Itinerary
Monday 23rd January	-	Fly overnight to
Tuesday 24th	-	Hong Kong, China (layover) Fly overnight to
Wednesday 25th	-	Auckland, New Zealand Transfer to hotel 2-nights
Thursday 26th	-	Auckland, New Zealand
Friday 27th January	-	Auckland, New Zealand Embark Noordam
Saturday	-	Gisborne, New Zealand
Sunday	-	Tauranga, New Zealand (for Rotorua)
Monday	-	Napier, New Zealand
Tuesday	-	Wellington, New Zealand
Wednesday	-	Picton, New Zealand
Thursday	-	Timaru, New Zealand
Friday	-	Port Chalmers, New Zealand (for Dunedin)
Saturday	-	cruising Fjordland National Park
Sunday	-	at sea
Monday	-	at sea
Tuesday	-	at sea
Wednesday	-	Melbourne, Australia
Thursday	-	Burnie, Tasmania
Friday	-	at sea
Saturday 11th February	-	Sydney, Australia Transfer to hotel 3-nights
Sunday/Monday	-	Sydney Australia
Tuesday 14th February	-	Sydney, Australia Fly overnight to UK

Noordam and the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge.

	Nights on board		15
	Days at sea		5

NB The original 2023 itinerary visited Hobart, then Melbourne before Sydney but in October 2022, it was changed to Melbourne first, then Burnie, Tasmania before going on to Sydney.

This was supposed to happen last year for my 70th birthday but New Zealand and Australia were still not ready to accept international visitors in early 2022, so Holland America moved our booking to 2023 and switched it from Oosterdam to identical sister ship Noordam. The itinerary was also a week earlier in the year and had one or two port changes but the cruise was one day longer at no extra cost and it covered my birthday, so we decided to stick with it...

Andrew & I were to have been joined by Angie, Carol and Julia but unfortunately Carol & Julia had to cancel in late 2022.

Notwithstanding my reservations regarding the long flights, requirements for covid testing and concerns about luggage getting lost, everything went perfectly and the flights proved much easier than expected - especially in the luxury of business-class!

British Airways Club World (Business-class) Old-style seats & Chicken Teriyaki for lunch!				Hong Kong - Cathay Pacific Business-class Lounge & Cathay Pacific's new Business-class seating

The Sky Tower (1997 1,076ft high) & the view from the 51st floor				Holy Trinity Cathedral (1965) & St Mary's Church (1897)		Interior of Holy Trinity Cathedral

For our 2 nights in Auckland, we were extremely fortunate with the weather, New Zealand having experienced Tropical Cyclone Hale just a week before our trip, but then Auckland suffered its worst flooding in history immediately after our cruise departed. Although the weather was a bit mixed during the rest of the cruise and we missed Doubtful Sound and Milford Sound, overall things went very well and our 3-night/4-day overstay in Sydney proved a resounding success!

Here are some of the highlights:-

Rooftop Pool Cordis Hotel, Auckland		Neptune Suite #7145 with aft wrap-around balcony		Bathroom with Jacuzzi bath		Cantare on board vocal group

Gisborne		Whakawerawera, Rotorua (from Tauranga)
Tendering in heavy rain		The Living Village		Maori and the Haka		Geo-thermal Springs

Art Deco style in Napier				Wellington, North Island Weta Studios & Lord of the Rings Locations Tour

Picton, South Island				Queen Charlotte Sound
The 'Edwin Fox' Museum - a 3-masted tea-clipper of 1873				One of the Marlborough Sounds in the north of South Island

Timaru, South Island				Dunedin (from Port Chalmers)
Caroline Bay and the Rose Garden				Olveston House (1906)		Botanical Gardens

Dusky Sound				Wet Jacket Arm		Milford Sound
Fiordland National Park, South Island				Fiordland		Never quite made it!

Melbourne, Australia Port Melbourne & Yarra River Cruise				Koala Healesville Sanctuary		Fergusson Winery & Restaurant Lunch

Burnie, Tasmania Gunn Plains Caves & Leven Canyon Lookout				Sydney, Australia Dawn arrival, Sydney Opera House & the Harbour Bridge

		Towards the end of the cruise, the day in Tasmania was my birthday, followed by a spectacular dawn arrival in Sydney, passing under the Sydney Harbour Bridge to arrive at our disembarkation berth. But with 3 nights booked at the excellent Four Seasons Hotel, we still had 4 more amazing days to come...

Sydney Harbour View Four Seasons Hotel		Noordam departs on another cruise		Sydney Opera House		Scallops Thermidor at 'The Morrison' Seafood Restaurant

Sydney Skyline		Lemurs & Baboons		Manly beach & sea-pool		Lunch at Newport
A Day at Sydney Zoo				Manly Ferry & northern beaches tour with Tim Skelton

Cook's 'Endeavour'		HMAS Onslow (1969)		Dubai Business Lounge		Etihad Business-class
National Maritime Museum				Etihad Airways Business Class via Dubai

On our last day in Sydney the rain swept in but Andrew & Angie still pressed ahead with their 'Bridge Pylon Walk' while I took the ferry to the Maritime Museum and having arranged a late hotel check-out, we were all able to make the best of our last day.

This was an amazing holiday and a brilliant cruise!

For photos of Noordam and the ports visited on this cruise, see account at Captain Martini >>

Cruise Mileage: 3,914 nautical miles
Total Mileage to date: 227,602 n miles