operated by the station owners, where they sell coffee, cakes, scones, toasties. They also bake fabulous sour dough bread and do great breakfasts and pizza nights. This place is amazing.

Just a 140 km north of Pinnarendi is the town of Herberton, in a mountain range of the same name. Herberton is famous for its Historical Town where some people would spend days looking around. We looked around for a few hours and stayed a couple of nights before another short drive to Cairns. Travelling through the Atherton Tablelands then down the steep mountain road to Cairns was interesting.

We are now at Cool Waters Holiday Park, one of our favourite parks on the northern outskirts of Cairns. We are camped in a very quiet and private site beside the creek that runs along the rear of the park. Many camp sites here are quite small but we stayed at this site 4 years ago so we knew it was large enough to fit our van. It’s very pleasant.

This is as far north as we intend going on this trip. We chose Cairns so that we can fly to Melbourne tonight for a family anniversary celebration tomorrow. On Monday we will return to Cairns and relax here for a few more days, then on Saturday 17th Sep we will begin the drive home. It will take a couple of weeks without rushing, due home in the first week October.

Hope you all keep healthy and safe. From Ted and Jo in Cairns.