Tuesday 3rd March Melbourne We docked in Port Melbourne this morning and took the shuttle bus into the city. We were dropped off at Federation square which is a civic and cultural centre. Opposite the square is St Paul's cathedral and also Flinders Street station which is a very impressive old building. In the square today they had a couple of formula one racing cars as they were promoting the First Grand Prix of the season which is in Melbourne. We were stoppe...

Friday 27th February Tauranga Our third New Zealand port in as many days. Today we are going on a whole day tour that will take us to the geothermal area of New Zealand. We are travelling over to Rotorua which is over an hour away. It was a lovely drive passing endless kiwi plantation and large forests. As we got nearer to Rotorua we started to see steam rising up from bushes and sometimes from people's gardens. We drove along Lake Rotorua to our first stop whi...

Thursday 26th February Auckland Overnight we have sailed to Auckland. With two of our table companions we took the ferry over to Devonport. We visited here two years ago and really loved the area. There are beautiful houses here, mostly wooden, built at the end of the 19th century. It is a lovely area to walk in and we took a circular walk along the water's edge and then inland around Mount Victoria. Along the way we saw the huge tree in the photo. I'm not sure...

Wednesday 25th February Bay of Islands Today we have arrived at the Bay of Islands which is on the north island of New Zealand. This is yet another tender port. The tenders take us to Waitangi and our tour starts at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds which overlooks the Bay of Islands. This is where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840 between the Maori and British Crown. The treaty was the starting point for the two cultures to build the one nation of New Zealan...

Thursday 19th February Rarotonga Today we are visiting another beautiful South Pacific island surrounded by a coral reef. Rarotonga is one of the Cook Islands. There are 15 islands in the group and Rarotonga is the only one with an airport and the administrative centre is also here. It is another tender port and the captain had already warned us that there will be strong currents here and that might cause problems. Although we are close to the shore, the water ...