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Hobart, the capital of Tasmania, is located at the southern most tip of the island state. It was the first European settlement on Tasmania in 1804. The population of Tasmania is about 573,000 with 190,000 in Hobart. The city has many historic sandstone buildings, which is a testament to its heritage. The city is located on Sullivan’s Cove which is a deep port.

The city has an active fishing fleet which is located in the city center. Much of the land in the city center is reclaimed land. In the 1970s heritage protection laws were passed to keep the old buildings from being torn down. Now they have been refurbished with traditional exteriors kept.

In 1836, Charles Darwin came to this area. Hobart lies in the shadow of Mount Wellington which puts it into a rain shadow – the rain falls on the mountain or on the back side, but not much falls in Hobart.

Almost all of the electricity on the island is from hydroelectric or wind power. 80% comes from hydroelectric from the lakes and dams on the west coast of Tasmania. 20% is wind power. They actually produce enough electricity to supply some to the mainland of Australia.

The Derwent River flows through the Hobart area. It is the 3rd largest natural waterway in the world. Abel Tasman arrived in this area in 1642. He had 2 ships and named the land for his employer, but subsequently the island was named for him, as was the waters between Tasmania and New Zealand. We actually sailed the Tasman Sea for the 2 days it took to get from New Zealand to Tasmania. The waters of the Tasman Sea are usually somewhat rough. They did not disappoint 😉

The island does not have any heavy industry. They farm, growing apples and stone fruits. They are famous for their alcoholic ciders. They also have a small wine industry, but do not export the wine.

Tasmania is the most mountainous of all the states of Australia. 334 islands make up Tasmania.

The major population growth came when Tasmania was used to keep convicts from England. They were sent here and had the ability to “work off” their sentences. While doing this, they built roads and infrastructure and most ended up staying after their sentences ended. They had learned valuable skills and had become part of the local communities.

42% of the land is protected. However, they have valuable minerals in these areas – copper, gold, silver, lead, zinc to name a few. Some of the old mines are now being reopened because current mining ways are more efficient than before and there is still valuable metals in the slag piles left by the old mines.

Our excursion took us to Rosny Hill Lookout. This was across the river from Hobart and gave us a view of the whole city. We then went to the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens. We had a walking tour to see the gardens. We even went into an ice house which had plants that grow in the coldest climate.

Our final stop was at the top of Mount Wellington. The mountain actually creates its own weather. As we approached it was foggy and rainy at the top of the mountain. However by the time we reached the top it was clear, but very cold and windy. The mountain is 4,170 feet and 650 million years ago it was at the bottom of the sea. It was pushed up by magma and has slowly eroded to its current height. There are basalt columns across the face of the mountain.

New Zealand is renowned for its fantastic landscapes and among the best are its “sounds”. These deep narrow inlets of the sea offer a unique blend of rugged beauty and tranquility. Fiordland National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the southwest corner of New Zealand’s South Island. The sounds were carved over millennia by glaciers. The sounds have dramatic scenery, including tall mountains, lush rainforests and the deep U-shaped fiords themselves.

We spent the whole day cruising into and through 3 of the most famous ones. After several very cold and sometimes rainy days we were treated to a beautiful blue sky day.

Dusky Sound: the largest of the fiords, Dusky Sound is a haven for wildlife, and the habitat for the Crested Fiordland penguin, which is endangered.

Doubtful Sound: deeper and quieter than Milford, it offers a more intimate experience with nature. Its waters include dolphins, seals and penguins. It is often called “The Sound of Silence”.

Milford Sound: often called the 8th wonder of the world. It is the most famous of the fiords with sheer cliffs and waterfalls and reflective waters. This area is home to some of the oldest plant species in New Zealand, including groves of Southern Beech trees that are almost 1,000 years old.

It was a lovely day and we were so blessed by the fantastic weather. I am including some photos, but the camera can not do justice to what the eye has seen.

We now start 2 days at sea as we sail for Tasmania and Australia.

Dunedin is on the South Island, on the southeastern coast. It was established in 1848, by people from Scotland who were trying to get away from the harsh beliefs of their Presbyterian church in Scotland. The leader who brought them to New Zealand was Reverend Chalmers. They were looking for 5 things in the land: fresh water, coal and lime, good soil, a good port and 7 hills. These requirements were based on the fact that they wanted to have a place that reminded them of where they were leaving and that was Edinburgh. They were able to purchase 14,000 acres for 1 cent an acre from the native Māori.

The people were promised free health care and free education and that promise has been kept to current times. The cost to come was 17 pounds a person. The first ship arrived on March 27, 1848. Dunedin did not become a city until 1865 and had a great inflow of people in 1861 because of the discovery of gold in the area.

The first medical school was here and until 1969 was the only one in New Zealand. They also have the only dental school in the country. The University of Otago is here with about 22,000 students. It is one of the prime industries in this city. There is a lot of street art in the city but no graffiti. In olden days they built locomotives here and there is a big rail museum.

The first ship actually had a pre-fab school house in the hold. Currently, if you graduate from college here, the government will pay the costs of your last year which is about $15,000NZD. Of the total student population 88% are not local, and 12% are not from New Zealand.

Our guide told us that this area is the wildlife capital of New Zealand with seals, sea lions, blue penguins, yellow eyed penguins, sea gulls, albatross, black swans, oyster catchers to name only a few.

There is only one tribe of Māori on the South Island. Our objective was to see the Royal Albatross. After eggs are laid they are incubated for 80 days with both the male and female on the nest alternatively. Most times one is on the nest for 3 or 4 days while the mate is out searching for food. Then that bird comes back and takes over the nest and the other bird goes off to feed.

It actually takes about 5 days for the baby bird to hatch. They fledge after 7.5 months. These birds only lay 1 egg every two years. The birds return to mate to where they were born and they mate for life. Once the birds fledge they fly to Chile and stay there for approximately 5 years to mature. When they are 5 or so, they return to New Zealand to mate and reproduce. The average breeding age is 7.

We were at a conservation center where they have protected bluffs for the birds to nest. We were in a small glass blind and were able to observe about 8 birds on nests. The other birds were over the cliff edge or farther away and we could not observe them. There is a set of islands off the coast, farther south, Chatham Islands and there are about 25,000 nesting pairs there.

After our time at the albatross center we headed to Larnach Castle. The story about the family who built it was interesting to hear, but way too complicated to write. Here is a link to the history if you are interested.

https://www.larnachcastle.co.nz/about-us/history

We had a tour of the first floor of the castle, really a very large home and then lunch in the Ballroom Cafe. The house took 3 years to build and sits on 1,000 acres of land which was purchased by William Larnach for 1 shilling an acre. The house was built for his wife, Eliza. It was very far from the town of Dunedin, taking 4 hours round trip in the late 1800s when the family lived there. Mr. Larnach was a banker, then a shipping company owner and finally a politician becoming the Treasurer of New Zealand. Unfortunately his business ventures did not work out well and he went bankrupt and killed himself.

The house was very ornately decorated with all the wood hand carved and unique. The gardens around the house were very nice as well.

When we sailed away we were able to see the albatross sanctuary from the water. Not sure if the bird I photographed was an albatross or not.

The port of Lyttelton sits on the site of 3 dead volcanoes which died 6 million years ago. Lyttelton is the second largest port. The last big earthquake here was 10 years ago.

We drove through a 1.9 kilometer tunnel to get to Christchurch, which was established in 1850. In 2011 there was a large earthquake which destroyed 70% of the buildings in the town. 185 people lost their lives. It was 6.2 magnitude and threw the land upwards. A phenomenon called liquifacation happened – this is when the ground turns into “jelly” and sloshes around. To help the city rescue people, the United States sent $600 million in equipment that has been used in other instances of emergency rescues.

Although the country is in an economic recession, this part of New Zealand is growing. After the big earthquake many people moved away because they did not have the resources to rebuild, but now the area boasts a population of over 500,000. On our tour we saw many buildings still in need of repair, but most had been rebuilt and others hardened for earthquake protection. There are Red Zones, areas that are not built on because the land is not stable enough.

This area is famous for the greenstone, which is sacred to the Māori. We learned about the many braided rivers in this area of the country. They are 1 river that looked like it is many, with many small branches.

We passed through the Canterbury Plain, the largest flat area in New Zealand. This area hosts farms and ranches. The dairy cows here are all grass fed and produce very rich milk. Some of the milk is turned into powdered milk for export. In 2010 many of the leases for the sheep farmers came due. Most could not afford to purchase all the land they ranched, so they bought a portion and the rest was turned into conservation land.

We were headed to the Southern Alps. They are formed by the Pacific Plate , pushing up under the Australasian plate. They are about 8,000 feet on average with the tallest being Mount Cook at over 12,000 feet. This area has a major, 8 magnitude, quake about every 300 years. Our guide indicated that we were in the “50 year window”. The North Island has the only volcanos in New Zealand with 8 highly active.

Our first stop was in Mount Somers for a rest stop and snacks. Our real objective was the filming site in the Rangatata Valley that was used in the second Lord of the Rings movie. They movie producers had to jump through many hoops to be able to use this land. It is conservation land and they had to put it back exactly as it was before they came to use it. They even unplanted plants that they took to a nursery and then moved them back after the filming ended.

The drive to the site was in beautiful landscape. When we got there our guide had photos of the filming site, but of course it was only scenic views that we saw.

Lunch was back in Mount Somers and on the ride back to the ship we saw several videos about the filming site, the actors and bits from the movie.

Napier is a city on Hawke’s Bay on the eastern side of the north island of New Zealand. The entire city was rebuilt in the Art Deco style following an earthquake in 1931. These buildings are the best collection of Art Deco buildings on the planet. Our guide, Jan, wanted to know if there were any people from Miami (should have asked about Miami Beach) where there is a very large collection of Art Deco buildings. The area is a big wine producing area. Our tour was to see the world’s largest colony of gannets – a sleek, White Sea bird known for its diving fish catching technique.

Napier is a major shipping port for lumber. Before Covid, 3 million tons of lumber went from this port. It is starting to get back to those numbers now.

The 1931 earthquake destroyed not only Napier, but the town of Hastings too. The towns are about 7 miles apart. The earthquake raised the land along the shoreline, adding 1,000s of feet of land. The wooden buildings in the town mostly survived, but any that were built of masonry did not. It took only 2 years for the city to rebuild. Although the buildings were built in the Art deco style, it was not until 1960, that they realized what a treasure they had and preservation began then. Our guide told us that in a few weeks they would have a huge art deco festival, with people dressing up in clothes from the 30s, old cars, parades and old plane flyovers.

We drove through a few small towns to get to the entrance to the gannet area. We had to drive through privately owned land. The family had owned this property for 6 generations. They have sold some and currently only manage 2,000 acres. They have recently added a golf course and high end hotel, about $4,800NZD a night. They still farm, raise cattle and timber.

The gannet colony on Cape Kidnappers is the largest that can be easily accessed. There are about 20,000 birds in the area. There were 3 different sites we could see, 2 down below the cliffs, and one on the top of the cliff. The males return in July and August and start to dig a bowl shape to start the nest. When the females return, the males will use seaweed to drape around them as part of the mating. The new birds are hatched in November and December and by April the birds leave. We saw adults, some of the younger chicks which were white fuzzy birds and the juveniles which were speckled. Our guide told us that the juveniles would be fledging in the next month or so. These birds feed only on fish and dive deep, up to 100 feet, to capture their food. The first flight the birds make take them to Tasmania and other islands off the coast of Australia. When they leave they stay at sea or in the air until they return to nest in New Zealand.

We also learned why the place is called Cape Kidnappers. Apparently when Captain Cook landed in this area around 1769, he had a dark skinned cabin boy that the Māori thought had been “kidnapped” and rescued him. When they found out he was with the ship willingly he was returned but the waters were named Cape Kidnappers.

It was really a very interesting day.

Today we were transferred from our hotel to our cruise ship in the morning. Because of New Zealand’s strict biodiversity laws we had lots of questions to answer and forms to show.

We boarded the ship and had lunch and then waited for our cabin to be ready. Once we got to our room, only 2 of our bags were there. Our tracker said the other bag was at a different terminal and we were concerned because there was another cruise ship leaving from that terminal. Fortunately, by the time we unpacked and got all of our clothing and stuff put away the last bag showed up. It was the one we had filled with all the things like body wash, shampoo, extra deodorants and things like that. With this trip being over 30 days, we needed extra of everything we normally bring.

We are now truly ready to get going.

Lots of views of our home away from home.