“We are back from an amazing journey through New Zealand and Australia. We have been working with Cindy and her travel team for more than 10 years. This was the longest and probably the most complicated trip of all. We headed out from the East coast to San Francisco, then to Auckland to start the cruise portion of our trip. The Crystal Serenity is beautiful, elegant ship with unsurpassed service and dining. We took advantage of all the dining options, Japanese, Italian, BrazilIan steakhouse, buffets, specialty wine pairings and of course the main dining room. Amazing! We liked that all the tips and the drinks are included. We often sat at a shared table to get to know our fellow travelers. I think our favorite stop was Napier NZ. A charming town that was having an Art Deco festival while we were there. We started the day off with a wine tasting and a drive in a vintage car, then watched some of the parade of antique cars in the downtown area. We arrived in Sydney a day early because we had to skip Tasmania due to bad weather. After disembarking, we spent several days in Sydney, seeing the sights and visiting friends.
From there we flew across the country to Perth. A day trip to Margeret River and some wine tastings were arranged for us there. Then we boarded the IndianPacific train for a 4 day, 3 night journey back to Sydney. Another amazing experience! Riding across Australia we saw kangaroos, camels, dingos, emus and other birds. There were some stops along the way in little towns (one stop had a population of 4, one only 2) and Adelaide. We were able to do some exploring and take some tours. We had a sleeping compartment, yes it was very small! But, most of our time was spent in the lounge car and dining car. I don’t know hoops they managed such gourmet meals in what must have been a very small kitchen. Most of our fellow travelers were English and Australian. We loved getting to know them.
Back in Sydney it was time to fly to San Fransisco and back to Boston. We were gone for a month, 2 overnight stays in San Francisco, 1 in Auckland, 2 in Sydney and 1 in Perth a cruise and a train ride. That equals a lot of planning and coordination. Cindy and her team handled it with ease.
We had no issues with Covid19. The ship screened us before boarding and there was increased paperwork. We were able to get home safely before Australia and the US closed their borders. However, I know if we needed to get home early, Cindy would have taken care of us.
This was a trip we have wanted to take for a long time and I am thankful we had the opportunity to do it. It was everything we hoped it would be and more!”
-Heidi G.
