New Zealand’s incredible allure: from famous seals to delicious dishes

• New Zealand is putting its best on display this coming cruise season.
• Princess Cruises has been working with locals for years to develop special experiences.
• Cruise Passenger’s Rose Kelly visits Dunedin, Tauranga and Bay of Islands to experience the country’s authentic gems in conservation, culture and cuisine.

New Zealand doesn’t need much help looking spectacular. Its mountains, coastline and islands are reason enough to cruise here. But increasingly, the most interesting way to experience the country is to look beyond the postcard views and meet the people who live, work and care for the places cruise passengers visit.

From getting up before dawn to see rare yellow-eyed penguins on the Otago Peninsula, to learning the ancient art of Māori celestial navigation in Tauranga and spending a morning planting trees in the Bay of Islands. The common thread was local. These weren’t simply sightseeing stops. They were moments to meet the people protecting the environment, producing the food and keeping priceless cultural traditions alive.

And there were lots of characters on the way. Like the seal pup I named Fatima and posted here (she went viral attracting over 300,000 likes on Insta: https://www.instagram.com/p/DbuW6ujTTa6/

Dunedin: Wildlife and local produce

Up before dawn for yellow-eyed penguins

A 5.45am alarm is not everyone’s idea of a holiday, but on the Otago Peninsula it pays off.

The day begins at Nature’s Wonders, where the first stop is Penguin Beach to look for hoiho, or yellow-eyed penguins. One of the world’s rarest penguin species, the birds come ashore after spending the night feeding at sea.

The experience takes passengers into protected nesting areas and viewing hides before heading higher into the peninsula on an Argo vehicle. At this hour, the landscape is quiet and the wildlife is the focus rather than the crowds.

Perry Reid, whose family has worked this land for generations, takes a deliberately low-intervention approach to conservation.

“You can’t save the world,” he told us. “But you can save your own backyard.”

Rather than trying to manage every aspect of the wildlife, Perry and Nature’s Wonders concentrates on protecting habitat and allowing the animals to behave naturally.

The morning can also include a boat trip to the albatross colony, weather permitting, and breakfast at Nature’s Wonders. It is a good example of the sort of experience that works particularly well from a cruise ship: the logistics are taken care of, but passengers are taken somewhere they would be unlikely to reach on their own.

The connection between the experience and conservation is more than just a marketing line. Nature’s Wonders is one of Princess’s Local Partnerships in New Zealand, with support going towards nesting structures, predator control and habitat restoration for native birdlife.

Lunch at Portobello

After the early start, lunch at the Portobello Hotel provides a chance to slow down and take in another side of the peninsula.

The tiny settlement sits directly on the harbour side of the Otago Peninsula and makes a natural stopping point between the wildlife experience and Dunedin itself. Maybe it’s the rugged untouched coast or the quaint seaside architecture, but there’s a real Scottish theme to this region, and a stop at the local pub for a meal feels like a perfect fit. Keep an eye out for the giant fish mounted on the wall near the bar with a unique plaque the locals are quietly very proud of.

Meet the pioneers behind Dunedin’s food scene

After a morning focused on wildlife, the Big Foody Tour offers a completely different way into Dunedin, through the people who make, cook and produce its food and beverages.

The three-hour artisan walking tour simply called ‘The Big Foody Tour’ is a popular Princess excursion and moves through the city’s historic centre and waterfront, stopping at small businesses and local producers. The idea is not simply to eat, but to understand the stories behind what is being produced. The tour is designed around local food, small-batch production and the passionate people behind it.

Sausages and pies at Princes Street Butcher

First stop is Princes Street Butcher and Baker, a local institution known for its award-winning sausages and pies. The delicious aroma of sausages hits you before you enter the door.

Owner Dave Gibson sums up the philosophy behind the business neatly: “If you make it good, it doesn’t matter where you are, people will come.”

We tried both the sausage and quiche, and this is exactly the sort of stop that makes a food tour worthwhile. There is no attempt to dress the food up for tourists. It is straightforward local produce from a business that has built its reputation on getting the basics right.

Dave proudly focuses on local suppliers and sustainable practices, with its range including award-winning sausages, pies and locally sourced meats. The only downside to this stop was that as travellers, we couldn’t snag a bargain to take with us. We just had to nibble as much as we could on the spot!

Gin made from bakery waste

At Dunedin Craft Distillers, co-founder Jenny McDonald (a retired Doctor) takes the idea of using local resources even further. This is literally up-cycling with a twist.

The distillery converts surplus bakery products into spirits, giving food waste another life. Think bread rolls, finger buns, scrolls and more. This is turns into a form of mash that eventually becomes a delicious botanical gin. Meanwhile, whisky is also being developed in cask.

“I’m getting quite excited about the whiskey we’re producing,” McDonald told us. “It has a lovely layered vanilla effect; it’s accentuated as it sits in the cask.”

The company’s Bay Gin has already won gold at the London Spirits Competition, but the more interesting story is the process behind it: something that might otherwise be thrown away becomes part of a premium spirit.

Fish and chips, with a Dunedin twist

From there, the tour heads into one of Dunedin’s great food traditions: fish and chips.

It is deliberately unpretentious, but that is part of the appeal. For a cruiser, it is a chance to eat something genuinely local rather than being funnelled towards a restaurant designed around visitors. And the fish and chips here do not disappoint, specifically the blue cod, with a perfect tempura batter and hot, fat cut, salty chips. Even the local tartare is bang on.

Its fair to say that after these few stops alone, you will be feeling as full as a highland cow. The big foody tour leaves you feeling complete with more than what grows on a farm or comes out of the sea to what drives the locals.

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Tauranga: Culture, food and the fruit bowl

Learning to navigate by the stars

Tauranga is often presented to cruise passengers primarily as the gateway to Rotorua. Stay closer to the Bay of Plenty, however, and the region offers some of New Zealand’s most interesting cultural and food experiences, minus the busy crowds.

At Te Kura Waka, the focus is on waka (the ancient sailing vessel) and the traditional knowledge used by Māori navigators to cross the Pacific. The experience is still being developed with Princess and the local community and could ultimately include a tour of the waka, weather permitting, allowing visitors to see the vessel in action while learning about the celestial navigation techniques passed down through generations.

Jack Thatcher and his team are particularly concerned with succession: ensuring the knowledge doesn’t simply become something demonstrated to tourists, but remains a living practice.

“Waka can bring you together in ways that can change your whole life,” Thatcher told us. “It’s not about them. It’s about succession, and the legacy.”

Kawai Joe, 34, a student and ambassador, put the role of a navigator in surprisingly simple terms: “All a navigator is, is someone who makes the decisions.” This sounds very straight forward, but its when the young sailors describe extraordinary moments alongside giant whales, or witnessing the galactic skyline from the middle of nowhere that you realise just how courageous these young warriors of the waves are.

Te Kura Waka is now a Princess Local Partnerships cultural partner, with the programme supporting the school and its work training future navigators in traditional Pacific wayfinding.

It is this sense of living culture that makes the experience more meaningful than a conventional cultural presentation. Passengers aren’t simply watching a performance; they’re being introduced to a tradition that is still being practised and taught.

Inside the kiwifruit farms and families

The Bay of Plenty is also New Zealand’s kiwifruit heartland, producing the vast majority of the country’s crop.

At Kiwifruit Country Tours, the excursion takes us into the orchards to understand how the fruit is grown and the scale of the industry behind the familiar green and gold varieties. The truly inspiring fun fact that the owner shares with us is that kiwi fruit, a natural superfood, is believed to have incredible health benefits for the bowel.

Graham Crossman, a former All Black now in his eighties, provides much of the personality. Still cycling around 30 kilometres a day, he jokes with visitors that “I’m turning 105 next Tuesday” and “my youngest son is starting primary school next week” with a cheeky grin – before revealing his actual age. He credits kiwi fruit to his vitality.

The tour also brings the product to life through tastings, including fresh-baked kiwifruit scones, compliments of Graham’s beautiful wife Gayleen.

For cruise passengers, it is a useful reminder that the Bay of Plenty isn’t simply a place to pass through on the way to another attraction. It has a substantial agricultural industry and a food culture of its own.

Dinner with a Māori-Japanese twist

Back in Mount Maunganui, dinner at Izakai provides another expression of contemporary New Zealand food.

This Māori-Japanese fusion restaurant (you don’t hear of that very often!) brings together two culinary traditions in a foody precinct close to the cruise gateway, demonstrating that the region’s food story isn’t confined to farms and orchards. The ramen is a local favourite and the dishes are designed to be shared, just like a tapas scenario.

Mount Maunganui itself is also easy to explore independently, with the Mount, beaches, cafés and restaurants providing options for passengers who prefer to stay close to the port rather than travelling inland.

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Bay of islands: Get your hands dirty!

Begin the day with a Māori karakia

The following morning begins before breakfast, with a walk to Te Tii Point for a dawn karakia as the sun rises over the Bay of Islands. This is a spiritual blessing, with song and an acknowledgement to the ancestors of the land.

It is a quiet beginning to what becomes the most hands-on experience of the itinerary.

Become a conservation volunteer

Bay Bush Action is another one of the three Princess Partnerships, and takes passengers into the forest not simply to look at the landscape, but to help protect it.

The morning includes tree planting, trap checking, kiwi box checks and a forest walk to a lookout. For those of us who spend our daily lives in the concrete jungles of the world, this excursion is literally a breath of fresh air.

Chair Craig Simmons describes himself as an “introvert, computer programming nerd and a beekeeper”, but his commitment to restoring the forest is obvious.

“We’ve seen a rebirth of the forest… seen it come alive again,” he says with a genuine warmth.

The work addresses some of the serious threats facing native New Zealand ecosystems, including kauri dieback (the disease threatening the local trees) and introduced predators such as stoats (kind of like a large rat).

For cruise passengers, the appeal is that the morning is genuinely participatory. You leave having done something, rather than simply having taken photographs. With any luck, you’ll have soil under your nails and the fresh smell of lush forest up your nose.

And there is evidence of the impact. Princess says its Local Partnerships programme has helped Bay Bush Action increase kiwi numbers in Ōpua State Forest by 120 per cent, alongside the return of other native species.

Take the ferry to Russell

The Bay of Islands is probably the easiest place on the itinerary to simply admire from the water. But getting around by ferry makes the destination part of the experience.

From Paihia, the short crossing to Russell provides views across the bay and delivers passengers directly into one of New Zealand’s most historic settlements.

There is no need for a car. The waterfront is compact and easy to explore on foot.

Lunch at a piece of New Zealand history

The Duke of Marlborough is an appropriate place to stop for lunch. The historic waterfront hotel is closely connected with Russell’s colourful past, when the town had a reputation very different from the relaxed holiday destination it is today.

Today, the emphasis is firmly on food, wine and the setting, with the waterfront providing one of the most appealing places to stop and take in the bay.

Listen for the kiwi

Kiwi conservation is a major part of the work. Twenty-one birds have been released into the forest so far, including one named Princess!

The connection between conservation and Māori culture is also fundamental to the project. “We are the mountain, we are the river, we are the people,” trustee Darleen Tana told us. “There’s no separation in our Māori culture. We are this ocean.”

Later, at the Opua Kauri Walk, the group heads into native forest for kiwi listening at dusk. This is such a special moment. A gentle hush falls amongst us as we anticipate hearing this rare and precious bird. We are told there is no guarantee of seeing a bird. That is almost beside the point. The experience is about entering the forest, listening and understanding the work being done to make it possible for kiwi to survive there.

As one volunteer puts it: “To me, they are the sound of hope.”

And just as we are preparing to tiptoe out of the forest with the failing light, respectful of the fact the kiwis must be sound asleep, tour guide Brad offers to use a smart technique. He plays a recorded sound of a male kiwi from his phone into the night. We wait, baited breath. And then… a reply. In the distance, a real kiwi, calling back out a reply into the wild! We are elated! (Silently of course) This is a joy no instagram meme can create. And then it occurs to me, did we just catfish a kiwi?!

Understand New Zealand at Waitangi

The itinerary includes a respectful visit to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds and Museum, one of the most important historical sites in the country.

For Australian cruise passengers, this is worth approaching as more than another attraction. The Treaty of Waitangi was signed here in 1840 and remains fundamental to understanding New Zealand’s history, Māori-Crown relations and the country’s identity. We are escorted by the beautiful local guide Darleen, who’s direct family connections are extraordinary, as is her passion for the ongoing tourism appreciation for the culture.

After the wildlife, food, conservation and cultural experiences of the previous days, it also adds an important historical context to what passengers have been seeing elsewhere in the country.

Dinner at Charlotte’s Kitchen

The day finishes with dinner at Charlotte’s Kitchen, bringing the group back to the waterfront after a full day of walking, conservation and cultural experiences.

It is a fitting end to the Bay of Islands visit, where food, landscape and local experiences have been woven together rather than treated as separate attractions.

The new shore excursions

What stands out about this Princess itinerary is not simply the quality of the scenery. It is the way passengers are being introduced to the people behind it.

In Dunedin, that means meeting conservationists and independent food producers. In Tauranga, it means learning from Māori navigators and visiting the people behind the kiwifruit industry. In the Bay of Islands, it means starting the day with a Māori blessing and spending the morning helping restore native habitat.

That is an increasingly interesting direction for cruise tourism in New Zealand.

Princess’s Local Partnerships programme was established in 2019 and has expanded from conservation into cultural preservation. Princess says it initially contributed $100,000 to establish the programme, while ongoing funding comes through voluntary guest donations, with the line continuing to support projects including Nature’s Wonders, Bay Bush Action and Te Kura Waka.

The result is a shore-excursion model that feels less like ticking off a list of famous sights and more like being introduced to the communities that make each destination what it is.

The big sights aren’t going anywhere. But the more memorable shore experience may be the one where you meet the person protecting the wildlife, learn how to navigate by the stars, taste produce from a local orchard or spend the morning planting a tree.

For passengers considering a New Zealand cruise, that’s the part worth getting off the ship for. For more information on Princess Local Partnerships, visit princess.com.