Australia Circumnavigation Cruise
12-11-2022 to 17-12-2022
Kangaroo Island. The tender service was delayed due to the choppy sea.
Penneshaw township tender dock.
Penneshaw beach. The weather moderated and we went ashore after lunch.
Christmas Cove marina.
The ship repositioning with a tender chasing it. As we left the ship on the tender, the bridge called for the tenders to move away from the ship. The ship needed to reposition due to a change in the wind.
Here we are in Melbourne. The ship docked while we were still asleep.
Today we have our Great Ocean Road Tour. It is a 12 hour tour. These photos are of the Surf Coast.
At Anglesea we stopped for morning tea. Well Tea, Coffee or Milo. And a piece of cake. Bluberry or Banana and Walnut or Pound.
The Great Ocean Road Memorial Arch. It was built to honour the returned service men who worked on the road after WWI.
At Kennet River we made a brief stop to see some Koalas. I din't see any Koalas. This is a Sulfer-crested cockatoo.
There were also some Crimson Rosellas.
Who liked to land on people.
Colleen's turn next.
Fish and Chips for lunch in Apollo Bay.
After lunch we went to Maits Rest to walk through a patch of temperate rainforest. Here we saw a Koala.
Our 24 seater coach. The one in the white cap is our driver and guide, Graeme.
From Maits Rest we drove to Port Campbell National Park to see the 12 Apostles. There were only 8 limestaone stacks originally. In July 2005 one stack collapsed so there are only 7 left.
Our last stop before dinner and the long drive back was at Loch Ard Gorge. In 1878 the Loch Ard was wrecked and the only two survivors of 52 on board washed up in the gorge.
The steps down into the Gorge.
Down in the Gorge.
After some shopping in Melbourne we took a tram ride and hopped off in the working class area to catch the tram back to the dock.
This is the end of the line for the tram. The P&O ship Pacific Explorer is in. These passengers from the tram are on their way to join their ship.
A seagull soaring by our ship.
And one taking a rest on our balcony.
The weather has not been great today. We have had a tug at the bow all day. Pushing us to the dock to take the strain off the mooring lines. We were supposed to leave about 16:00. But it was not safe. It was not till 09:30 that we managed to leave when there was calmer weather.
We are about to enter Burnie. The pilot boat peels away after dropping off the pilot.
Backing into our berth on the left hand side.
This was an interesting sight as we backed in. A truck full of wood-chips being tipped up to be emptied.
Christmas decoration are being put up in the ship. This is the Neptune Lounge for the use of Neptune and Pinnacle suite guests. Aaron, a lounge concierge, is at his desk.
In town we took a walk along the seafront.
Leaving Burnie and heading for Eden N.S.W. Hobart has been cancelled due to the weather.
We were woken up at about 2 o'clock this morning to the sound of chairs scraping across the deck. It had been a rough night and the wind had risen blowing our chairs to this partition. This is what it looked like in the morning. The captain has organised for the ship to stay in Eden overnight so that we can have a calm night. It is not very far to Sydney from here.
The chairs on the side deck had not moved.
It has been very windy all day. And we decided not to go ashore. I went out onto our deck very quickly to take these two photos of the Eden Harbour. The sun had come out briefly.
To limit contact with the people in the Lido. We brought our lunch, a bowl of salad, back to our stateroom.
Our last day of the cruise. This is the Christmas display in the main office foyer. The ship has been rocking since leaving Eden this morning. It is going to continue till we reach Sydney tomorrow morning.
05:30 in the morning and we are sailing past the Sydney Opera House to our berth.
Circular Quay in Sydney. The ferries are all tide up.
Sydney Harbour Bridge in the morning light.
The first ferry of the day leaves the quay. To catch the train to the airport we only have a short walk to the Circular Quay train station above the quay.
P&O Pacific Adventure passes under the harbour bridge on her way to berth in White Bay where we started our cruise.
The end of our travels. Landing back in Auckland on a rainy day.