New Zealand South Island - 28th Dec 2014  to 10th Jan 2015

South Seas – 10th to 28th January, 2015

28th SQ321 London 22:05 arr Singapore 18.45 (29th)• (12hr 40m) / Layover 1hr  /  SQ297  19:45 30th arr Christchurch 10:30am  (9hr 50m) (Total travel time 23hrs 30mins) Novotel Hotel, Cathedral Square - 2 nights Afternoon explore Christchurch – Cathedral, Botanic Gardens and River Avon, Re-start shopping Mall Dinner - Cookn with Gas   http://cooknwithgas.co.nz/   Wed 31st   Christchurch 1hr open top bus for city tour - Hagley Park and Antigua Boatsheds, The River Avon, Canterbury Museum and Arts Centre, Christchurch Art Gallery, Provincial Chambers, Catholic Basilica, Bridge of Remembrance and Friendship Corner, Cashel St ReStart Shipping Container Mall, Christchurch Cathedral, new Cardboard Cathedral, Art Deco New Regent Street, AMI Stadium 2hr closed top bus to Mona Vale Gardens, Sumner seaside resort, and Port Hills (views  over Lyttelton Harbour, Christchurch and the Canterbury Plains to the Southern Alps) afternoon Canterbury Museum (Special Antarctic exhibition – Haskell camp) Dinner Saint Germain www.saint-germain.co.nz Fireworks at North Hagley Park (Music 8.30pm to 12.30am) Thur 1st January, 2015  Mount Cook Drive 331km / 4.5 hours via Church of the Good Shepherd, Lake Tekapo to Aoraki/Mount Cook village Hotel Hermitage - 1 night    www.hermitage.co.nz/en/activities Aoraki/Mt Cook Paradise helicopter flight Panorama 3 Course TDH Menu Fri 2nd  Mount Cook / Wanaka Morning Tasman Valley 4WD and Argo Tour Afternoon Glacier Explorers Tour Drive 208km / 2.5hr to Wanaka Wanaka Homestead and Cottages – 2 nights http://wanakahomestead.co.nz/ Sat 3rd  Wanaka 1hr drive to Rob Roy Glacier trail (50km, the last 30km is unmade track) – Trek 10km/6miles 3.5 hrs Capriccio restaurant   http://capriccio.co.nz/ Sun 4th   Arrowtown, Queenstown, Manapouri Drive to Arrowtown 100km 1 hr Visit Kawarau Gorge & suspension bridge Chard Vineyard winetasting Gibbston Valley Cheese for lunch cheese platter 25 min drive to Queenstown Skyline gondola Drive to Manapouri  230km  2hr 30m    Manapouri Lakeview Motor Inn – 2 nights Dinner Lakeview restaurant Mon 5th   Doubtful Sound Day cruise to Doubtful Sound https://www.realjourneys.co.nz Dinner Pearl Harbour restaurant & bar Tue 6th   Curio Bay - Drive 227km/3hr   Afternoon walks – Porpoise Bay, Petrified Forest on the beach, McLean Forest Curio Bay Salthouse Motel  (1 night) 7pm  Niagara Falls café - 8 mins from Curio Bay Salthouse – www.niagarafallscafe.co.nz/  Evening – watch the yellow-eyed penguins at their nesting ground around the fossil forest Wed 7th   Surat Bay - Drive 74km/1hr 10m Visit Cathedral Caves (at low tide), Gypsy Caravan at Papatowie (Closed Wednesdays), Lake Wilkie, Purakanui Falls, Cannibal Bay Kepplestone by the Sea www.kepplestonebythesea.iowners.net/  (1 night) Thu 8th    Dunedin Visit Nugget Point then Drive to Dunedin  114km/1.5 hr Dunedin Palms Motel  - 2 nights Taieri Gorge Railway - Pukerangi return trip 2.30 rtn 6.30 The Dunedin Railway Station, Anzac Square Fri 9th    Dunedin - Otago Peninsula Royal Albatross Centre, Allans Beach, Sandmount (The Chasm & Lovers Leap), Sandfly Bay, Tunnel Beach Drove up Baldwin St (steepest street in the world) Sat 10th   Dunedin 11am 1 hr Cloud Forest Tour £15   Orokonui Ecosanctuary  www.orokonui.org.nz/  Drop off car     16.35  NZ0764 Fly Dunedin to Auckland  arrive 18.20  (1hr 45min flight)   Taxi 30 mins to Crowne Plaza Hotel - 128 Albert Street, Auckland 1010. Tel 302 1111 Sun 11th  Auckland Morning tour to see the fish market, expensive house area and Mission Bay. Afternoon visit Auckland Museum. 4pm board the MS Caledonian Sky. Mon 12th  Paihia, Bay of Islands (144 islands) Waitangi Treaty House then Kauri Forest (1hr drive away). After lunch visited the town of Russell. Tues 13th  At Sea Wed 14th Norfolk Island, Australia. Morning tour of the island. Picnic lunch at Emily Bay. Visit the Botanical Gardens with its 40 endemic, or unique, species. Explore the historical Georgian settlement of Kingston with its convict settlements. Thurs 15th  At Sea Fri 16th  Noumea, the capital of New Caledonia, a French Territory. Views from the Parc Forestier and Ouemo’s Lookout Point on an island tour. Sat 17th   Port Resolution, Tanna, Vanuatu Afternoon visit the nearby Mount Yasur, an active volcano that has been erupting nearly continuously for 800 years. Sun 18th   Port Vila, Efate, Vanuatu. Morning see the Turtle Sanctuary on Moso Island which runs a Hawksbill turtle conservation project. Snorkel in the afternoon on Pele Island. Mon 19th  Luganville, Espiritu Santo, the largest of Vanuatu’s islands. Morning snorkel at Million Dollar Point where the Americans dumped their tanks and equipment before vacating the island after World War II. (Other option was an island tour). Afternoon at sea. Tues 20th  Vanikoro, Soloman Islands Morning welcome dance by the villagers, jungle nature trek from the village.  Afternoon at sea. Wed 21st  Port Mary, Santa Ana, Soloman Islands. Afternoon welcome dance by the villagers with spears and mud face masks and music of the pan pipes followed by a walk to the local school. Thurs 22nd   Honiara Guadalcanal – capital of the Soloman Islands Honara city and environs tour (option for a WWII tour). Afternoon snorkelling at Bonegi Beach, the site of a sunken Japanese ship. Cruised out through Iron Bottom Sound, the site of intense World War II naval battles and had a remembrance cocktail and threw wreath overboard. Fri 23rd   Marovo Lagoon, New Georgia The largest double barrier lagoon in the world and largest saltwater lagoon in New Georgia islands. Visit to village on Telina Islet (John Wayne family with 5 children and 14 grandchildren and countless visitors from other islet). Snorkelling across amazing coral reefs in the afternoon but very strong current. Sat 24th At Sea Sun 25th   Alotau, Papua New Guinea Visit a small village and go birdwatching, see the viewpoint and war memorials. Mon 26th   Bonarua Island Snorkelling and watching the dolphins. (View fishing and weaving demonstrations, and wander through the village, sampling local delicacies.) Tues 27th Jan – Port Moresby to Brisbane -  Air Niugini  14.50 arriving 18.00  /   Layover 5hr 45m 27th Jan  - SQ 246  Brisbane 23.45 arr Singapore 05.45(28th) (8 hrs)                    Layover 7hrs so went into Singapore to visit the Gardens on the Bay  28th Jan  - SQ 318  12.55 arr 19.05 on 28th (14hr 10m )  (Total travel time29hr 20m)

Tasman Sea

The Tasman Sea is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand.  And is informally referred to as ‘The Ditch’, which is comparable to referring to the North Atlantic Ocean as ‘The Pond’.