And We're Off!!

We are headed to the Outback!

We board our plane today and will arrive in Sydney tomorrow around noon-time. We have a very, very long layover in Taipei so we are hoping we are able to get out of the airport and explore the city a bit.

Wednesday after we arrive in Sydney we will check into our hotel. And on Thursday we board the ship! We will, of course, throw in some exploring on both of those days as well.

Friday is a port day in Sydney. I think we may visit the Opera House or even the Zoo. Then it is back onto the ship for two days at sea before arriving at our first port in New Zealand.

We have 7 stops in New Zealand where we will be able to get off the ship:

Bay of Islands - we are doing a Dolphin Cruise to Hole in the Rock tour

Auckland - Going to see Kelly Tarlton's Antarctic Encounter & Underwater World and maybe the sky tower. We also just want to walk around and do a bit of shopping and maybe check out a Mexican restaurant we read about in a travel guide.

Tauranga - Rotorua Geothermal Outing and Blue Bath Tea tour

Napier - we are just going to walk around here and we plan to check out the Silky Oak Chocolate Factory!!

Wellington - we are walking around here too. Probably going to go to the Te Papa Museum. There is also a burger place nearby the museum that we want to try.

Christchurch - Tranz Alpine Train tour

Dunedin - we are going on a private tour and making a stop at Cadbury World and the Yellow Eyed Penguin reserve.

After our port days we will be cruising Dusky Sound, Doubtful Sound, and Milford Sound. From what we have heard we want to make sure our cameras are ready! It is supposed to be beautiful scenery. We also bought a pair of binoculars so they may just come in handy here.

Then we have two final days at sea before we disembark back in Sydney. We are staying two nights after the cruise in Sydney so we can do a little more site seeing. We have booked a rental car too so our plans are to drive out to the Blue Mountains and to a wildlife park. It will also be a nice place to store our luggage on the last day since our flight doesn't leave until around 10pm.

And we get home just in time to watch the Super Bowl!