Peter & Ret departing Sydney (Opera House in background)
Tony, Murray & Yudian - departing Sydney Harbour
Aunty Dympna, Dorothy & Trish departing under Sydney Harbour Bridge
Milford Sound from the Pool Deck
Family Group Christchurch Botanic Gardens(L-R Murray Trish Dympna (Aunt) Ret (Sister) Peter Dorothy Yudian Tony (Brother)
Murray at Blackjack table in onboard casino 
Returning with tug support under Sydney Harbour BridgeBenn dropped us off at the Wharf in Sydney where we met up with 6 other family members to join our cruise ship. My Aunt was accompanied by her friend Dorothy - they have been friends for 73 years since their school days. Now that is what you call enduring friendship - sadly both are now widowed.
The Sun Princess departed Sydney at 4pm on Friday 5th Feb under grey skies. We stood on the back deck as we sailed under the Sydney Harbour Bridge and past the majestic Opera House as we headed out to the Tasman Sea. I prayed for calm seas but my prayers weren’t heard – thank goodness for an early tablet of Travalcalm – I think it saved our bacon as we heard of many others who weren’t so lucky. Fortunately the seas settled after the first day. There were 2000 passengers, the majority of which were Australian.
As usual, New Zealand did not disappoint us. We had previously enjoyed a fly/drive around the south island with American friends Jan & Dick a few years ago, and I had attended a work conference in Auckland as well, but this has been our first cruise to NZ. For the first few days the weather was fine but cool, which was a pleasant change from our hot summer days in Ballina. By the time we reached the delightful seaside city of Napier, the weather had become quite hot, but a sea breeze kept us comfortable. I caught the first sunrise of the trip at 5.35am on the 6th day of the cruise – my sister & I basked in a hot tub on the top deck while admiring the growing orange glow on the horizon. Beautiful. At day’s end, around 9pm, the setting sun put on a different but equally colourful display in the western sky as it hovered just above the turquoise waters. It’s a pity our cameras cannot capture the quintessential beauty of our Creator’s colours.
The first three and last two days of the cruise were spent totally at sea. For the 8 days in between we docked at seven different NZ ports where we got off the ship and did some local sightseeing. At Fjordland National Park our ship cruised through Milford Sound which is just one part of this NP and is one of nature’s wonderlands. At its widest point it is 1.5 miles wide, and the majestic cliffs alongside reach 5560 ft high. The ship entered into the Sound to give all onboard a birds-eye view of the cascading waterfalls and scenic mountain surrounds (some with snow), before returning to the Tasman Sea. Dunedin & Napier were pretty ports and we caught a bus in to look around. In Christchurch we hired a small bus and the driver drove us around. We stopped to wander through the Botanic Gardens - the hybrid 'Tiffany' pink rose delighted us all with sight and scent. At Wellington we took the cable car up to see the view and were relieved to see our ship still in port and not drifting out to sea without us. In Auckland we walked into the city where we attended Mass and spent a few hours wandering around. Our last port was the Bay of Islands where all of us took a tour of a glow worm cave and later walked in the protected 'Kauri Forest'. Although the oldest tree in the grove we visited was 500 years old, it was nowhere near as impressive as the towering and beautiful Redwoods (Sequoia) trees in Northern California (North of San Francisco about 100 miles south of the Oregon border), one of which was 950 years old.
During our previous 2 cruises (one each to Alaska & the Caribbean) we agreed we would just enjoy the decadence for the duration of the cruise – eat, play and enjoy the ride while being waited on hand and foot. Well, that was okay as those cruises were only a max of 7 days. This latest cruise on the other hand was 13 days and had the added element of sharing bottles of wine at each dinner meal. Luckily my family and their spouses share our philosophy to enjoy the ‘now’. Each evening we perused the dinner menu and revelled in the chefs concoction of recipes. While there are about 8 main course menu items that were constant, the other six changed each day. My brother has eaten in renowned restaurants all around the world, yet was overly impressed with the culinary delights we tasted during the cruise. Yes Jan, I am still talking about food! One of life's pleasures for me as you already know.
As usual, New Zealand did not disappoint us. We had previously enjoyed a fly/drive around the south island with American friends Jan & Dick a few years ago, and I had attended a work conference in Auckland as well, but this has been our first cruise to NZ. For the first few days the weather was fine but cool, which was a pleasant change from our hot summer days in Ballina. By the time we reached the delightful seaside city of Napier, the weather had become quite hot, but a sea breeze kept us comfortable. I caught the first sunrise of the trip at 5.35am on the 6th day of the cruise – my sister & I basked in a hot tub on the top deck while admiring the growing orange glow on the horizon. Beautiful. At day’s end, around 9pm, the setting sun put on a different but equally colourful display in the western sky as it hovered just above the turquoise waters. It’s a pity our cameras cannot capture the quintessential beauty of our Creator’s colours.
The first three and last two days of the cruise were spent totally at sea. For the 8 days in between we docked at seven different NZ ports where we got off the ship and did some local sightseeing. At Fjordland National Park our ship cruised through Milford Sound which is just one part of this NP and is one of nature’s wonderlands. At its widest point it is 1.5 miles wide, and the majestic cliffs alongside reach 5560 ft high. The ship entered into the Sound to give all onboard a birds-eye view of the cascading waterfalls and scenic mountain surrounds (some with snow), before returning to the Tasman Sea. Dunedin & Napier were pretty ports and we caught a bus in to look around. In Christchurch we hired a small bus and the driver drove us around. We stopped to wander through the Botanic Gardens - the hybrid 'Tiffany' pink rose delighted us all with sight and scent. At Wellington we took the cable car up to see the view and were relieved to see our ship still in port and not drifting out to sea without us. In Auckland we walked into the city where we attended Mass and spent a few hours wandering around. Our last port was the Bay of Islands where all of us took a tour of a glow worm cave and later walked in the protected 'Kauri Forest'. Although the oldest tree in the grove we visited was 500 years old, it was nowhere near as impressive as the towering and beautiful Redwoods (Sequoia) trees in Northern California (North of San Francisco about 100 miles south of the Oregon border), one of which was 950 years old.
During our previous 2 cruises (one each to Alaska & the Caribbean) we agreed we would just enjoy the decadence for the duration of the cruise – eat, play and enjoy the ride while being waited on hand and foot. Well, that was okay as those cruises were only a max of 7 days. This latest cruise on the other hand was 13 days and had the added element of sharing bottles of wine at each dinner meal. Luckily my family and their spouses share our philosophy to enjoy the ‘now’. Each evening we perused the dinner menu and revelled in the chefs concoction of recipes. While there are about 8 main course menu items that were constant, the other six changed each day. My brother has eaten in renowned restaurants all around the world, yet was overly impressed with the culinary delights we tasted during the cruise. Yes Jan, I am still talking about food! One of life's pleasures for me as you already know.
After 13 days cruising the high seas it was time to fly home. Amazingly all eight family members are still talking to each other despite being in close quarters for almost 2 weeks and agree that it was a wonderful cruise. Now Murray & I are safely back in Ballina and have resumed preparations for moving into our new home next Tuesday. My son Benn has kindly offered to fly in and help out for a few days which will be greatly appreciated.
