R. Doug Wicker's Blog, page 84

Circumnavigating New Zealand — Octagon to Cadbury’s 2019

St. Paul’s Cathedral

Now let’s start again from The Octagon and head down Lower Stuart Street. In the photo above you see St. Paul’s Cathedral, located along the west side of The Octagon. Turning east we find the Regent Theatre, which opened in 1928:

Regent Theatre

And what is that beautiful car we see above, sitting at the light in front of the Regent? Let’s take a closer look:

Aston Martin

Let’s take another gander at the Regent before we continue on:

Regent Theatre

On Monday I gave you a smal...

Circumnavigating New Zealand — Arriving into Dunedin 2019

Dunedin, New Zealand

As with Fiordland, we passed through the city of Dunedin on New Zealand‘s South Island on cruises in 2019 and again in 2020, but 2020 saw us take a different excursion. So this week and next we’ll be taking a look at downtown Dunedin as seen in 2019 from our voyage aboard Majestic Princess. On our return visit to Dunedin the week after next we’ll be taking a train trip to Taieri Gorge. But for today we’re going on a Dunedin walking tour starting from The Octagon and heading ...

Fun Photo Friday — Circumnavigating New Zealand; Milford and Doubtful 2

Peaks Peeking Through Clouds

Our last look at Fiordland before heading north:

Narrow Passage in Milford Sound

Milford Sound Waterfall

Pilot Leaving

Circumnavigating New Zealand — Fiordland 2020; Doubtful Dolphins

Doubtful Sound, Fiordland Nat’l Park, New Zealand

We’re now heading into Doubtful Sound in New Zealand’s Fiordland National Park. As I mentioned Monday, the views here did not for the most part compete with those over in Milford Sound, but there were some nice exceptions:

Doubtful Sound, Fiordland Nat’l Park, New Zealand

I will give a thumb’s up to the flora here, though. It seemed a bit more colorful than what we experienced earlier in the day:

Doubtful Sound, Fiordland Nat’l Park, New Zealand

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Circumnavigating New Zealand — Fiordland 2020; Cruising Milford Sound

Milford Sound, Fiordland Nat’l Park, New Zealand

Today we’re going to begin with Milford Sound in Fiordland National Park, then transition over to Doubtful Sound.

Milford Sound, Fiordland Nat’l Park, New Zealand

Remember the two permanent falls in Milford Sound? Let’s take looks at both from slightly different vantage points beginning with Lady Bowen Falls, followed by Stirling Falls:

Lady Bowen Falls, Milford Sound, Fiordland Nat’l Park, New Zealand

Stirling Falls, Milford Sound, Fiordland Nat’...

Fun Photo Friday — Circumnavigating New Zealand; Milford and Doubtful 1

Leaving Doubtful Sound

Next week we’ll finish up with Milford Sound and move onto Doubtful Sound and some very playful dolphins. Until then:

Shrouds of Clouds

Crashing Surf

Majestic

Pilot Arriving

Circumnavigating New Zealand — Fiordland 2020; Cruising Milford Sound

Milford Sound, Fiordland Nat’l Park, New Zealand

Just to recap, it’s March 2020 aboard Royal Caribbean’s ship Radiance of the Seas, and we’re plying the same waters we did a year before aboard Princess Cruise Lines’ Majestic Princess. We are cruising Milford Sound inside New Zealand’s Fiordland National Park. On this day the approach to Milford Sound appeared gloomy, and the weather was obviously not going to cooperate:

Milford Sound, Fiordland Nat’l Park, New Zealand

Fortunately, those limitati...

Circumnavigating New Zealand — Fiordland 2020; Entering Milford Sound

Milford Sound, Fiordland Nat’l Park, New Zealand

In March 2020, after our circumnavigation of Australia aboard Royal Caribbean’s ship Radiance of the Seas, we returned to Fiordland National Park. You’ll recall from the past two weeks that we made a similar journey through Fiordland aboard Majestic Princess, but under much better weather conditions.

Milford Sound, Fiordland Nat’l Park, New Zealand

We arrived very early in the morning at the first of two fiords we would travel this day, so the low...

Fun Photo Friday — Circumnavigating New Zealand; Fiordland Part 2

In the Wake of the Majestic Princess

This week’s Fun Photo Friday brings to you a last look of our 2019 voyage into Fiordland National Park. Next week we’ll return with views from our 2020 cruise under vastly different weather conditions.

Serenity

Twin Falls

Hugging a Crevice

Untouched Skies

Southern Alpine Glory

Circumnavigating New Zealand — Fiordland 2019; Blue Waters, Blue Skies

Fiordland National Park, New Zealand

Today we’ll be looking at blue — Blue skies and blue water as Majestic Princess continues her March 2019 journey through New Zealand’s Fiordland National Park. Above you see blue water, and below we have contrail-free blue sky:

Contrail-free blue skies

Ours was not the only vessel here this day. There were several fishing boats out and about as well:

Plying the waters, Fiordland National Park, New Zealand

Much of the flora you’ll find clinging to the steep sl...