twangster

At 11:30am we left the ship as a group and boarded a bus to drive to the bridge.  Since this is a cargo port only approved ship provided buses are allowed to move guests within the port area.  

At the bridge the tour operator has a small shop.  There we were fitted with a harness and a jumpsuit or coveralls plus a helmet.  You can’t bring anything with you as they don’t want something falling on a car causing a crash.  Photos and video taken by our guide would be provided through a website URL at the conclusion.  Everything went into a locker.  

The company that runs the bridge climb also has other adrenaline based activities such as bungee jumping from the bridge.  Other groups that were not from the ship were being fitted for their own adventures as we waited.  We would see them again later.  

The following photos and a video were captured by the guide and provided to us included in the excursion price.

Much like the Sydney bridge climb you are tethered to the bridge as you walk along the steel walkways under the road deck of the bridge.  Once we were closer to the center of the bridge we would climb up onto the top of bridge, spend some time at the top then return similarly to how we came.  

We were fitted with an earpiece so that everyone could hear the guide who led us on this adventure.  

As we walked he would provide history and data about the bridge and the city.  We stopped briefly once we reached an area directly opposite the bungee jumping platform so we could watch the victims, I mean participants, do a bungee jump.  Discounts were offered if we wished to add a jump after our tour.  No one from our group accepted. 

The bridge has lasted beyond its intended operational lifespan so new tunnels are being explored as a replacement for this aging bridge.  At some point in the not so distant future it will be gone.  It’s a great time to climb a piece of history.  


Great views from the top!


That's Quantum in the distance.





Here is the video they provided, posted with permission:

AucklandBridgeClimb.mp4.9c485f6eb82272edda53a8ecd642357f.mp4 We didn't do the bungee jump but watched the folks in this video do it.
It was an amazing excursion and I’m really glad I did it.

Today we would be berthed at a cargo pier with massive cranes hovering over us.


Now if they offered driving this shipping container mover as an excursion I'd sign up in a heartbeat.


My excursion today was the Auckland Bridge Climb.  Now seeing the bridge in the distance it didn’t look that impressive.  Oh well, might as well go with it.



During my 2020 visit to Australia I did the Sydney Harbor Bridge climb and thoroughly enjoyed it so this looked like a great excursion to try for this visit.  I booked the 8:30am time slot hoping to have free time in the afternoon to explore Auckland on my own but that wasn’t how this day was going to play out.  I received a letter moving my meeting time to 11:30am.  Okay, no big deal, I’ll still have a few hours to self explore.

Day Seven
Auckland, New Zealand.
Auckland is located deep within a broad bay of sorts so we are within New Zealand's territorial waters for many hours before arriving to and after departing the city.  As such many onboard retail and casino venues are closed long before we arrive and well after we depart.
Our progress so far...


We arrived early in the morning to the bright lights of this big city on the horizon.

Quantum is such a beautiful ship.

Day Six
A sea day sailing up the coast of New Zealand to reach Auckland.

I worked.  Boring.  

The next stop is Zealandia Sanctuary.  

New Zealand didn't really have any mammals before some were brought my man.  Without mammals native species lived hundreds of years ago without their presence.  Not knowing what these strange mammals were when they arrived many species were wiped out.  
Zealandia is a project to create a sanctuary walled off from non-native species including mammals so that truly native species can flourish as their world once was before man brought new species and mammals to New Zealand.  They have been able to breed up species nearly wiped out.  It's a 500 year project because there are some species of trees that take that long to grow full cycle.

This wall goes the entire way around Zealandia keeping any mammals from entering.  

It's a pretty fascinating project.



Our guide escorted us around various trails and paths narrating frequently.


To be honest I booked this excursion for the cable car experience but this turned out to be a pleasant and fascinating stop to compliment the cable car.

Here are some photos from the top.  There is a cable car museum and great views of the city.

Day Five
Wellington, New Zealand
Today's excursion is Zealandia Sanctuary and Cable Car Experience.
First we arrive into Wellington to clear skies and no wind.  That's pretty much unheard of in Wellington, it's a very windy city.  This is the only port duplicated from my last New Zealand cruise when on that occasion it was windy.
First we'll do the cable car which is not really a cable car any longer but now a funicular.  This has been around for a long time and been through several iterations of cable cars over the years.  

Once cleared as a group we mixed into the general population boarding the uphill service to the top.   As you approach the boarding area the line divides two ways boarding the same car from both ends.  I chose the lower end hoping to get a view downhill as we go uphill.  







Our driver will bring the bus to the top and we will board it there on our way to the next stop.  Until then we have time to ride the cable car and check out the museum and grounds at the top.  
I captured a video of the ride going up, while looking down towards the waterfront.  I sped up the video to save time watching it.

WellingtonCableCarTL.mp4.9cd854a067097c37d032421ac9b67a70.mp4  

My excursion is Scenic Cruise and Queen Charlotte Track Hike booked through the ship.     I'm very grateful I bought that hoodie.  Out here on the cool Pacific waters of New Zealand it's quite chilly.  Some guests, like me, did not come prepared for this.   
A guide walked around to illustrate where were going.





A twenty five minute boat ride over to Mistletoe Bay.


We broke into three groups each with a guide and headed around a short hike.  As hikes go it's what I would consider easy but for anyone with less mobility you'll want to consider if this is an appropriate excursion for you.  I wore running shoes without issue so it's not like hiking boots were required.  





It was a pleasant hike and an informative guide who knew a lot about the flora and fauna of the area.  
After a 90 minute slow paced hike we boarded the boat to make our way back to Picton.

The excursion bus dropped us off near the small boat harbor where our scenic cruise began but this is not where the cruise ship shuttle bus operates from.  I could have gotten off the scenic cruise and jumped on the waiting bus but I wanted to walk around a little.  Read the instructions carefully and map out where you need to go to reach the main cruise shuttle bus, it's a fifteen minute walk from the boat harbor.  
We depart from Picton and sail out of Queen Charlotte sound across to Wellington.  This will take several hours much of which is in the dark.  Wellington is at the bottom of the North Island of New Zealand.  


I upgraded my phone for this trip to enjoy a better camera and I'm still exploring it's capabilities.

Not terrible for a handheld phone from my balcony.

Dolphins on the port side.

PictonDolphins.mp4.f8da625426e377dcf1449da9b269fdf8.mp4 Eventually we reach Picton where we do a 180 and reverse into the cargo slip.  Free shuttle busses will take us into town. 



Water cannon welcome.









A time lapse of our transit into and through Queen Charlotte Sound.

PictonTL.mp4.15834bb58cb8a3bf441b08aa1d853b35.mp4 The cargo port with wood exports being readied for shipment to China. 

Day Four
Picton, New Zealand
With Picton positioned on the top of the South Island we enter the gap between the North and South Islands then sailed down Queen Charlotte sound to reach Picton.  It's very beautiful.  







I love on the older Q class ship the suite sun deck allows you to quickly move from side to side.  On various trips on this class I've used this area extensively for great photos.  On Odyssey this is a Teen club area.  

Beautiful sunset tonight.

Day Three (B)
Neglected to mention there were time changes on night 1 and night 2 of cruise #2. There will be more time changes on day 8 and 9B.
Given our two time changes so far we are now on New Zealand time.
Slight motion due to minor swell.  It's a lot like standing on an airport train or subway with subtle back and forth motion once in a while.  
Fortunately motion doesn't tend to bother me until it is severe which is why I don't mind being so far forward on deck 6.  I actually enjoy a slight rocking to sleep.
CAS Top Tier in the Theater.
705 Gold
362 Platinum
173 Emerald
544 Diamond
542 Diamond Plus
111 Pinnacle
13 Aussie Pinnacle
16 Canadian Pinnacle
9 UK Pinnacle
1 French Pinnacle
72 US Pinnacle
7 new Pinnacle this cruise
Top cruiser is from Australia with 3,354 points.  
Captain claims there are over 18 million CAS members worldwide.  
Due to the high numbers of D+ and P, D members are not allowed in the Crown Lounge during the evening happy hour. There was someone on duty every night checking sea pass cards. This is becoming common on high top tier cruises such as transatlantic, transpacific, Panama Canal and so on. 
In other news I came to the realization I under packed warm clothing for the New Zealand portion so I dropped by the logo store to find a full zip hoodie on sale.  

Here is a time mind bender from my arrival in Australia.
When I landed in Sydney flying in from Tokyo a couple of days ago it was one hour different from Brisbane.  Upon taking off from Sydney enroute to Brisbane I moved my watch by one hour so my watch would be correct when I landed.
When I boarded the ship in Brisbane on our way to Sydney I was expecting we would change time on board.  We didn't.  Yet when we arrived in Sydney we were on the same time.  

Day Two (B)
I have chosen to label the replicating days as A or B since that is how Royal is handling our crossing of the international date line.  A letter in our cabin explains we will have a day nine A and a day nine B, both occurring on April 16, 2025.   

We now have two sea days to cross the Tasman Sea on the way to our next port of call, Picton New Zealand.

In addition to the NZeTA travel authorization app that is required to visit New Zealand there is also a separate app or website for the purpose of making a customs declaration.  Deciding I didn't need or want another app with another account, I just used the website.  Fortunately I have a Voom internet plan but for those that don't they did have crew available to assist guests who are having issues with this requirement.  I don't recall having to do this a few years ago so I am guessing it's new, at least to me.

 

Sail away from Sydney is usually pretty great unless it's pouring rain but fortunately the forecast had turned out to be wrong much of the day and we had a pleasant departure. 

An exclusive CAS event tonight.














With that our adventure had begun.

Cabin 6128 - Category 5D Balcony
Technically as a 3 person cabin I didn't qualify for this cabin being solo but since they moved me from Ovation and on Ovation this is a 4D cabin, I was allowed to keep it.  







I like the location of these cabins and that they are directly over the ocean.  No walkways, lifeboats or anything else between you and the view to the sea straight down. They are super convenient and down one flight of stairs to deck five and Schooner Bar.  Down one more deck to the Theater and Esplanade.  Very convenient.  



Two bottles of water courtesy of the CAS for a 21 night cruise.  I'll need to ration them carefully. 🙂

Enough time had passed that the boarding process had commenced.
Fortunately we had been given an In Transit card which was like a magic fast pass into and through the Overseas Passenger Terminal.   It couldn't have been easier with a dedicated entrance, ABF and security queues.  It was really easy.  
With that I was back on board enjoying a beverage in the pub waiting for cabins to become available.

I figured I might as well have a local beer or two and some lunch while I waited.

When ABF gives you lemons, make lemonade. 🍋
Having sailed from Sydney before and knowing the area I decided to walk over the Sydney Harbor Bridge to get some photos of Quantum in Sydney.  I already knew the route, it's pretty easy with elevators in places where there are stairs if you need a lift.







A constant flow of ferries in and out.

Someone is getting blocked!

Newly minted Diamonds in the making.

In the theater waiting...
New Sea Pass card, In Transit card and my passport.  One of these would be a massive time saver later.  

In the theater they asked if we had planned to get off to explore or planned to get back on board right away.  Forecast was rain and the weather radar didn't look promising. Thirty or so of us chose to wait in the theater and re-board immediately.  ABF would require the ship reach zero count much like CBP does in the US but we were informed we would be processed and return to the ship immediately.   
There were several pages for two guests failing to disembark.  We all waited for them to be found. 
Finally it was our turn.  Away we went...

ABF and the Intercruise agents in the terminal had a different plan.  We were marched to an elevator and then outside to join the masses waiting to board.  It was a sea of people but fortunately the light rain observed earlier had stopped.  

So now we are outside in GenPop.  

Day Three / Day One (B)
Sydney and the end of cruise #1.
An early arrival into Sydney.

A consecutive cruiser letter let me know the exact process was still to be determined by the Australian Border Force.  We were to meet in the theater the next morning where we get our new Sea Pass cards and more details how ABF would process us.  The consecutive cruiser letter had a specific time to arrive at the theater and they would be enforcing this time.  No need to be early. 
Mandatory NZeTA check for consecutive cruisers.









 

Day Two (A)
Day two is a sea day as we sail down the coast from Brisbane to Sydney.  It was a beautiful day with lots of sun.  At times we could make out the Australian coast on the starboard side.  
Still not on Aussie time I was up early, working.



The sun rises from the bottom down under!

Later that night...
The Instant Reward Casino offers are different down under.  There is no short versus long offers, there is only one list for any cruise from Australia.

 
Ah.  Smell that smoke free casino air!