Marvin

Need any suggestions on shore excursions in Bay of Islands,Christchurch, Dunedin, Hobart, Melbourne,Tauranga,Wellington. Can any of these be done easily on our own?

LizF

I know this cruise and it does not give enough time in any Australian city to do anything justice. <BR>To answer your question though - yes everything can be done on your own in every place. If you have the time in Hobart take a trip to Port Arthur for the day and see the convict ruins and some of the countryside. You won't have the time to do the great things in Melbourne but perhaps a trip up to Sovereign Hill would give you some idea of the early days and the gold rush times. Christchurch has a nice Botanical garden - as does Melbourne for that matter. I hope you have a few days in Sydney before the cruise though otherwise you will miss out of the best part of the whole thing.

LizF

Thanks for your help. I'm sure a land tour would be more satisfactory and perhaps we can do that another time. We do plan to be in Sydney a couple of days prior to the cruise. Any suggestions?

aussie@aussie

Think we should rename this Forum the LIZF!!!! She seems to know EVERYTHING about EVERYWHERE.

Liz

THIS IS THE REAL LIZF -I think someone has been using my ID in a number of cases NB I would hardly be answering myself in this post would I - see a couple of answers back!

The real LizF

Now I am upset. I hope it doesn't look like I am monopolizing this board......does it? My excuse is that I work in the hospitality/tourism industry, own a B&B and am old and grey and I have lived in every state of Australia and travelled the rest of them together with every other place on the globe that I have been able to get to but mainly I am passionate about Australia and hope that people get to see and feel the "real" Australia and not the one that seems to be in the minds of overseas people because of our past poor record of promoting ourselves properly.<BR>I am just back from California and every person I met asked me about Steve Irwin ( Crocodile Hunter) and asked were all those crawling things everywhere and where in the "outback" did he have his zoo?..........sigh!

Jean

Sorry that I got you in trouble, Liz. I posted the reply under your name instead of mine. We do appreciate your help and have enjoyed your other replies which have been helpful. Keep them coming.

Melodie

Gee, I was going to say the same thing about Liz F....and I would have bet money she was involved in tourism in some way. Of course I think she's absolutely brilliant, as her comments so closely parallel what I would say <BR>Liz, if I'd only known you were going to be visiting California I would have met you for a drink - my shout!<BR><BR>Melodie

LizF

Melodie I will take a rain-check on that drink and take you up on it next time I am in California.<BR>Many thanks Melodie for your support - and offer. That offer stands for this end of the world too for you. <BR>Merry Christmas all<BR>Liz<BR>