Adventures in Auckland, Tauranga, Gisborne, and Wellington, New Zealand, Part 3
2023 HAL World Cruise
Thursday to Sunday, February 2 to 5, 2023
Just to recap,
Since arriving in New Zealand, we have done a lot of sightseeing, shopping, and dining with the emphasis on eating & drinking!!! Now, as we tender over to the dock in Gisborne, we talk about the vintage steam train we are about to board. This train was first built in 1896 and is the only one of its kind in New Zealand. It pulls 3 restored carriages. One of them is a faithfully replicated car from 1936. The other 2 are modern air-conditioned cars with nicely upholstered seating. Since we were among the last to board, we have the privilege of sitting in the 1936 carriage.
Following the train ride, we will head over to the Gisborne Tatapouri Sports Fishing Club near the tender dock for our standard afternoon libation.
Here are the photos:
Gisborne is a tender port. It’s a long haul to the docking area and takes about 20 minutes.We settled in for the ride.Arriving at the dock, it was a short bus ride to the train.The Gisborne City Vintage Railway consists of 3 passenger cars; a water tank car; and the steam locomotive.We boarded the train for our excursion to Muriwai where the steam locomotive will be moved to the other end of the train and pull us back to Gisborne.This is the 1936 passenger car that was restored to its original appearance.The two other cars have air-conditioning, modern upholstered seats, and a shared coffee/souvenir area.And yes, we purchased another souvenir watercolor print for our travel collection!!!The Wa165 locomotive is noteworthy as the last remaining Wa class in the world; it is the only train in the world to cross the main runway of a fully operational airport; and it crosses the longest river bridge in the North Island.This is such a good looking locomotive!!! WA 165 was built in Dunedin, NZ in 1897.Here we are–crossing the Gisborne Airport runway!!!And here we are crossing the Waipaoa River on the longest river bridge in North Island!!!We passed vineyards…..…..we passed sheep….…..we passed cattle. And we even passed our own ship patiently awaiting our return!!!Before returning to Gisborne, we were greeted by school children performing traditional songs and dance.We were also treated to a sparkling refreshment!!!
And that happened to be a Gizzy Fizzy by Hihi Vineyards in Gisborne.
A locally made product named for the stitchbird/hihi (an endangered NZ native bird)
But, before boarding the tender…..…..we stopped at the Gisborne Tatapouri Sports Fishing Club for an afternoon libation.This looks like a fun club: those are prize catches displayed on the wall; that cooler under the sword fish holds nothing but chilling mugs and glasses; TV and games are readily available; and you can see folks standing in line to order their food; ….…..and so did we!!! This is fish & chips with fries and a salad.An appetizer plate.And the local beer and wine!!!We enjoyed the Gisborne Gold!!!And then we returned to the ship. Quite an interesting and satisfying day!!!
Our final New Zealand port is the capital city, Wellington. We’ll take a tour of the Martinborough wine region and enjoy a half-day wine tasting tour.
Now you know that’s going to be a lot of fun!!!
Be sure to join us for Part 4, the final installment from New Zealand.
7 thoughts on “Adventures in Auckland, Tauranga, Gisborne, and Wellington, New Zealand, Part 3”
Loving your report – you both know how to enjoy life! An afternoon libation is a must in my book, lol! Looking forward to hearing about the wine tour. The Marlborough region is my favorite source for wines (sauvignon blanc).
Thank you, Sue
We, too, enjoy the Sauvignon Blancs from Marlborough. Our favorite is Kim Crawford’s. So the opportunity to visit 3 different vineyards in “up and coming” Martinborough was irresistible! Hope you’ll enjoy that post as well!!!
I’m familiar w/Kim Crawford’s – good choice. I see HAL recently updated the beverage menus, although perhaps not on Zuiderdam until your cruise ends. They listed 30 degrees Celsius sauvignon blanc, from the Marlborough region. I think it’s $11/glass, so covered by the beverage package most people have on regular (not grand) cruises. Curious, I hunted around last weekend until I found it in a local Publix, bought it, chilled it and opened it the other night. It’s very good – if you see it on the HAL menu by any chance, give it a try.
Appears to be a great tour so far. Beautiful scenery and lots of good eats. Of course, I’m keeping track of the fine wines and heady beers your enjoying as well. Stay healthy and keep the dialogue and photos coming. BP
RovingRaconteurs.com 
Loving your report – you both know how to enjoy life! An afternoon libation is a must in my book, lol! Looking forward to hearing about the wine tour. The Marlborough region is my favorite source for wines (sauvignon blanc).
Sue
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Thank you, Sue
We, too, enjoy the Sauvignon Blancs from Marlborough. Our favorite is Kim Crawford’s. So the opportunity to visit 3 different vineyards in “up and coming” Martinborough was irresistible! Hope you’ll enjoy that post as well!!!
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I’m familiar w/Kim Crawford’s – good choice. I see HAL recently updated the beverage menus, although perhaps not on Zuiderdam until your cruise ends. They listed 30 degrees Celsius sauvignon blanc, from the Marlborough region. I think it’s $11/glass, so covered by the beverage package most people have on regular (not grand) cruises. Curious, I hunted around last weekend until I found it in a local Publix, bought it, chilled it and opened it the other night. It’s very good – if you see it on the HAL menu by any chance, give it a try.
Sue
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Thanks for the “heads up”
We’ll check it out!!!
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Everything looked great!!
Beautiful weather!!
Fun train ride!!
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Appears to be a great tour so far. Beautiful scenery and lots of good eats. Of course, I’m keeping track of the fine wines and heady beers your enjoying as well. Stay healthy and keep the dialogue and photos coming. BP
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So good to hear from you!!! You’ve always enjoyed the beer choices! We keep trying to find new and local libations.
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