CRUISING THE SOUTH PACIFIC - 2010

22 days incl. travel, or 20 days from Cairns to Auckland (PC)

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Vacation Overview

Experience the best of Australia and New Zealand—by land and sea—on this in-depth Cruise & Tour vacation. Experience some of Australia’s majestic cities, Aussie culture, and stunning beauty before you board your cruise to discover the splendor and fun that await you in Tasmania and New Zealand.

Start your vacation in Cairns, gateway to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, where you cruise aboard a catamaran to one of the Great Barrier Reef’s many tropical islands. Snorkel, take a glass-bottom boat tour, or walk through the cool rainforest. Next, fly to the Outback, where Ayers Rock and the magnificent Olgas, a geological splendor of some 30 brilliant monoliths, await. Experience an Aboriginal “Dreamtime” tour and learn about this important native culture. In Alice Springs, see how Outback locals live and learn how medical and education services are provided to those living in remote regions. A highlight of your Outback tour is the opportunity to ride a camel to watch the sunrise at Ayers Rock. Tour the base of Uluru and learn of its significance in Aboriginal “Dreamtime” mythology.

Then, fly to Sydney, Australia’s largest city. Enjoy a guided sightseeing tour including a cruise on Sydney Harbour and a guided tour of the Sydney Opera House, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Visit one of Australia’s leading opal companies to learn how the beautiful gems are mined.

In Sydney, embark your Princess cruise ship and set sail for Melbourne and then New Zealand with a stop in Tasmania. In New Zealand, see Fiordland National Park, New Zealand’s largest national park and a UNESCO World Heritage Park, with some of the most breathtaking scenery in the world. Enjoy extraordinary scenic beauty as you cruise on Milford Sound and witness the sheer rock walls rising thousands of feet from the water’s depths. You also cruise to Dunedin, Christchurch, and Tauranga. At each stop in your cruise, choose from optional tours, excursions, and activities to give you a unique experience at each destination. Disembark in Auckland and enjoy a city tour—a wonderful ending to a fantastic journey. Cherish this vacation, including Australia and New Zealand land and cruise adventures, for a lifetime!

Diamond Princess

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Things to see on your vacation: View Vacation Photo Slideshow

A Vacation Story Sydney Harbor

Few visitors realize that Sydney’s most iconic landmark, the Opera House, was almost never completed. The radical design by Danish architect Jørn Utzon was chosen from an international competition in 1957, even though engineers at the time had no idea how to build it. Within five years, the prototype sails had to be taken down and totally recommenced. Budget blowouts dogged the project until the perfectionist Utzon resigned over cost-cutting measures. Construction continued anyway, with the interior design modified. The embittered Utzon, however, refused to visit Sydney again, and has still never seen the finished building hailed regularly as one of the seven architectural wonders of the modern world. A recent reconciliation occurred when an interior annex was completed to Utzon’s original design, but the architect was too old to visit; he sent his son to the Opera House instead.