Princess Cruises

I have just returned from a cruise around New Zealand. It was for 13 days and so there is a lot to catch up on. The Dawn Princess was this magnificent and beautiful ship. It has 15 decks and there was always something to do. There were places to eat on several of the decks including a sundae bar. Below are photos of the ship and some of the views that could be seen.

Ceiling in the atrium as you enter the ship.

The Library

Vista Lounge

Carpet Bowls

Wellington, NZ

I was looking forward to seeing Wellington. I loved that Auckland was so green and beautiful and so was hoping that Wellington was the same. I was not disappointed.

Museum of City & Sea

This museum is definitely worth a visit. Unfortunately for us we weren't able to see all of it. It is very large and we were part of a tour, but from what we did get to see it is amazing.

The city of Wellington from the top of Mt Victoria

Rotorua, New Zealand

Rotorua is a city on The Bay of Plenty, New Zealand. It is not the sweetest smelling places that you could visit, but that is due to the fact that is a centre for geothermal activity, home of geysers and hot mud pools. You will notice driving around that there is a smell of rotten eggs, this is the glorious smell of sulphur. I suppose that you would get used to this smell the longer that you lived there, however there is one place right near the Government Gardens, that there is such an overpowering smell of sulphur that I had to move away...unfortunately for me, it was not far enough. 

I have to say though, despite not selling this place too well, it is definitely a worthwhile place to visit. The city itself is quite pretty and the Old Bath House, which is now the Rotorua Museum, is just gorgeous.

Visit the website for the Rotorua Museum

 The next place on the itinery to visit was to Te Puia. This is the New Zealand Maori Arts and Craft Institute. It is located in the Te Whakarewarewa Geothermal Valley, home to the Te Awara people. It is home to the Pohutu geyser, which erupts up to 20 times each day. 

Visit the Te Puia website here

We also visited the Agrodome. We were able to see a shearing demonstration and there was a bit of a performance, I guess you could call it. They showed us the variety of sheep they had on the farm and the work that their dogs do. You can also take tours of the farm, however time didn't allow for that because we had to get back to the cruise ship.

Auckland

Our first port was Auckland, NZ. We decided not to do a day tour here and instead bought a ticket for a shuttle bus. It is a fantastic service if you are ever in he area.

Our first stop in Auckland was Kelly Tarlton's Underwater World & Antarctic Encounter.

Next was the Auckland Zoo. This place is huge. We were unable to see it all because we had to catch the last shuttle back to the city but it was one of my favourite places from the cruise.