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2024 dawned with a cruise from Sydney to Auckland on the Viking Orion. A one-hour flight from my home in Melbourne to Sydney, Australia took hours as storms closed Melbourne airport twice in the afternoon. It was a first for me and a lesson – don’t time arrival on a cruise too tight.
We knew we were in port overnight, so we planned to arrive at the White Bay Cruise Terminal just before dinner. However, we ended up arriving after check-in had closed (it didn’t even occur to us that reception would close) and after all the restaurants onboard had closed.
The Viking team arranged check-in and we used the 24/7 room service to dine on our balcony looking at the Darling Harbour skyline so we definitely made lemonade out of lemons. But lesson learned – allow extra time even if the journey is supposed to be short.
Sydney – The Harbour City
We love Sydney and we never tire of sightseeing there. However, day one of the cruise itself coincided with day one of the cricket Test Match between Australia and Pakistan so that’s where we went. It was easy to catch an Uber to and from the Sydney Cricket Ground and we enjoyed a day of cricket in the sun.
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Back to the Orion for sail-a-away, we cruised past Darling Harbour and Barangaroo and under the Harbour Bridge out to sea. We have been lucky enough to cruise out of Sydney once before – it must be one of the most scenic ports in the world to cruise in or out of. A lot of the crew were on deck with their phones snapping photos too.
The Viking Orion
A sea day to Melbourne enabled us to explore the Orion – from the flagship Planetarium (disappointingly out of action for the cruise) to the Snow Grotto to the Steam room to the Infinity Pool to the pool under the retractable roof to the capacious lounge areas. There is no shortage of space on the Orion.
The cruise was sold out, but we never felt crowded. The Orion holds 930 passengers and there was plenty of room for all of us.
We had a Penthouse Veranda Stateroom – 338 square feet including the veranda. It was very well-appointed with a king-size bed, couch, coffee machine, 42-inch flat screen TV and large private bathroom. The bathroom had a spacious shower and a heated floor.
Just a note on the heated floor. Not only did it make the bathroom super warm, but we were also able to dry clothes on the floor in next to no time. Heated bathroom floors are definitely on my list for my next home renovation.
Our class of stateroom provided free pressing of clothes. We did use this once but we also used the iron and ironing board provided in the laundrette on our Deck. This self-service laundrette was free and was very popular.
Anyway, enough about laundry. The Viking Orion was built in 2018. It is an all veranda ship meaning all cabins have balconies. No under-18s are allowed. Wine and beer are included with meals and there is also an included tour at each port.
Viking Included Tours
We first experienced the Viking-included tours last year when we did a river cruise in Europe. There, we loved the tours as they were walking tours led by local guides.
There was usually a coach transfer from the ship to the starting point of the walking tour and you usually had the option of taking the coach back to the ship or making your own way back. We mostly made our own way back after some independent exploration.
We had pre-booked all the included tours for this ocean cruise on the Orion and assumed they would be similar to those on the river cruise. They were not. Each one we did was a coach tour with a stop or two for photos and sometimes a little free time.
On a couple of occasions, there was a longer stop at a museum. Sometimes, there was the option of continuing independently after the tour but, mostly, it was a bus tour with narration by the coach driver.
No criticism of the narrations. We learned some interesting things about each port and each driver had personality as well as knowledge, but we didn’t love the tours being mainly confined to the coaches. However, for the older passengers onboard, the coach tours were perfect.
We listened to the Port Talks the day before the relevant port and decided what to do once we heard what the included tour consisted of. More often than not, we travelled independently.
Having said that, the Port Talks and the following discussion of the included and paid Shore Excursions were really valuable as they gave us the “heads up” as to what to see the next day.
Do the Research
Having done two upmarket Viking cruises now, I have realised that it pays to do some research into what you can expect in terms of passenger age and also activity level needed for a cruise before you book it.
On the river cruise, we felt like we were travelling with our parents. On this ocean cruise, the age demographic seemed even a little older. Kudos to the numbers of people (overwhelmingly American) who had travelled a long way to Sydney and were keenly participating in onboard activities and in the bus tours. But, at 55, we would prefer to cruise with people closer to our age.
Confession time – we hadn’t booked this cruise. My 82-year-old Dad had booked this cruise but he was not well enough to travel (get better soon Dad). He didn’t want to waste the money so my husband and I scored a bonus cruise. Thank you, Dad.
Geelong and Kangaroos
After Sydney, the next stop was Geelong. The included tour took us to the lovely seaside town of Queenscliff. The highlight was seeing about 20 kangaroos in the shade of a tree beside the road to Queenscliff.
Hobart and Convicts
Tying up in Hobart at Constitution Dock just a few days after the Sydney to Hobart yacht race had ended there was a special experience. We toured independently, visiting the replica of Mawson’s Antarctica hut, touring Cascade Brewery and then the Cascade’s Female Factory (a former Convict prison). It was a fascinating day of learning about those who came before us.
The Female Factory was very sobering. The tour there was done via a QR code on our iPhones. The information provided was fascinating and I loved being able to switch from story to story as I wanted.
Sailing from Australia to the South Island of New Zealand
Cold and Rainy Dunedin
Two (pretty rough) days at sea and our East Coast of New Zealand tour started. First stop was Dunedin on the South Island which we caught on a cold and wet day. Nevertheless, fun was had wandering around the heritage buildings and touring Speight’s Brewery (no more brewery tours for us for the trip I promise).
The tour was great value. First, you had a personally narrated historical tour of the old Brewhouse. Then you sampled their most popular beer and were able to choose 3-4 other beers (5-6 if you drank quickly). There were also cider and soft drink options. The beers were mainly Speights but they also featured a couple of other local brews. And all for NZD$35 (USD$21.42) per adult.
Out in front of Speights, there is a famous tap (which looks like a beer keg). It draws from a freshwater spring underneath the brewery. Locals come up with all sizes of containers to capture over a million litres of fresh and free water every year.
Photo by Leonie Jarrett
Post the Covid-19 Pandemic, the tap was made contactless, and a foot pedal was installed to get the water flowing. The opening of the tap was also widened to prevent people from drinking directly from it.
Stunning and Sunny Christchurch
The weather turned it on the next day in Christchurch and we loved seeing the Botanic Gardens and Avon River bathed in sunshine. We also loved the Gothic Revival architecture.
Christchurch suffered a dreadful earthquake in 2011 and, amongst other damage and loss of life, the Christchurch Cathedral was badly damaged. A multi-year building project is now underway to stabilise and reinstate it. We enjoyed reading the information on site and seeing the rebuilding project underway.
North Island of New Zealand
Warm Wellington
Off to Wellington on the North Island with more sunshine, a museum visit and a fun cable car ride. The cable car was more what I’d call a funicular railway and it was great value at NZD$11(USD$6.73) return.
Wellington (named after the Duke of Wellington as a thank you for winning the Battle of Waterloo), has been the capital of New Zealand since 1865. It is the most southern capital city in the world.
It is also known as Windy Wellington as winds often gust 37 miles (60 kilometres) per hour. We were lucky to strike a day of little wind and much sun.
Special mention to Te Papa, Museum of New Zealand in Wellington. The museum was opened in 1998. It has an excellent and very moving Gallipoli section which features giant figures of servicemen and a nurse from the WWI battle.
The figures were created by special effects and prop company, Wētā Workshop, which has produced effects for many movies including the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy. It took 24,000 hours to create these figures and they are incredibly realistic.
Before we caught the shuttle back to the bus, we meandered the shops along Lambton Quay and looked at the government buildings of the Beehive and Parliament. Adjacent to one another but built in very different architectural styles, they are an imposing sight.
Art Deco Napier
The next port, Napier, was a delight – an Art Deco jewel that could double for a film set. In 1931, an earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale flattened Napier. It was rebuilt, largely in Art Deco style.
This has been preserved and the result is a vibrant town brimming with shops and cafés. To add to the scene are some vintage cars driving through Napier and parked on the pier beside the Viking Orion.
We had the afternoon on the ship as we sailed away shortly after lunch. We had a very pleasant afternoon in the sun reading and swimming in the Infinity pool (at the rear of the ship). Swimming in a pool powering through the Pacific Ocean whilst watching the ship’s wake behind you is a unique and fun way to spend a sunny afternoon.
Steamy Rotarua
We next docked at Mount Maunganui in the Bay of Plenty. I particularly wanted to see the thermal area in Rotarua and the Viking excursion there had sold out, so we booked an independent tour to Rotarua with Shore Trips & Tours.
Rotarua was fascinating with its geothermal pools of hot, bubbling mud and erupting geysers. We toured the Whakarewarewa Living Village and we were lucky enough to have an extremely passionate Māori tour guide. We were also treated to an excellent Māori cultural show of singing and dancing combined with a demonstration of warrior skills.
On the way back to the Orion, we stopped to see Kiwi fruit vines. The Bay of Plenty is the Kiwi fruit centre of New Zealand. Kiwi fruit was first imported from China as Chinese gooseberries. In 1959, they were renamed after the national, native bird of New Zealand – the flightless Kiwi bird.
Dinner was “Surf n Turf” on the Terrace beside the Infinity pool. Live music played as we sailed away with the sun shimmering on the water as we sailed away. Sublime.
Auckland – the City of Sails
Our last stop was Auckland with its beautiful Harbour. Aucklanders, per capita, have the highest boat ownership in the world.
We were docked at Queen’s Wharf which is very close to the Auckland skyscrapers and shopping district.
We stopped at another great museum – the Auckland Museum. This Museum is housed in a historical building within a park which has beautiful views of the harbour. It tells the story of New Zealand, its place in the Pacific and its people.
Auckland Museum is also a War Memorial with lots of moving and informative information about wars involving New Zealanders.
Auckland is a much bigger city than any other in New Zealand with a population of 1.693 million. 40% of people living in Auckland are born overseas and it has the biggest ethnic Polynesian population in the world.
We overnighted in port. It happened to be pouring rain all afternoon and night so an evening onboard our floating hotel was very welcome. One last wonderful dinner followed by entertainment from a cultural Māori show was a great way to spend our last evening.
We bade farewell to the Viking Orion the next morning – a great start to our trips for 2024.
Top Tips
- Allow plenty of time to journey to your cruise ship even if it remains in port the first night.
- Ensure that you are back onboard by the appointed time or the ship will leave without you. The only exception is if you are on a tour organised by the ship.
- Research your cruise before you book it. Although this itinerary is called cruise of Australia and New Zealand it is not a full overview of these two countries. It only stopped in Sydney, Geelong (a country town) and Hobart. More New Zealand ports were visited than Australian ports, but the West Coast of New Zealand was not touched. Of course, every trip must be some kind of compromise; just do your research to avoid disappointment.
- Ditto on doing some research into the expected passenger age demographic (if this bothers you). Note that an older demographic will likely affect the activities onboard and the type of excursions offered.
- Cruising from Hobart to Dunedin can be rough. We recently cruised the Drake passage from Ushuaia to Antarctica and this crossing from Australia to New Zealand was just as rough. I took sea wrist bands and anti-seasickness medication with me and I used both. Be prepared.
- Sydney, Melbourne and Hobart have a temperate climate. All cities are suitable to visit all year round. However, winters in Melbourne are cool and it is cooler still in Hobart.
- New Zealand’s climate is complex and varies from warm subtropical in the far north to cool temperate climates in the far south with severe alpine conditions in the mountainous areas. Plan your visit according to what activities you want to do in New Zealand.
- Neither Australia nor New Zealand have a custom of tipping. Tipping in both countries is entirely voluntary.
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Author Bio: Leonie Jarrett lives in Melbourne, Australia with her Husband of more than 3 decades, her 4 adult children and her 2 Golden Retrievers. Leonie is a lawyer who has owned several businesses. Now that she is semi-retired, avid traveller Leonie is loving writing about her travels and her experiences.
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