Silver Moon - Auckland to Sydney

Where this cruise calls, day by day

12 ports and 3 sea days over 14 Nights.

1. Day 1

   Auckland

   New ZealandDepart

   Auckland berths its ships at Queens Wharf, which is the bottom of Queen Street, so the CBD begins where the terminal ends. It is a harbour city built across an old volcanic field, and the best of it is on the water rather than in the centre. Ferries leave from the terminal next door to the ship.

   • Ferry to Waiheke Island for the vineyards and Oneroa
   • Sky Tower observation deck, or the SkyWalk around the rim
   • Auckland War Memorial Museum for the Maori and Pacific collections and the daily cultural performance
   • Walk up Maungawhau/Mount Eden into the crater for the isthmus view

   Getting ashore

   Docked at Shed 10 on Queens Wharf, the primary berth, or at Princes Wharf next door; both are about five minutes' walk from Britomart and the bottom of Queen Street, with no shuttle needed.

   Best months

   Nov-Mar (southern summer)

2. Day 2

   Tauranga

   New ZealandPort

   The berth is at Mount Maunganui, on the ocean side of Tauranga Harbour, and the extinct cone of Mauao rises straight off the end of the wharf. Almost everyone treats this as the door to Rotorua's geothermal country, about an hour inland, which means a long coach day. Stay local instead and you get a surf beach and a good hill walk within ten minutes of the ship.

   • Climb Mauao, or circle its base track at sea level
   • Rotorua geothermal parks - Te Puia's Pohutu geyser or Wai-O-Tapu
   • Hobbiton Movie Set near Matamata, the longest excursion of the day
   • Mount Hot Pools, saltwater and right by the wharf

   Getting ashore

   Docked beside Pilot Bay at Mount Maunganui - not in Tauranga city, which is 6.7km across the harbour bridge; the Mount's beaches and main street are a short walk, and Rotorua is 78km, about an hour and a quarter each way.

   Best months

   Nov-Mar (southern summer)

3. Day 3

   Gisborne

   New ZealandPort

   Gisborne is on the East Cape, one of the first cities on earth to see each sunrise, and the spot where Cook made his first New Zealand landfall in 1769 - a meeting that went badly and is now told from both sides. Ships are often met by waka and a kapa haka welcome. It is a small working log and wine port, and its infrastructure is not built for a big ship's worth of people at once.

   • Titirangi/Kaiti Hill for the Cook monument and the view over Poverty Bay
   • Tairawhiti Museum and the Te Tairawhiti arts collection
   • Gisborne chardonnay wineries, including Millton in the Manutuke valley
   • Rere Rockslide and Rere Falls up the Wharekopae River

   Getting ashore

   Depends on size - smaller ships berth in the commercial port, while larger ones anchor and tender in to the marina beside town; either way the town is right there, but book a ship's tour or agree an hourly rate with a taxi, because local transport is thin.

   Best months

   Nov-Mar (southern summer)

4. Day 4

   Napier

   New ZealandPort

   An earthquake flattened Napier in 1931 and the town was rebuilt over the following few years, which is why an entire small city centre is coherent 1930s Art Deco. It is a genuinely unusual thing to walk around. The port is a working breakwater terminal a few kilometres out, and Hawke's Bay's vineyards start almost immediately behind the town.

   • Art Deco walking tour around Emerson Street and Tennyson Street
   • Hawke's Bay wineries - Mission Estate, Church Road, Te Mata
   • Cape Kidnappers gannet colony by tractor-trailer along the beach
   • Te Mata Peak lookout over the plains

   Getting ashore

   Docked at Napier Port, which since the 2022 Te Whiti wharf takes very large ships; town is only about 2km but walking on the wharf is prohibited, so everyone takes the free shuttle to the drop-off where the local operators wait.

   Best months

   Nov-Mar (southern summer)

5. Day 5

   Wellington

   New ZealandPort

   New Zealand's capital sits in a wind tunnel at the bottom of the North Island, wrapped around a harbour with hills coming down to the water on every side. Most ships tie up at Aotea Quay, a container berth a couple of kilometres north of the centre with a shuttle laid on; a lucky few get Queens Wharf downtown. It is a compact, walkable, coffee-obsessed city once you reach it.

   • Te Papa Tongarewa, the national museum, free and genuinely good
   • Wellington Cable Car up to the Botanic Garden and walk back down
   • Weta Workshop tour out at Miramar
   • Zealandia, a fenced valley sanctuary with kaka, takahe and tuatara

   Getting ashore

   Almost always docked at Aotea Quay, a working commercial berth you cannot walk out of - the shuttle loop is effectively the only way ashore, covering the 2km to downtown; the rare Queens Wharf berth is a straight walk into town.

   Best months

   Nov-Mar (southern summer)

6. Day 6

   Akaroa

   New ZealandPort

   Akaroa is a small harbour village inside an eroded volcanic crater on Banks Peninsula, settled by the French in 1840 - hence the Rue Lavaud street signs. It became Christchurch's cruise port by accident after the 2011 earthquake closed Lyttelton, and kept a share of the traffic. The harbour holds Hector's dolphins, the smallest and rarest marine dolphin, which is the real draw.

   • Harbour cruise to see Hector's dolphins and the little blue penguins
   • Walking the French-named streets and the old lighthouse on the foreshore
   • The Giant's House, a terraced mosaic garden above the village
   • Coach transfer to Christchurch for those who want the city

   Getting ashore

   Tender in to the long pier in the middle of the village, which is walkable end to end in a couple of hours; Christchurch is 84km and about 90 minutes each way over Banks Peninsula, which is why Akaroa works better on its own terms than as a city gateway.

   Best months

   Nov-Mar (southern summer)

7. Day 7

   Dunedin (Port Chalmers)

   New ZealandPort

   Port Chalmers is a small deepwater port at the mouth of Otago Harbour, roughly 13km short of the Scottish-founded city it serves. There is a strip of cafes and galleries by the berth, but Dunedin proper and the wildlife of the Otago Peninsula both need transport. Between the albatross colony and the penguins, this is one of the better wildlife port days in New Zealand.

   • Royal Albatross Centre at Taiaroa Head, the only mainland albatross breeding colony
   • Larnach Castle and its gardens on the Otago Peninsula
   • Dunedin Railway Station and the scenic train up the Taieri Gorge
   • Yellow-eyed penguin and sea lion viewing on the peninsula beaches

   Getting ashore

   Docked at Port Chalmers, 20 minutes from Dunedin's Octagon by shuttle bus or taxi - the shuttle is a paid one; some smaller ships instead continue up the harbour and berth about a kilometre from the city centre, so check which berth your ship has.

   Best months

   Nov-Mar (southern summer)

8. Day 8

   Fiordland National Park (Scenic Cruising)

   New ZealandPort

   This is a morning spent on deck rather than a port. The ship turns in off the Tasman Sea and works its way into one or more of the fiords cut into New Zealand's southwest corner, where glaciated rock walls go up more than a kilometre straight out of black water. Rain is the normal condition and it improves things - every wall starts running with temporary waterfalls.

   • Mitre Peak standing over the entrance to Milford Sound
   • Stirling Falls and Bowen Falls, both fed straight off the tops
   • Fur seal colonies on the rock shelves near the fiord mouths
   • Bottlenose dolphins, which regularly run alongside inside the fiords

   Getting ashore

   No landing - the ship transits the fiords and turns around; the whole call happens from the open decks.

   Best months

   Oct-Apr (cruise season; expect rain in any month)

9. Day 9 · At sea

10. Day 10 · At sea

11. Day 11

    Hobart

    AustraliaPort

    Macquarie Wharf drops you a ten-minute walk from Salamanca Place, which makes Hobart one of the easiest port days in Australia. The city sits under kunanyi/Mount Wellington on the Derwent estuary, and it has an unusual amount going on for its size - a serious art museum, colonial sandstone, and the best produce in the country. If your call falls on a Saturday, the market alone justifies the day.

    • Mona, reached by the catamaran up the Derwent from Brooke Street Pier
    • Salamanca Market on Saturday mornings
    • Drive or shuttle to the kunanyi/Mount Wellington summit
    • Port Arthur historic site, about 90 minutes each way

    Getting ashore

    Docked at Macquarie Wharf, within 800m of the CBD and about 15 flat minutes from Salamanca Place - no shuttle needed, which makes this one of the best walk-off ports in Australia.

    Best months

    Dec-Feb (southern summer; Tasmania is cold outside it)

12. Day 12

    Hobart

    AustraliaPort

    Macquarie Wharf drops you a ten-minute walk from Salamanca Place, which makes Hobart one of the easiest port days in Australia. The city sits under kunanyi/Mount Wellington on the Derwent estuary, and it has an unusual amount going on for its size - a serious art museum, colonial sandstone, and the best produce in the country. If your call falls on a Saturday, the market alone justifies the day.

    • Mona, reached by the catamaran up the Derwent from Brooke Street Pier
    • Salamanca Market on Saturday mornings
    • Drive or shuttle to the kunanyi/Mount Wellington summit
    • Port Arthur historic site, about 90 minutes each way

    Getting ashore

    Docked at Macquarie Wharf, within 800m of the CBD and about 15 flat minutes from Salamanca Place - no shuttle needed, which makes this one of the best walk-off ports in Australia.

    Best months

    Dec-Feb (southern summer; Tasmania is cold outside it)

13. Day 13 · At sea

14. Day 14

    Eden

    AustraliaPort

    Eden is a small fishing town on Twofold Bay on the NSW far south coast, one of the deepest natural harbours in the southern hemisphere. Its history is strange and specific: killer whales here cooperated with shore-based whalers, herding humpbacks into the bay in exchange for a share, and the museum keeps the skeleton of the whale who led them. Humpbacks still pass on migration.

    • Eden Killer Whale Museum and Old Tom's skeleton
    • Whale watching in Twofold Bay during the spring migration
    • Davidson Whaling Station historic site on the south shore
    • Beowa National Park and the Boyd's Tower lookout

    Getting ashore

    Normally docked at the Eden Cruise Wharf in Snug Cove since the 2019 breakwater extension replaced the old tendering; there is only one berth, so a second ship the same day still anchors off. Imlay Street is 1.5-2km uphill, and the hill is what catches people out - take the shuttle.

    Best months

    Sep-Nov (whale migration) and Dec-Feb (warmest)

15. Day 15

    Sydney

    AustraliaArrive

    Two terminals, and which one you get changes the day completely. The Overseas Passenger Terminal sits on Circular Quay east of the Harbour Bridge, with no air-draft limit and the Opera House directly opposite the gangway. White Bay, out at Rozelle, only takes ships that fit under the bridge, and it has no train, no ferry and no bus at the gate. Berths are assigned by availability, so nobody can promise you one.

    • Sydney Opera House backstage or architectural tour
    • The Bondi to Coogee clifftop walk, or just the Bondi Beach bus
    • BridgeClimb over the Sydney Harbour Bridge
    • Ferry across to Manly or Taronga Zoo for the harbour view back

    Getting ashore

    Docked either at the Overseas Passenger Terminal, five minutes' walk from Circular Quay's trains and ferries, or at White Bay about 6km out, which is taxi or rideshare only - 15-25 minutes to the CBD.

    Best months

    Oct-Apr (southern spring to autumn)