Leg 4 – Melbecs

AZ 2024World Cruise – Leg 4 – Auckland, NZ to Sydney, Australia

Leg 1 Leg 2 Leg 3 Leg 4 Leg 5 Leg 6 Leg 7 Repositioning Leg 9 Leg 10 Leg 11

Day 41 – Feb 15 – Auckland, NZ

We begin leg 4 in Auckland with a wine tour in one of New Zealand’s oldest wine regions. While most people correlate Savignon Blanc with New Zealand, the white wine this area produces is mostly Pinot Gris. There is some red wine production as well, although the reds we tasted seemed less full-bodied than the Australian wines that we love. Arguably, no one produces better white wines than New Zealand!

Day 42 – Feb 16 – Tauranga, NZ

Today we take a private tour with our friends, Susan and Bruce. We begin the day with a visit to the Elms site, built in the 1830’s by the first missionaries in the area to live amongst Tauranga Māori and establish a mission station at Te Papa. Of course, one of the first buildings constructed was the chapel. The picture below is a replica of the original chapel, recreated in 1964. After visiting the Elms, we take a drive through the countryside, we we meet several “working” sheepdogs.

Driving on, we make a stop at a kiwi orchard before continuing to our last stop, McLaren Falls. While the falls were beautiful, the walk to see the falls was just as interesting!

Day 43 – Feb 17 – Napier, NZ

We dock in Napier today, which is a small town at the seat of the Hawks’ Bay region in New Zealand. It’s known for it’s 1930’s architecture – street after street of stunning and beautifully-restored Art Deco buildings, making this town one of the most complete collections of Art Deco buildings in the world.

To make our visit even more special, we learn that this is the weekend of their annual “art deco festival”. The day begins with an airshow – given by both modern jets and classic planes. As we enter town, we find the entire town residents and guests dressed in 30’s fashion, with the blocked streets featuring parades of vintage cars, and period music filling the air. We walk through the town, absorbing the atmosphere before we have a wine tasting of “Hawks Bay” wines!

Some of the interesting “classic” vehicles we saw . . .

Day 44 – Feb 18 – Wellington, NZ

We arrive in Wellington, and dock by one of New Zealand’s major exports – rough wood. The timber is mostly exported to China. As we don’t have anything planned today, we walk into town to see the sights.

One of our previous tour guides told us that we should visit Zealandia – the world’s first fully-fenced urban ecosanctuary, with the purpose of restoring the valley’s forest and freshwater ecosystems as closely as possible to pre-human state. To get there, we ride the Wellington tram – a funicular that ascends through funky colored tunnels.

At Zealandia, we follow hiking trails to a dammed rived at the end of the preserve. Coming back, we find the elusive Takahe.

After we leave the park, we walk through town and the port, and of course, stop at one of the local pubs!

Day 45 – Feb 19 – Picton, NZ

Marlborough Region – the region of our favorite Savignon Blanc! To fully enjoy this remarkable region, we book a private tour to visit five wineries, with a bonus stop at a chocolate factory. There were nine of us on the tour, and we had a fabulous time. After visiting some of the smaller wineries, we understand why Cloudy Bay is not as popular in New Zealand as it is in the USA, where it is heavily marketed. Most of the locals we talked to said that they preferred bottles from smaller vineyards, which we agreed with. We all came back to the ship wine to enjoy on-board – as though we don’t have enough alcohol on board already!

At the end of the day, Sharon is exhibiting the feeling we all have after sampling 20+ wines! We will sleep very well tonight, and will have five bottles of nice wine in our cabin to enjoy in the upcoming days!

Day 46 – Feb 20 – Christchurch, NZ

Today we visit the town of Christchurch. We begin our self-guided tour with a vist to the Arts Centre. The Arts Centre is home to over 70 entities and the largest collection of heritage buildings in the country. You can see an art piece in the far left picture at the top. It is an image of a room with stairs, made of wire, hanging on a tree limb. After visiting the Art Centre, we bypassed the local tram, and instead walked the river path through the Botanical Garden. Other sites we discovered – a walkway featuring Maori artwork welcoming visitors to city – artwork directly on the path, as well as a local stone that represents the unity of people and the land.

Christchurch was rich in street art – which we love. These artists are so talented!

Day 47 – Feb 21 – Dunedin, NZ

Docked by yet another lumber yard; a common site in New Zealand. After carefully walking around the working dock loading lumber, we took a wildlife cruise.

After the wildlife cruise, we head to town. One of the most interesting sites is the railway station, which is one of the most photographed buildings in New Zealand!

Day 48 – Feb 22 – Milford Sound

Today is scenic cruising through Milford Sound, located off of the South Island of New Zealand. Our friends Jorge and Terry invited us to their aft suite for a “sailing through the sound” party. We had appetizers, wine, champagne and lots of fabulous companionship. It has turned out to be my all-time favorite “cruising” day!

Day 49/50 – Feb 23/24 – At Sea

Not many pics during these two days – we are transiting the Tazmania Sea! We spent most of the two days in our cabin. Night 1, Melanie didn’t feel like eating anything, and I ordered room service. We watched every movie that was available on Azamara’s On-demand channel. Night 2, we did venture to the buffet for a light dinner. It was very cold during these two days – fortunately, Azamara provided blankets for the deck!

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Day 51 – Feb 25 – Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

We are excited to explore Tasmania, a place that has been on our bucket list for a long time. To make it even better, we will stay here for two days! On day 1, we explore the city on our own – enjoying the artistic qualities of the city (note the stairs) before finding a river path where we walk along toward the oldest brewery on the island. Of course, after arriving there, we have to do a beer tasting!

One sad place that we toured was the “Cascades Female Factory”. This was a a former Australian workhouse for female convicts in the penal colony, operational between 1828 and 1856. It was very sad to see – in the middle picture the space I am standing in is the allocated space for a cell, and the far right picture speaks for itself. The infant mortality rate around 26% – out of the 794 babies born at the factory between 1830 and 1838, 208 infants died.

Coming back to our happier cruise experience of today – we head back to the ship to change clothes and get ready for the Azamazing Evening. Tonight’s special event is a concert in Hobart Hall. Afterwards, we all meet back on the ship at the Atlas Bar for a nightcap.

Day 52 – Feb 26 – Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

We take an organized tour on our second day in Hobart. We visit the summit of Mount Wellington which has magnificant views of the city. Later, we explore the Bonorong Wildlife Animal Sanctuary, dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation, and preservation of native Australian animals. Our favorites (pictured below) are the Tasmanian Devil (of course), Echidnas (spiky ant-eaters), and of course, the cuddly wombats.

Day 53 – Feb 27 – At Sea

Day 54 – Feb 28 – Eden, Australia

Eden is an old “whalers” town, and has a “whaling” theme throughtout. We walked on an extended boardwalk that they have around the sea, which was decorated with pictures of whaling boats. Arriving back in the center of town, we pass a beauty salon, and decide to get our hair cut!

y 55 – Feb 29 – Sydney, Australia

As we sail into Sydney Harbour, we see the sunrise right before we have to lower the mast to fit under Sydney Bridge. Sailing by the Opera House is always a highlight on the Australian sail-in!

We are fortunate to be in Sydney for three full days, and we plan to take advantage of this generous time allocation. On our first day, we head out to “The Rocks”, the birthplace of modern Sydney where convicts first set up shop in 1788. Today, it is full of shops and pubs amidst all of the history. As we walk to the Rocks area, we see the walking tours on the top of Sydney Bridge. As we’ve done this in past years, we decide to skip it for this year.

This evening we have tickets to an opera, Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” being performed in Sydney’s Opera House. We begin the evening with a cocktail in the opera house before heading into the auditorium. Notice the newly cut hair – maybe a little too short – but it will grow!

That’s it for leg 4 – I know that it has been a long time coming. Now that I have many sea days ahead, the catch-up is coming!