kwalker99

We're taking a cruise to Sydney and New Zealand in November on the Celebrity Solstice. I’ve been checking out excursions offered by the cruise line and www.shoreexcursions.com and finding it difficult to choose what to do at each port.

I’d appreciate any recommendations and tips you can provide about sightseeing activities in these areas:
Sydney, Australia
Dunedin NZ
Akaroa NZ
Tauranga NZ
Aukland NZ
Bay of Islands NZ

We are in our sixties and our main interests are wildlife and nature.

We also looking for advice about hiring private tour operators in these areas. We have a group of six.

Thanks for your ideas.

tasmangirl

Wow they offer a lot of excursions at a high price. Paying for all these will add to your cruise costs.
Have you cruised before? Then you will know about the tender transfers and the time it can take up. Being somewhere at an exact time to meet up with a smaller cheaper tour may be difficult.
We've done a Princess cruise to North Queensland but chose the trips offered to make it easy and doable. The Great Barrier Reef trip was our highlight and the most expensive but well worth it.
We found this waiting for just getting on and off the ship a bit tedious and then we had to wait in the bus for all the others on the same excursion to make it over.
However don't let that put you off. You could can see a lot without taking ship tours everywhere.
Here's my suggestions based on if a ships tour would the easiest/least stressful (ST) or you could do by yourselves (IND).
Sydney - Blue Mountains (ST) or Taronga Zoo, Sydney Aquarium, ferry to Manly (IND). Ship docks at the wharf so easy to get off.
Dunedin - not sure here as I have not been there for years.
Akaroa - no wharf there so tenders again. The Tranz Pacific would be nice but it's $$$ and 9 hours. Wander around Akaroa and enjoy a nice lunch (IND).
Tauranga - docks at the wharf. Rotorua (ST) or Hobbiton (ST).
Auckland - docks at the wharf right in downtown Auckland. Hop on the HOHO bus to see the main sights. Catch a ferry over to Devonport for $12 or Waiheke for $35 return (IND). Or Hobbiton (ST).
Bay of Islands - tenders again. Hole in the Rock (ST) or Historic Treaty House at Waitangi (ST).
I have seen Shore Trips and Tours advertise in the local paper so check them out shoretripsandtours.co.nz. The prices are reasonable.
Fullers.co.nz are the main ferry company in Auckland.

Diamantina

If you are interested in nature and wildlife then read reviews for Dunedin's Elm Wildlife Tours on Trip Advisor:
https://www.tripadvisor.co.nz/Attrac...th_Island.html
In the blank for "Reviews that mention" enter "cruise ship" and you will see many reviews by cruise ship passengers who have taken this tour while in Dunedin.
Link to their tour:
https://www.elmwildlifetours.co.nz/o...hore-excursion

Their tour gives you the option of adding a tour of the Royal Albatross Centre. Be aware that chicks won't hatch until late January or early February, you'll see adult albatrosses sitting on nests and socializing. If you don't pay extra to take the albatross tour, you'll still have a great chance of seeing albatrosses flying around the center. The windier it is, the better your chances of seeing albatross.

In November it might be rainy, very windy, or foggy, or it could be like today: sunny, dry, windless, with blue skies. Better to prepare for cold, wet and wind—just in case.

You'll see a wide array of wildlife, including endangered endemic species, such as Northern Royal Albatross, NZ Sea Lion, Otago Shag, and probably Yellow Eyed Penguin. Yellow Eyed Penguins swim out to sea at sunrise and return during the late afternoon/early evening, but there should be chicks at nests, and parents will sometimes return to feed them during the day. You might see Little Blue Penguins as well. List of species regularly seen:
https://www.elmwildlifetours.co.nz/w...tago-peninsula

There are many wildlife tour operators in Dunedin, as wildlife is its main attraction.
https://www.dunedinnz.com/visit/see-and-do/wildlife

How long will you be in Auckland? Because, if the weather is fine, you would probably enjoy Tiritiri Matangi Island, with its exceptional birdlife and beautiful walking tracks. However, it's an all-day excursion, boat leaves the wharf at 9 a.m., returns at about 5 p.m., so if you have only one day you wouldn't have time for anything else. The ferry only sails Wednesday through Sunday and it's cancelled in poor sailing conditions.
Rangitoto Island also has walking tracks and birdlife (not nearly as much as Tiritiri Matangi), but getting there and back wouldn't take all day, only part of your day. The ferry trip is much shorter (25 minutes one-way as opposed to 75 minutes) and there are at least three ferries a day in each direction. The two islands look very different as Rangitoto is Auckland's youngest volcano and while plant growth has regenerated (it's home to NZ and the world's largest Pohutakawa forest) you can still find lava fields.
Here's a link to ferry services for islands in Auckland's Hauraki Gulf:
https://www.fullers.co.nz/
Dept. of Conservation links:
http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-rec...-conservation/

http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-rec...#activitypanel

Auckland's West Coast also has some splendid scenery (Waitakere Ranges, black sand beaches) and birdlife, including the Muriwai gannet colony. You'd have to do some searching for tour operators. I know "Bush and Beach" is one of them:
http://www.bushandbeach.co.nz/all-tours/nature-tours/

Diamantina

As you'll be on a cruise, you might not want to do any short cruises, but, as you are interested in wildlife, I thought I should mention that Akaroa's harbor is home to Hector's Dolphins, NZ's endemic dolphin and one of the world's smallest dolphins.
Black Cat Cruises offers nature cruises, during which dolphins and Little Blue White-Flippered penguins might be seen.
https://blackcat.co.nz/