Along with Dale and Linda (Corey’s parents), we joined Holland America Line (HAL)’s MS Westerdam in Auckland, New Zealand, for a 30 day sailing: south around New Zealand, up the Australian east coast, and through Indonesia, to arrive in Singapore.
In just 30 days, we visited
- 5 ports in New Zealand (plus scenic cruising!)
- 7 ports in Australia
- 3 ports in Indonesia
Australia
After heading west from New Zealand, it took two days to cross the Tasman Sea and arrive in Hobart, Tasmania. The sea was a little rough and the swells were about 10-12 feet. Not enough to make me sick like the trip up to Iceland.
Hobart, Tasmania
I didn’t know what quite to expect but Tasmania was a really pretty island. Hobart is a small city that is a little sprawly, but the harbor and architecture reminded me of Victoria and Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
We spent the morning walking around the harbor and then we boarded a water shuttle to visit MONA, the Museum of Old and New Art.
MONA was created by David Walsh, a successful professional gambler that founded an interesting museum in the northern portion of Hobart.
One of the essential to-dos in Hobart is a boat cruise through the harbor and bay. Another is to see MONA, which has helped put Hobart on the global radar. Since the museum runs its own boat service, it allowed us to do both with a single ticket.
We spent the entire rest of the day touring the eclectic and vast complex.
We started with wine tasting. Prior to the development of MONA, the land was Moorilla Estate, a winery and vineyard. David Walsh purchased the wine business in order to obtain the modernist estate home on the property, and has built MONA around (and beneath) the wine business. The historic home is now the MONA library!
The art exhibits range from ludicrous to beautiful, erotic, wild, ancient, morbid, and unsettling and a whole lot of other feelings in between. So starting with wine ended up being a great idea!
My favorite piece was this item that I did not notice the first time I walked by!
I also really liked this waterfall that spit out different words or phrases every 3 seconds.
Corey’s favorite work was conceptual: a composer comes to the “office” every day in the morning, and writes a work for string quartet, while being observed like a zoo animal. That work is then performed for an audience in the late afternoon, conducted by said composer. The next day he takes a motif from the prior day’s piece and writes a new piece, and does it again. Themes of the repetition of employment, the nature of “performance”, and the question of creative originality. But mostly it was a fun live performance, one of a few live performances that MONA offers daily in the midst of the visual art.
After taking an afternoon boat back to the Hobart harbor, we explored the town more on foot, walking through the harbor area (and its historic buildings), Salamanca Square (which was hosting live music), walking around a large arts and music festival, and then to the Battery Point neighborhood.
I really liked the vibe in Hobart and would love to spend more time in Tasmania the next time we are around Australia.
Melbourne, Victoria
Once we docked in Melbourne, Corey and I scrambled off the ship and ran toward the tram. We rode it into downtown and briskly walked to the car rental agency. After a few minutes of waiting in line, we got the keys to our vehicle, a standard sedan. We drove back toward the ship and picked up the parents.
Where did we go?
To the zoo!
Well, it was the Healesville Sanctuary, a natural habitat park specializing in native Australian animals. We really wanted to see koalas while in Australia and this seemed like the best port to do that. It was also January 1st, and we decided to go to a place that we knew would be open for the holiday.
It was about an hour drive outside the city, through the beautiful wine country of the Yarra Valley. But no time for wine tasting today.
There were signs warning drivers of kangaroos but we didn’t see any out on the roads. However, we did see some while touring the park! We also saw tree kangaroos, wallabies, many different big birds, and dingoes.
We then zoomed back into the city and dropped Linda and Dale off at the pier before parking the car back at the rental agency. We perfectly timed the tram time to get back on the ship 2 minutes before “all aboard”. It was a great (and hot) day out in nature.
The tram line extends to a stop just a few minutes from the cruise pier. There is a public transit shuttle bus that continues the line, but it was hardly worth it to board the bus to avoid five minutes of strolling. Melbourne’s tram system went cashless back in 2008, but has hardly been upgraded since that time. To board the tram, either a physical Myki card is required, or the app version (only available on Android). While transit is free in the CBD (central business district / downtown), that zone does not extend to the cruise pier. That means that to use public transit for a single round-trip, you must purchase a Myki card for AUS$6 and load it with enough for the round-trip (or download the Android app and do a minimum load). The tram line is great, and there is a Myki vending machine at the station, but obviously this is not ideal for cruise tourists, or anyone else who uses transit occasionally.
Sydney, New South Wales
We slowly crept into Sydney at about 4 AM with the tide low. The ship’s captain had informed us that it was a tricky sailing with the strong tides and making sure we could cross under the bridge. Corey woke me up and I almost passed on the opportunity to see our sail in, but I dressed quickly to rush out the door to see the sights. I’m so glad we did it!
We did not go back to sleep as the city lights and subsequent sunrise energized us. Something had to, because the crappy cruise coffee never does!
Once the ship received clearance, Corey and I walked about a mile from the terminal to catch the city bus into downtown. We met up with my best friend, Kat Derbyshire, to enjoy some beach time at the famous Bondi Beach. Kat and I laid out on the sand and tried to get warm enough to enter the ocean. The waves were rough and the water was cold!
Corey took a semi-urban hike south on the coastline to Coogee Beach, where he passed a number of beaches and swimming areas, with amazing views of the cliffs and ocean. At Coogee Beach, he took the bus back up to meet us at Bondi. He took some great photos of his walk.
Linda and Dale caught the cruise shuttle bus into Sydney harbor, then walked around the harbor and took a harbor cruise. There are a number of cruise companies that offer either scenic cruises or commuter trips around or across the harbor.
We all met up for lunch (and jager bombs!) at a historic pub.
After food and drinks Corey and Linda took a public ferry across the harbor. Sydney offers a number of easy and scenic ferries as an integrated part of their public transit system. For buses and ferries, it is simple to swipe on and off using a credit card
They then took the long and scenic walk back across the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Linda took the bus back to the cruise ship, while Dale, Kat, and I pub crawled through downtown. Corey joined us, and together we took an Uber back to the cruise port.
The sail out from Sydney was not as scenic as the early morning lights, but still offers great views of the Opera House and yet another view of the Harbour Bridge.
Moreton Island, Queensland
This was a last minute itinerary change that worked out in our favor. Moreton Island is located near Brisbane so I got another hang out day with my BFF!
Moreton Island is a large sand island. It is almost entirely undeveloped, but there is the large Tangalooma Resort complex on the west side of the island. There are two types of ferry to get from Brisbane to Moreton. The resort offers a passenger ferry exclusively for their guests, that arrives at the resort’s pier.
The second method, and the only one for the general public, is the Micat car ferry that docks directly on the beach! Take a look! Only 4WD vehicles are allowed on the island, as you must be able to drive through the sand immediately after exiting the ferry. Passengers without vehicles are also allowed on this ferry. Reservations are recommended for both directions, especially for those with vehicles.
For us, the cruise ship anchored off the island, and the ship’s tender boats brought us right to the resort’s pier. The resort offers many activities (water sports, ATV rides, etc.), and also facilities such as pools and restaurants. It reminded us of a day at a cruise line’s private island, except that it is not owned by the cruise line itself.
Of course, the beach is free to use, and there is quite a bit of beach located between the resort’s pier and the Micat docking area. Kat, her mother, and a few friends all took the Micat ferry over, and we met on the beach for food, drinks, stories, laughs, and swimming.
It was a cloudy grey and liquid sunshine day and I still got a little burnt. The sun “down undah” is no joke!
Airlie Beach, Queensland
This cute town on Australia’s coast reminded me of Santa Barbara or San Clemente. There were significant beach vibes HOWEVER swimming in the ocean is ill-advised because of deadly jellyfish.
We were only scheduled to be in port for five hours though. It was a tender port too which means it takes longer to go ashore and return. With this timing in mind, we did not make any set plans.
It was Saturday and there was a large farmers market not far from the pier. I stopped and got my hair braided while everyone else browsed and did some shopping. We then walked through the town, which has a cute beach town vibe. We eventually meandered to the one place we wanted to see: the Airlie Beach Lagoon.
The Lagoon is a free swimming pool built right next to the ocean. There were shady shallow waters for young children and bigger pools with swimming lanes for those there for serious exercise. This free facility reminded us of a large hotel pool complex, a la Vegas. We waded around in the beach lagoon area and enjoyed cooling off in the water. The Lagoon is a real highlight of Airlie Beach.
We then walked back to the Marina and we were greeted with a very long line of our fellow passengers, scorching in the hot sun while waiting for the tender. We think waiting in lines are stupid: we’re all going back to the same boat, and it won’t leave as long as there are still passengers on the pier! So we nabbed a bench in the shade and waited for the horde to thin before boarding the last tender back to the ship.
Cairns, Queensland
This was the ONE port that I was most excited to visit and not because of the city itself (we never explored beyond the harbor). Cairns is a great jumping off point to visit the Great Barrier Reef, a trip I have dreamed about since the second grade, when a classmate of mine told us about his visit during show-and-tell.
Thirty-something years later, I went on a fantastic tour through Reef Magic!
The Cairns Reef Fleet Terminal is an easy walk north from the cruise ship pier, and most reef tour companies sell and sail from this location. Our cruise ship was in port from 8 AM to 6 PM, and the tour hours are from 9 AM to 5 PM, so we were worried about pre-booking with such a small window for error. It turned out to be just fine: the ship was cleared around 8:15 AM, and I walked ahead and got tickets for everyone.
The Reef Magic tour started with a 90 minute ferry ride out to a giant pontoon platform at Moore Reef, in the outer barrier area. This platform has it all!
- Underwater viewing platform
- Glass bottom boat
- Submersible boat
- Wide stairs to enter the water for snorkeling
- Stinger suits and snorkel gear
- And a buffet lunch!
We spent about 5 hours exploring the reef around us in every way possible. Everyone jumps in the water quickly and it seemed busy out there so we enjoyed the underwater viewing deck first. That’s where we met Wally.
We then joined the first tour onboard the glass bottom boat. The driver was a knowledgeable guide and showed us different types of coral and answered questions.
We returned to the platform just in time to get in line for lunch. After eating a full plate we attended the aquatic talk and fish feeding from the top deck. By this time we were pretty excited to get in the water.
So we got geared up and slowly stepped down the stairs and floated around the roped-off swimming area. There were so many fish!! I did not bring a camera in with me, but here are some fish photos from throughout the day.
Darwin, Northern Territory
Spa day! At least for me. A girl has got to keep up with the nails and such. Darwin seemed like a great place to do just that. I was also able to squeeze in some swimsuit shopping as this would be our last port of call with Western sizing. I found a cute boutique with friendly staff, and more importantly, cute suits!
While I pampered myself in air conditioning, the rest of the Barrs rode the Darwin bus to the Fannie Bay Gaol, a historic and well-preserved prison complex that was in use from 1883 to 1979. The Gaol is only open in the middle of the day, when the heat shows visitors how stifling life was like for the prisoners in the non-air-conditioned buildings.
The Barrs then went to the Darwin Military Museum (home to the Defense of Darwin Experience). This museum focuses on the various deployments of Australian troops over time and features military uniforms and gear. The focal point deals with the 1942 bombing of Darwin by Japanese forces, an attack that took place just two months after the attack on Pearl Harbor. This was an educational opportunity, as the Australian impact of World War II was not something that we learned about in American schools. The museum was also air conditioned, which was a relief!
We all met up in the retail area of Darwin, which is not far from the cruise pier. We did a little shopping, explored the lagoon area, then returned to the ship. From there we set sail to the northwest, to three ports in Indonesia. More in Part 3!
Closing Thoughts of New Zealand and Australia
Reflecting back on our experiences down undah:
Once you travel to this part of the world you realize that you can’t lump Australia and New Zealand together. They’re nothing alike! Australia was first settled 65,000 years ago, but New Zealand was not settled until around 1300 AD, and was the last major landmass to be settled on earth.
The animal life is very different. For example the possum (which is different than the North American opossum) is a protected species in Australia, but is killed as an invasive species in New Zealand. There are no kangaroos or dingoes in New Zealand, and there are no kiwis in Australia.
I found that people from both countries share a passion/desire/value to protect the environment, save species from extinction, and are serious about stopping climate change. We saw this by visiting animal sanctuaries and talking to locals. It’s a beautiful world and they want their children’s children to experience the same unique ecosystems they do.
New Zealand is an exceptional country that reminded me a lot of Iceland. So many unique natural wonders to explore!
Australia is massive and rugged. I was a little afraid to go ashore because I’d heard all these stories about poisonous spiders, snakes, jellyfish, etc. I knew that these creatures did not chase visitors around the cities, but I still did not want to cross paths with a spider the size of my hand. Fortunately, I didn’t see anything like that. I had a wonderful time. The people were so friendly! “How ya goin?”
