And the back to back ports just kept on coming.  All the way down at the bottom of New Zealand’s South Island lies a lesser known and much smaller island – Stewart Island.  We didn’t know much about Stewart Island and didn’t have particularly high expectations, but it turned out to be one of our favorite ports.  It didn’t hurt that the sun had got his hat on.

From the tender landing at Golden Bay Wharf, there was an optional shuttle to take us to the small town of Oban on the other side of the island.  But why ride when you can walk?  And why walk the easy way along the paved road when you can detour via overgrown rainforest trails?  Rainforest it was for us then.

We popped out at the aptly named Observation Point along the way, looking back over rolling hills, with tiny fishing boats moored in the bay and our much bigger ship hanging tight for us further out.  

Oban was a charming spot nestled in Halfmoon Bay.  

It had everything you could want from a cute little tourist village by the sea – a corner shop that sold crisps, a fish & chip shop, and a pub.  We were delighted to see it also had a bike rental place.  Even better, they had e-bikes 🙂

Renting an e-bike for a couple of hours meant we could explore much more of the surrounding wild coastline and scenic bays than on foot.  We zipped from one secluded bay to the next.  We were blown away by the white sandy beaches – it reminded us of some of the prettiest spots we’ve visited in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides.

We were serenaded by these little guys, Tuis apparently.  Those little white sacs around their necks inflate when they sing, v cool.

Eager to fit in as much as possible into our day on Stewart Island, Darren had booked us on an afternoon sea kayaking trip.  It was just us, our guide Phil, and one other couple (who’d only ever been on ‘sit-on-top’ kayaks in temperate Caribbean water).  If you look at any other kayak blog posts I’ve done, it seems there’s always a decent dose of drama.  And this one was no different.  The wind conditions are what made this one ‘interesting’.  

As we rounded one particular headland, to me it felt very similar to our recent Rangitoto kayaking experience from Auckland – fighting against massive waves as we bobbed uncontrollably like a cork, with a soda stream of salty water siphoned directly at my face.  Darren later told me it was way more dangerous than that.  So much so that the guide offered to comp the trip.  Notably, the other couple didn’t make it round the headland and the guide went back to check on them and then called us back to safety.  As you can imagine, with the wind behind us, getting back was somewhat quicker.   

Side note, in a moment of experimentation, I asked ChatGPT to write this post for me.  I told it that we did a rainforest hike, a bike ride and a ‘hairy’ kayak trip in Oban.  I’m not going to call it cheating because it didn’t produce anything of value (“our hiking boots crunched on the damp earth” – wait, what?).  But it did cause me to chuckle when its description of the kayak trip included an encounter with a Great White Shark!  Turns out AI has got itself a rather creative imagination.

Back in the real world, the advantage of the kayak trip being cut a little short was that we got to squeeze in a wee drink at the pub before rejoining the ship.  Sitting in the beer garden with the last of the afternoon sun and a Pimms and lemonade – don’t mind if we do. To be fair, I think Darren had a pint and tucked himself into the shade of a patio umbrella, but that’s just par for the course.  And this being our last port in New Zealand, I also stocked up with crisps from the corner shop 🙂

Thanks New Zealand, I hope one day we’ll be back!

What in the world is in Timaru?  Not a lot, truth be told.  Quite how it came to be included in our New Zealand South Island itinerary is a bit of a mystery.  Luckily, Darren put his ideas machine into overdrive and came up with a tailored day trip to show me some of the highlights he’d experienced on his recent solo South Island trip.

We arrived in the port of Timaru to a very gloomy grey day and picked up a rental car to drive inland through the pretty countryside of Canterbury.  Very typical scenery with rolling hills and fields of sheep.  Darren rather excelled himself with the first stop, which was a bakehouse aka pie shop in Fairlie.  Pork belly puff pastry pie with apple sauce and a garnish of pork crackling, don’t mind if I do.  I couldn’t help feeling a tad smug also as the drive over Burkes Pass revealed brilliant blue skies, leaving the leaden grey clouds to linger on the coast.  

A stroll by the glistening turquoise waters of Lake Tekapu gave us a chance to stretch the legs.  I’m sure the locals don’t pronounce it Take-A-Poo but the playground humor makes me chuckle every time 🙂

And then in Twizel (which immediately makes me think of Twiglets, although there were none to be found), we rented a couple of mountain bikes.  Whilst Darren had spent the best part of five days biking the Alps 2 Ocean route, this was the condensed two hour highlight version.  The bike was a night and day improvement on the Wellington one, and the scenery was just blow away breathtaking, especially with the glorious sunshine of California proportions.  

We cycled through yellow fields of waving wheat, the snowbound Mount Cook majestic in the distance.  A brief lunch stop at Lake Pukaki included a mini picnic of succulent sushi salmon with soy and wasabi, washed down with lashings of ginger beer (the non-alcoholic type).  

Cycled back to Twizel, followed by a scenic drive back to Timaru, and all in all – a Grand Day Out, as Wallace and Gromit would say. 

The crusty coastal weather continued as we sailed into the Otago peninsula to dock at Port Chalmers.  I asked Darren what was on the agenda today – surprise surprise, a bike ride!  Ah, but this time on e-bikes.  Hallelujah!  Praise be to Ogden Bolton Jr, Michael Kutter and others along the way for the invention and evolution of the electric bike.  I was mighty happy to power up for the day.

After collecting the bikes in Dunedin, we followed the shoreline bike path past Anderson Bay and MacAndrew Bay, fighting a ferocious headwind.  We stopped for coffee and cake in the little village of Portobello (not a mushroom or a market to be found) and the weather was looking up.

Imagine a horseshoe shaped bay that you want to do a circular route round and you’ve got to cross the water somehow.  Lucky for us, Darren had booked us on the bike taxi from Portobello to Port Chalmers, a one woman operation involving a tiny metal boat and a few bike racks.

Safely on the other side, with the advantage of the e-bikes and the wind behind us, we were flying! Back in Dunedin, we figured 30+ miles of cycling still deserved a drink.  True to form, Darren had that all wrapped up too, with not one but two breweries on the agenda – Noisy Brewing, followed by Steamer Basin on No Name Alley.

It was time to take a break from all that festive eating and drinking and hit up a few ports.  First up, on Boxing Day, was Wellington – our last taste of the North Island.  And even though it was Boxing Day down under, it was still Christmas Day back home.  So we were able to FaceTime the folks to say Merry Christmas and show them the glorious blue sky and sunshine we were experiencing.

A day of nice weather is just what we needed for our two wheeled adventure.  After a short shuttle ride out of town, we were dropped off with mountain bikes, helmets and a packed lunch. Our mission for the day – to ride the Remutaka Rail Trail from Maymorn through the Wairarapa Valley.  The trail follows a historic disused railway line amidst lovely lush green countryside and native New Zealand bush.

Even though the trail was wide and well maintained,  it started with a steep hill and loose gravel.  That’s a steep hill UP by the way.  Hence it started with me walking and pushing the bike, cursing under my breath about whose idea it was to not get an e-bike.   

Still, once we got properly underway, I was able to take in the fantastic scenery and enjoy the ride.  

I soon learned the importance of swapping out my sunglasses for normal glasses before going into a long dark railway tunnel – all the better for avoiding the potholes and puddles.  (And there’s something about railway tunnels that will never not scare me, after being subjected to some horrifying seventies propaganda as a child to deter kids from playing on train tracks.  If you know, you know!).

And then there was the Siberia Gully swing bridge.  Very photogenic she was too, although I didn’t hang around to look down.

The final section was as if it was a totally different trail.  It became a narrow winding single track with overgrown bits, washed out bits and steep drop offs.  Hence my ride ended as it started – with me pushing.  Ho hum. Still a fab ride overall.

The pretty little coastal town of Kaikoura was up next, in the Canterbury region of New Zealand’s South Island.  We messed up a bit here in somehow managing to not book a kayaking trip, especially as the area is renowned for its sea life.  But we made the best of it and went for a walk instead, in search of other wildlife. 

The Kaikoura Peninsula Walkway winds round the headland, starting right from the ship tender drop off.

As we approached the cliff edge, the frenzied cacophony of squawks and shrieks from thousands of sea birds told us we were in ‘Bird City’.  We were immersed in the largest red billed gull colony in New Zealand, topped off with terns, oyster catchers and black backed gulls.

Down by the shore line, we assumed it must be the wrong season to see the New Zealand fur seals we’d heard also live here, as there didn’t seem to be any sign of them.  Until we practically tripped over one.  And then another.  Turns out the path followed the rocky shoreline right through the middle of the seal colony.  We tried to keep our distance but they didn’t seem to respect the path too much.

Wildlife done, all that was left to experience Kaikoura was to check out the local brewery and round off our visit with a pint and a packet of crisps 😋 

No photo of said beer or crisps so here’s some from the ship instead

Ooh, you gotta love Christmas on a cruise ship.  The decorations, the festivities, the atmosphere.  And to be fair, they didn’t seem to go overboard with decorations in Auckland, making it all the more magical when we stepped onboard Seabourn Odyssey.

It felt like I’d been working right up to the 11th hour.  But with Christmas Day not until Monday, we still had Christmas Eve to wind down and let it all seep in. 

Overnight, we’d cruised north, way north, and north a bit further, almost to the tip of the North Island of New Zealand.  And so it was, on Christmas Eve, we dropped anchor in ‘Bay of Islands’, a stunning collection of 150 or so little islands, peninsulas and inlets.  From there, we began a carefully choreographed set of maneuvers involving tenders, ferries, and buses – in order to go for a walk.

We were up and away on the first passenger tender, eager to get going (and more importantly to get back and make a start on the festive eating and drinking).  Waiting for us at the dock in Waitangi was a shuttle bus to the nearby town of Paihia.  Despite the initial choppy seas and angry looking overcast skies, the weather held up as we took to the coast path and beach trails from Paihia to Opua. 

A short ferry hop took us to Okiato and our terrain changed to dense, steep rainforest.  Proper Lord of the Rings stuff, very cool.   Weird and wonderful trees, gigantic ferns and creepy strangler vines.  Bird calls from another planet competing with the overpowering white noise of cicadas (or whatever Antipodean equivalent they have over here).  The humidity was palpable, and the effort intense.

Having run out of water way earlier, we were mightily relieved to emerge from the jungle to a road with signs of life.  And more importantly, an oasis of a petrol station.  Nine miles in (with just a couple more to go) and somewhat dehydrated, we sat on the curb downing Gatorade and tucking into a well deserved chocolate chip cookie.  At which point a friendly bus driver filling up with petrol took pity on us and offered us a lift into the nearby town of Russell.  He didn’t have to ask twice!

Another ferry ride, shuttle bus and tender completed our Christmas Eve outing, at which point we were pretty glad to see our ship. The rest of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day really was all about enjoying Christmas.

There are some pivotal moments that I feel warrant a mention, even though I don’t have any photo evidence… Resting our aching muscles in the hot tub on the back deck, for one. With champagne, because it’s only right to have bubbles in the bubbles.

And then one of my favourite activities, which I’d been building up to big time, really looking forward to it: a Singalong Christmas Carol session. Darren on the other hand, took a bit of persuading, said he’d meet me there, and just about made it in time for the last chorus of We Wish You a Merry Christmas at the end. I was festively decked out in my Santa hat (brought with me all the way from home), swinging my mulled wine and singing with gusto. And somehow not a single photo to memorialize it.

Merry Christmas all!

It may not seem like much but boy, was I glad to see the inside of Tom Bradley terminal at LAX.  It was a week before Christmas and I was finally about to follow in Darren’s tracks, destination New Zealand.  Note to self… in the run up to Christmas, chances are that the merry hell of standard Friday evening LA traffic will be even worse than normal.  LAX lies exactly 35 miles from our house.  On a good day, door to door is 45 minutes.  But you always allow two hours, just in cases.  

Three and a half hours it took me!  Three and a half hours to go 35 miles to LAX!  With two miles to go and traffic at a standstill, panicked passengers were emerging from their Ubers and running towards the airport with their luggage.  Adding to the mayhem, given there’s no actual path.  They were the lucky ones with just their carry-on luggage – I didn’t fancy my chances much with my super sized cruise suitcases and laptop.

Having survived the very real risk of not making it to the airport, I luckily breezed through check in (everyone else was long gone).  I breathed a sigh of relief as I realized I’d make it to the gate for boarding time.  And then came to my senses… with a ‘cheap seats’ ticket, there’s no way I’d be near the front of the queue for boarding.  Which would give me ooh, a good ten minutes to grab a glass of red in the terminal.  

With a midnight departure, I totally lucked out on the overnight portion of the flight with a three seater row to myself.  The layover was in Papeete, on the island of Tahiti.  I’m sure it’s a tropical paradise although I wouldn’t really know.  You don’t get to see too much from the inside of an airport, other than the flying in and out bit.

The first thing that hit me after arriving in Auckland a day and a half after leaving LA (that whole date line thing messes with my mind), was the somewhat Britishness of New Zealand.  There were signs for lifts and toilets, and I was quite tickled to hear the satnav in the Uber speaking in a posh English accent.

Given Darren was still off galavanting on his South Island adventure, I’d asked him to book me a nice place, well located.  He rather excelled himself actually.

I still had Monday to enjoy New Zealand’s capital city before starting work (the extra day thing again, it was still Sunday in California).  I heard exercise is good for jet lag.  And what a lovely day I had walking 12 miles across Auckland, technically kind of from one side of New Zealand to the other.

The rest of the week was quite honestly a blur of 4:30am alarm calls and long working days.

And then in flew Darren, as if to remind me that we had a vacation to go on.

Darren had booked us a sunset kayak trip on Friday evening.  Should be a nice start to the holiday!  Turns out this involved a 3+ mile kayak across open water to Rangitoto island; a picnic; a 2 hour hike up Rangitoto peak, descending at dusk; and a night paddle back in the dark, getting back around midnight.  Not quite sure where the sunset kayak bit came in.

Pretty much as soon as we launched the kayak, right into full-on wind and waves, I realized this was going to be challenging.  Of course, the front of the kayak takes the brunt of the elements. That’ll be me then.  I was soon blinded by what seemed like buckets of salt water being repeatedly thrown in my face.  The nose of the kayak see-sawed awkwardly over the crashing walls of waves, each time giving me a fresh drenching.  I did my best to continue the arm and shoulder movements but not only was I a little out of practice, I wasn’t expecting quite this level of intensity.  Meanwhile Darren was as encouraging and supportive as always, barking his orders from behind.  Something about paddling harder.

I was dreading a traumatic re-run on the return journey, especially with the stakes ramped up in the dark.  But oh what a difference in the conditions. The wind had mostly dropped and what there was, was behind us.  It was oh so peaceful, like gliding across a vast mesmerizing pool of black glass.  What felt like gentle ripples aided us from the rear, and our paddles lapped in unison.  Tiny lights onshore in the distance were all we needed to guide us.  It was approaching midnight and my body succumbed to a relaxed rhythmic trance of paddling, maybe not fully awake after a week of silly o’clock starts.  

All those lovely sunrises during the week and just our luck, Seabourn Odyssey rocks up to a grey cloudy morning.

The anticipation for this Christmas and New Year cruise had been building for some time. I was so so so nearly pencils down with work (Darren even more so!), and we were full of excitement for the next two weeks. It was a joy to step onboard and receive a friendly signature Seabourn welcome. In our suite, amid a slew of personalized Welcome Onboard notes, was a delightful platter of Christmas niceties, a bottle of red wine, a stunning bunch of flowers, and the obligatory bottle of champagne. Don’t mind if we do!