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We are in the small town of Franz Josef and today would be the day we explore the glaciers in the area. However, we awoke to clouds, more clouds and off and on rain. “M” told us our scheduled glacier helicopter flight, which most of us had signed up for, might not happen. We would have to wait to see if this extremely variable weather might clear up in time.

The morning activity was to go to the nearby, very small, ocean side village of Okarito for a boat ride/nature hike to see the bird life on the very large lagoon that exists there. We bundled up, rode in the rain, which stopped, then started again as we arrived in the “village”. Some 30 people live here full-time.  The rest of the small homes (called a bach in NZ) are summer homes for people to come and enjoy life on an ocean coastline. It reminded me of a very small version of some of the small towns we have on the Pacific Ocean coast. Life there is pretty simple. Most people are involved with tourism in one way or another. Our local guide was Paula who is originally from Winnipeg. She lives here with her significant other 8 months a year running bird watching tours, then goes to British Columbia during the Canadian summer hosting bike tours. They follow summer wherever it happens to be.

Yvonne and I chose not to go on the open boat looking for birds as it was still drizzling. Instead Paula gave us a tour of the local “town” and showed us the devastation made by the rare cyclone that hit the area on February 1. We all reconvened in a local home for tea and “biscuits” before returning to the hotel.

About half of our group had signed up for an afternoon helicopter ride BUT the weather was very “iffy” at the glacier area. After lunch we walked to the helicopter office and indeed learned that all flights had been cancelled for the day. I am pleased that they are wise enough not to push the envelope just to gain more income.

As an alternative “M” took those interested on a short hike near the glacier to a couple of viewpoints. About half of us decided to go. The rain had stopped and the clouds retreated enough for us to actually see the glacier.  There were a series of photos on display that showed how much the glacier has retreated in the last 100 years. A few more decades and you will not be able to see it from this viewpoint.

The second viewpoint was a reflecting pond called “Pete’s Pool” after the boy who originally found it. The reflection of the mountain range was there but you could hardly see the tip of the glacier anymore. It will soon disappear from the reflecting pond.

The visit to Franz Josef was over. Many of our fellow travelers were disappointed that it was not more accessible or viewable. We were not that disappointed as we have seen and experienced glaciers before.

Tommorrow we head further up the coast to see the famous pancake rock formations.

We are now heading out to the coastline of the Tasman Sea, which borders the west side of the South Island, with our ultimate destination being the location of the New Zealand glaciers. Franz Josef is our destination for the next two nights.

As we left Wanaka we had fairly sunny skies but the weather quickly deteriorated by mid morning and we spent the rest of the day dodging intermittent rain showers.

We stopped at a nearby sister lake to Lake Wanaka – Lake Hawea for a picture stop.  There are a lot of lakes with crystal clear, drinkable waters in this area of the country.

As we got closer to the coast I noted that the environment was changing. The trees are bigger and denser, the plants are thicker and everything is green, green, green.

Mid-morning we made a “cultural” stop to experience a New Zealand treasured delicacy- whitebait.  What is it you ask?  They are very tiny (2 inch) minnows that are prized by the locals. The closest I can relate is our smelt, but those are much larger than whitebait. The season for whitebait is short and they are netted at the mouth of rivers when they spawn from the ocean. How are they eaten?  They are simply mixed (whole) with an egg (acts as a binder), fried as a patty on the griddle and served on a warm buttered piece of bread. Restaurants serve them as an appetizer. We stopped at a shack on the beach where the owner explained how they are caught and cooked. Almost everyone in the group had one as a mid-morning snack. There was one Englishman who could not accept the fact that there were still eyes in the fish. Yvonne and I had tried whitebait the last time we visited New Zealand so we knew what to expect. Whitebait is tasty!

When we reached the seashore at Ship Creek we took a short walk in the nearby Kahikatea swamp forest which meanders through the local rain forest. We got to see what 250 inches of rain does to the local environment. I was shocked to hear that amount as it is 40 percent more than we get on our nearby Olympic Peninsula. I always thought we held the record rainfall.  Maybe we do for the USA. The rain forest we walked through was lovely and I saw many types of moss, ferns and lichens that were new to me. I was fascinated to see a very small blue toadstool standing alone amongst some green moss.

At the same location was access to the ocean beach and we wandered it for a bit, looking for dolphins (one was sighted) but we were hoping to find the prized “greenstone”; (New Zealand jade) that is highly prized by the locals and made into jewelry. It is revered by the Maori, the indigenous natives of New Zealand. It is commonly found on the beaches and people come to hunt for it. We found some “greenish” looking stones but were told they were not greenstone. Disappointed, we moved on, continuing our journey north.

We made another stop at Lake Matheson where the reflection of the mountains and glaciers can be seen on the still waters of the lake. That is true IF it were not raining and the clouds were not hiding the glaciers. Some of us walked to the viewpoint anyway and did see a sign showing what we should have seen on a clear day.  Maybe next time!

We arrived in the very small village of Franz Josef, one of the two notable glaciers in the area. The other is called Fox glacier. Needless to say neither one was in view when we reached the area.

We had been warned that our lodging would be an old-fashioned motel with bad internet service. It was old, but clean. The beds were comfortable and the water hot. And, yes, the internet service was terrible, but we are out in the middle of nowhere.  As in several of our hotels the beds had electric mattress pads for cold nights.

It did quit raining towards evening and we were able to wander a few blocks into town to one of the few restaurants there. What has been amazing is we did not expect good food in touristy locations like Franz Josef, but our experience has been just the opposite. We have had very good meals wherever we went.

Tomorrow we will explore the area and hopefully go on our planned helicopter ride, which includes a landing on the glacier. The weather will dictate whether we go. Time will tell.

If you recall we were all disappointed when we could not fly back from Milford Sound because of weather two days ago. “M”, our tour guide said she would see if we might be able to get a plane ride this morning before we left for Wanaka, if the weather allowed it.  Well, the weather was superb this morning and we agreed to leave the hotel 1/2 hour earlier so we could squeeze in that airplane ride. We drove to the Queenstown Airport to a private operator and proceeded to be divided into two groups, briefed on the flight plans and loaded onto two Cessana Caravan planes for a one hour flight out to and back from Milford Sound. The OMG moment was that the skies were almost perfectly clear and there was plenty of new fallen snow on the mountains, promising us a spectacular ride.

Our group was too large for one plane so that is why we had to use two, but that meant there was plenty of extra room and everyone had a window seat for maximum viewing opportunities. Our plane was even piloted by a young lady.

The flight was simply stunning, probably the best scenic mountain flight I have been on. We flew about 5,000 feet (high enough to clear any peaks in the area) at a speed of about 150 mph. The airplane windows were big and the views were even bigger! High mountain peaks dusted with the year’s first snowfall, deep green valleys with rivers running through them, even a high mountain lake and waterfalls. Milford Sound seemed more spectacular from the air. We spent 30 minutes flying out to the sound and then returning to the airport. Pictures cannot do justice to what we experienced. If you are ever in the area and the skies are clear, I urge you to spend some of the kids inheritance and take this trip! You will not be sorry.

 

Back in the bus we headed to our next stop, Wanaka, which many people think is even nicer than Queenstown. We first stopped for about 45 minutes in the old gold mining town of Arrowtown, located only 21 km from Queenstown. It was a booming town in the 1860s because of gold; today it is a quaint little town of shops, art galleries, restaurants and memories from the gold mining days.

We also stopped at the Cardrona Hotel for coffee, beer or wine before lunch. This hotel dates back to the 1860’s gold rush and is still used as a hotel (abeit modernized), restaurant and bar.

Wanaka is a small town located on the south shores of Lake Wanaka (4th largest lake in NZ) and is also considered a resort town like Queenstown, but it does not have the hustle and bustle that Queenstown has. It is popular for both summer and winter sports enthusiasts. It is the site for the famous Wanaka warbirds air show which attracts thousands each year in late March.

The homes in Wanaka are quite modern (and expensive) as this area is being discovered and earning a reputation for being an ideal place to live. Many second homes are here and retirees are also moving here because of its amenities..

Besides spending the night in Wanaka we were invited to have a late luncheon with a local family in their home. We have often done these “Be My Guest” lunches or dinners with other tour groups and have eaten in homes in Argentina, Egypt, Croatia, Botswana and Russia. It is an opportunity to meet locals, see how they live, and eat some local home cooking.

It turned out that this visit was quite unique in that it was at a magnificent waterfront home of a retired physician and his wife. They obviously enjoy entertaining and are willing to open their home to absolute strangers several times a year. We drank wine on the lawn overlooking the lake in bright sunlight, then adjourned to a lovely buffet luncheon in the two dining rooms the home has. Phillip hosted one of the tables and his delightful wife (“Tommie”) hosted ours. It was an absolutely lovely afternoon.

Our hotel for the night was a resort on the shore of Lake Wanaka, a lovely setting. I managed to finish yesterday’s blog entry while watching the sun set over the lake. We have been warned that we are headed into an area of the country where the internet is either quite poor or even non-existent, so future entries may be delayed even further.

 

We awaken today to brilliant blue skies, fresh snow on the mountains surrounding the city….and 37 degrees!  No matter, we brought our  “puffies”.  The hotel breakfast buffet lacks so we enjoyed another walk into town to visit our newly discovered breakfast cafe, Vudu, to try other tempting dishes they offer, like the New Zealand favorite: avacado smash toast. Their version has goat cheese, tomato, micro greens and avacado on thick multigrain toast.

Then it was off to ride the Skyline Gondola to the top of the nearby mountain to see the spectacular scenery of the area and to take the luge ride offered there. We could not have asked for a more fabulous morning. I think the gods were making up for the rainy weather we had yesterday.  We were there when the gondola opened at 10 AM.  Although there was a significant line when we arrived it moved quickly and we were topside in fairly short order. There was a bit of urgency as we needed to be back by 11:30 to board the 1912 coal fired steamship that transports riders on Lake Wakatipu. More on that later.

We were some of the first people to arrive at the luge ride and after some quick instructions were barreling (well, maybe it would be more accurate to say we were slowly winding) our way down the track, maneuvering hair pin curves (well, maybe they were more sloping) to reach the bottom of the ride. It was a lot of fun and had we more time would have done it again.

We took time to marvel at the surrounding scenery and take panoramic pictures before returning by gondola to the city center. The scenery certainly rivals what we have seen in Switzerland.

Today was listed as a free day on our tour and we had signed up to take the historic boat ride to the Walter Peak High Country Farm for a BBQ luncheon and demonstration of sheep shearing and how highly trained dogs are used to herd and control sheep.

The boat is the TSS Earnslaw which is the oldest (built in 1912) working coal fired steamship operating in the Southern Hemisphere. Originally is was used to service the remote sheep stations in the area but once roads were built it became one of the major tourist venues on the lake. The trip to the Walter Peak High Country Farm took about 45 minutes with commentary from the captain about the area along the way. Once at the farm we were escorted to a covered area where one of the local “farm hands” explained how sheep were sheared and gave us a demonstration.  The 6 month old lamb was not too happy about losing her fluffy coat of wool.  We learned that the current farm covers 65,000 (yes, thousand) acres with 25,000 sheep, of which 20,000 were merino sheep because of the quality of their wool.  When wool prices are down the other sheep are sold as meat.

The other demonstration was how the sheep herder used two different (each has unique skills) breeds of highly trained dogs to fetch, control and corral herds of sheep. It was fascinating to watch.

I am not terribly excited about large group BBQ buffets as the food usually is average, at best. This BBQ was an exception. We sat with two other couples who had also chosen this excursion and we all agreed this was one of the best BBQ buffets any of us had experienced. Beside top notch salads and vegetables (including really sweet corn on the cob) there was barbecued chicken, beef, pork, lamb, sausage and even sweetbreads. All were superb. Even the desserts were top notch.

The setting of the farm on the shores of the lake is stunning, made more so by the extensive flower gardens that surround the home and buildings. There were rose bushes that had to be decades old (by the look of their shank) and had the wonderful scent of roses of long ago, not like the hybridized specimens you see now. There were dahlias everywhere and flowers I do not know the names of. It was a lovely pastoral scene.

On the return cruise home a pianist conducted a sing-a-long with folk songs from China, Germany, Australia, England and America.  It was enjoyable to hear the mixture of many nationalities singing together.  Of course, Yvonne cried at the beautiful music and hoped this would bring world peace.

We returned to downtown Queenstown late in the afternoon and retreated to our hotel room as we had walked 11,578 steps today.

As I said earlier, it was a phenomenal day and we are hopeful tomorrow will be the same as our tour group will be leaving Queenstown and heading to our next stop, Wanaka.

We briefly met our tour group (12 plus us) and our lady tour guide/driver (call me “M” she says) at our 6 AM breakfast. The rest of the people had started last week with a tour of the North Island, so we were the only new additions to the group.  One of the couples we met happened to be named Bishop(from South Carolina) and the husband has been to 190 countries! That sort of makes my achievement not that impressive.  No, I am not changing my goal. I will simply accept new countries and add them to my list if/when they come.

We promptly boarded our 20 passenger bus at 6:30 AM for the day’s excursion- a trip to the world famous Milford Sound where we will be taking a boat ride in the largest fjord in New Zealand. It was a planned 6 hour bus ride there and we were scheduled to fly back to Queenstown after the boat ride to avoid another long drive back.  We left in the dark and most people napped until daylight allowed us to see the surrounding vistas. We saw many fields of grazing sheep, red stag deer (which are grown for food) and beef cattle. The area we passed through was lush and green with some good sized mountains looming beyond the fields. Some of the higher peaks had their first dusting of snow for the year, left by yesterday’s rain.

During our nearly 6 hour drive we stopped several times for “comfort” breaks and a bakery to buy luncheon sandwiches as there would be no food available on the boat. We also stopped for several photo ops and a short 20 minute walk at the “Chasm”,  a canyon carved by running water leaving interesting rock formations in the resultant canyon. The trip also included driving through a one-way (traffic alternates) 1 km tunnel at the top of a mountain pass.

We arrived at the boat launch area around 12:15. The weather was quite cool but luckily we wore our heavier coats and took gloves as we expected the boat ride to be on the chilly side. We were booked on one of the smaller (50-75? passenger) boats to cruise in Milford Sound. There was ample room both inside and outside for viewing and picture taking. The skipper did a nice job telling us what we were seeing as we spent an hour working our way out to where the fjord meets the ocean. We learned that this is one of the rainiest areas in all of New Zealand, receiving an average of 252 inches a year and that up to a three foot layer of fresh water lies on top of the salt water in Milford Sound.

At the mouth of the fjord we turned around for our one hour return to the marina. Of particular interest to most people on board were all the waterfalls we passed along the way. Because of the recent rains there were many new waterfalls which only appear after such rains, disappearing shortly after the rains finish. It made for delightful viewing. We also saw some young seals who live in the fjord and a school of dolphins.

Everyone raves about Milford Sound. Personally I was a bit disappointed as I expected it to be bigger and bolder, similar to Norway, but I am sure I am in the minority with this impression. For people who have not experienced a fjord it is indeed spectacular.

Our group was scheduled to be flown back to Queenstown in small planes from an airport near the sound but we sadly learned that weather conditions prevented the planes coming from Queenstown As we headed back to the pass it began snowing and accumulating on the ground. Our driver/guide said that sometimes the road gets shut down when weather conditions get bad, but we made it up and over, only to find ourselves back in sunny weather and warmer temperatures!  I had heard locals say you can experience all four seasons in one day in New Zealand. I now believe it. Today we have seen at least three of the four seasons since we left Queenstown this morning.

Now we had to drive all the way back to Queenstown.  It was a four hour trip resulting in a 10 hour day in a bus. Making the best of it we watched the passing scenery, slept and talked as we drove back to the hotel.  There was no stopping for food since our driver had to finish her allotted driving time ASAP or risk big fines. All the senior citizens pulled out those protein bars stashed in our fanny packs.  The driver passed back hard candy and we survived!

It turned out to be a very long day but we did experience more of the beauty this part of the country. Hopefully tomorrow will bring us better weather.

We have had phenomenal weather on our recent trips. Today, our luck changed as it is scheulded to rain most of the day and we figured we would be spending the day lounging in our hotel room reading. Surprisingly when we woke up there was no rain, and even a glimmer of blue sky so off we walked back into town for breakfast and doing more outdoor activities if the rain held off. Remember that restaurant with the huge lines I mentioned yesterday- Fergburger?  We decided to wander by to see if they made a breakfast sandwich. Sure enough, they offer one called “Morning Glory” and, yes, there was a line waiting to order when we arrived at 8AM. The place seems to be a local institution and always attracts a crowd. Rather than ordering two breakfast sandwiches I decided to order one of their hamburgers for a taste comparison. Besides, I felt it was good protein to start the day.   They also own a bakery and coffee shop next door and I went there for our Americano coffee and happened to notice they also sold Boston creme filled donuts. Well, you can guess what happened next, but I did only buy one for us to share after our breakfast sandwiches. Needless to say, everything was outstanding.

The skies still did not show any signs of rain so we ventured over to the waterfront to take a jet boat ride on the local rivers. This boat ride was more “gentile” than the “ultimate adrenaline rush” option offered deep in the narrow canyons of the nearby rivers. After yesterday I figured we need to show a bit of caution when choosing activities. As it turned out we still got the thrill of doing multiple 360 degree turns and traveling over 50 mph up fairly narrow rivers. The one hour ride presented enough of an adrenaline rush for the two of us.

The clouds got thicker as we returned and rain started to fall. I had hoped to take the gondola to the top of the nearby mountain and ride the luge offered there, but that will have to wait for another day.  We ventured home to read and decided to use the washer and dryer in our suite.  Nothing like starting fresh for our tour tomorrow.

The rain continued all afternoon but we bravely walked back to town to a recommended seafood restaurant on the waterfront called ”Finz” where we dined on some great NZ white wine and fish. We happened to walk past the big ice cream parlor on the way to the cab stand and finished the evening with some very good locally made ice cream.

Our trip to Milford Sound leaves at 6:30 AM so it will be an “early to bed, early to rise” evening for us. Hopefully the weather will clear before then, although the locals say Milford Sound is especially beautiful when it rains because of all the waterfalls that pop up. I will let you know tomorrow.

 

 

It was supposed to rain this morning and clear up for the afternoon but we awoke to partially cloudy skies and mild temperatures. I decided we should take one of the three popular 4×4 trips offered in the area. The one that sounded most intriguing was the trip into Skipper’s Canyon, the site of the gold mining activity in the 1860s. The problem was that articles described it as traversing very narrow dirt roads high above the Shotover River and considered it to be one of the most dangerous roads in the world (https://www.wonderslist.com/10-most-dangerous-roads-in-the-world/). Car insurance companies prohibit normal drivers from using the road.  Hmmmm, how do I break this to Yvonne and convince her to go as she is not fond of heights and sheer drop offs?  Surprisingly she said she was game (I somehow forgot to mention the #7 dangerous road information to her) and we made reservations to take the 4 hour trip leaving at 1:30 PM.

The next order of business was finding a good place in town for breakfast as neither of us wanted to do the hotel breakfast buffet. We walked through town reading menus in windows.  Most were similar. While walking back to one that sounded nice we happened to walk by the Vudu Cafe & Larder restaurant on the waterfront that was packed with people!  That is normally a very good sign so we wandered in and decided this was the place as the menu offerings were both unique and looked great as we passed tables with people enjoying their meals. They gave us menus and after ordering at the counter they delivered our meals to our table. We chose to sit outside at a communal table to enjoy both the weather and the scenery. Our decision to eat here was rewarded with two fabulous dishes (see photos)!

We wandered down a few new streets after breakfast, finding several restaurants (a hamburger/bakery place with a huge line of people waiting to order, and a donut shop featuring filled donuts) both worthy of a future visit. Hopefully we will have enough time here to try them before we have to leave.

We were picked up at 1:30 as promised by Pete, our driver/guide, in his rugged 4×4 vehicle. Luckily there was only one other couple (from Auckland) on the trip so we had room to stretch out and each have a window for unobstructed viewing.

Skipper’s Canyon Road is a one way, one lane 22 km long dirt road that sometimes is 200-300 feet above the canyon and river bottom,  it leads to the area where gold was discovered on the Shotover River in 1862.  The area lays claim to being one of the biggest gold finds in New Zealand. At one time over 1,000 people lived in the area but as with all “gold rushes” the area lost its luster after a few years, although mining continued until the early 1900s. All that remains are a cemetery, the old schoolhouse, some rusting equipment on the riverbank and the tailings on the shoreline of the river.

While traveling the road we occasionally met an oncoming car and had to find a “wide” spot in the road to allow it to safely pass, but other than that we had no problems negotiating the road. The scenery is spectacular but desolate. Pete explained the history of the area and pointed out features related to the mining of gold here. We stopped  at several locations to take in the beauty of the area and take pictures, had a sandwich lunch at the old schoolhouse where we got to see old pictures of life there and even panned for gold on the shore of the river. Pete did find a few “specks” of gold (no nuggets) which he added to his collecting bottle. Over the years he has collected measurable ounces (at $1,400/ ounce). We safely returned to the hotel after our four hour journey into New Zealand gold country. It was a memorable and worthwhile trip, and we can claim to have safely traveled one of the most dangerous roads in the world!

We slept soundly until 8 AM (thanks to good old Zzzquil). Jessica, our daughter-in-law who lives in Auckland, met us at the hotel around 10AM to receive the two extra suitcases we brought that contained a painting for their home and things they ordered and had delivered to our home. There is no Amazon or Costco in New Zealand yet and there are many products that are simply unavailable, so whenever they come home or someone heads to New Zealand there is usually a suitcase or two to bring products they need or want (like Catalina Lite salad dressing).

After visitng in the hotel lobby for about an hour we headed to the airport for our 1.75 hour flight to Queenstown, New Zealand. Fun facts:  New Zealand has a population of 4.4 million people, with 1.034 million living on the South Island. There are over 30 million sheep in New Zealand, and the vast majority reside on the South Island. The 2013 census indicated that 28,224 people lived in the Queenstown area. It is probably closer to 35,000 now we were told.  We were met at the airport by a driver (part of the tour package)  who collected our luggage and drove us to our hotel near downtown Queenstown for the next three nights.

Queenstown is framed by the Remarkable Mountains and lies on the shores of Lake Wakatipu, which is 84 km long and has a depth of 399 meters. Originally a gold mining town in the 1860s, it was named Queenstown because “it was fit for Queen Victoria”.  It is recognized as the adventure capital of New Zealand. As would be expected the town is populated with younger, adventurous people. Outdoor sports dominate – hiking, bicycling, climbing, water sports, snow skiing- all are available in the Queenstown area. Bungee jumping was first started here. It is a beautiful site and reminded me a bit of of Switzerland or Austria.

Our hotel was a five minute walk to the compact downtown area which is the home of shops featuring outdoor clothing and equipment, and restaurants and bars catering to the thousands of tourists that visit here every year. It is certainly a “vibrant” scene. I had researched some of the suggested restaurants in the area and had made reservations at a highly recommended one called “Rata” which turned out to be simply fantastic!  Surprisingly New Zealand is not inexpensive. Prices in restaurants for both food and drink are “Seattle” prices. We walked the town a bit after dinner and found a “funky” cookie/ice cream store called Cookie Muncher where I found my dessert for the evening – an ice cream sandwich. We then returned to our hotel and called it a night by 9 PM (still catching up with jet lag).

Our official escorted tour does not begin until March 22 so we have a couple of days to explore the area and take in some of the local attractions before our group departs. The weather is expected to be somewhat iffy the next few days so we are going to let the weather and our mood determine what we do and when.

 

 

Auckland is 20 hours ahead of Seattle time. We basically lose a day coming but gain it back when we return home. The total scheduled flight time is about 16.5 hours. You appreciate how big Earth is when you make a trip like this!

Our experience with US based airlines often leaves something to be desired when it comes to equipment and customer service, so I was not expecting much when we were scheduled to fly Hawaiian Airlines from Seattle to Auckland with a change of planes in Honolulu. Friends told us they really liked Hawaiian and always fly them when going to Hawaii but I was still skeptical. Boy, were we pleasantly surprised when we boarded our 9 AM flight to Honolulu.

The first surprise was it was one of their newer Airbus 330 planes, with full lie flat seats in the premium cabin rather than the normal first class seats on their older planes. Although we did not expect to sleep on the 6 hour flight it was a very pleasant surprise. The “pods” are state of the art. There are no built-in entertainment centers on these planes. Rather they hand out “top end” large (13 inch IPads and good headphones. There is even a special holder attached to the arm rest where you can position the iPad while watching movies or TV programming that is preloaded on the devices. The quality of the images is vastly superior to normal airline entertainment systems. I read it will be the wave of the future. I believe it!

The next surprise was the genuinely pleasant staff servicing the cabin. What a difference! They were friendly, courteous, helpful and eager to make sure our flight was enjoyable. Note to other airlines: fly Hawaiian Airlines to see what customer service should be. We had a thoroughly enjoyable flight to Honolulu.

We arrived in Honolulu on time and had about a 1.5 hour layover. Wow, has the airport changed. I remember the small open air concourses from the 1990s. No longer, it is a big city, busy airport now.

Our flight to Auckland was on an identical Airbus 330, but since it is a 9+ hour flight the lie flat seats will be appreciated (at least by me, as Yvonne tends to get caught up watching movies). Since it was now 5 PM somewhere I had the mai tai they offer when you board prior to taking off. It has been many years since I have had one and it brings back fond memories of previous visits to Hawaii.

I watched Bladerunner 2049 but got bored with it and almost did not finish it, but I did want to see how it ended. I was not one of the many who said it was a great movie. Way too long and slow moving.

Hawaiian served another great meal, starting with those lovely plates of macadamia nuts (oh, the calories! ). It was as good a meal as I have ever had on an airplane. The “sleep amenities” included not only a quilt, but also a big fluffy pillow and even a mattress pad to soften up the sleep surface. Yvonne said it did seem to make her shoulder feel better.

We left Honolulu about 20 minutes late but made up a bit of the time in flight, arriving in Auckland only 10 minutes late (10:10 PM local time-2:20 AM body time). What amazed everyone was the boarding lounge at the gate was already loaded with people who were going to board this same plane two hours later for the 9 plus hour return flight to Honolulu. Talk about equipment reliability (and utilization).  Impressive by any standards!

New Zealand is very strict about their environment, requiring all plane baggage storage areas to be sprayed with an aerosol chemical to kill any unwanted creatures or bacteria. We had to remain in our seats while the 10 minute procedure was performed. Clearing immigration is a snap here. They use  “do it yourself” kiosks where you insert your passport, answer a few on-screen questions and have your photo taken before being allowed into the country. There was staff available to handle questionable transactions if needed. We sailed right through and headed to baggage claim where luggage was already being delivered. The last step to entry is passing through another strict area: customs,  who critically enforce their no food brought into the country policy. There are warning signs and disposal bins regularly located as you approached the customs inspection area. The fines for violation are high -$400. There were even cute little beagles eager to point out offenders. Although all we had in hand luggage were some energy bars (for when we get stranded according to Yvonne) but I dutifully noted on the form that I had some foodstuffs to declare. The agent was friendly and said they were fine and off he sent us to find our ride to the local hotel where we were spending the night before flying to Queenstown on the South Island tomorrow.

We are safely in our hotel room by midnight localtime (4 AM body time). Z quill tablets would make sure we got a good night sleep.

 

Kia Ora (hello in Maori)

On our first trip to New Zealand in 2016 we only explored the North Island, where Auckland is located, as the prime reason was to visit our son, Scott and family who had moved there the previous autumn for a new career opportunity. On this current trip we will be exploring the South Island before visiting Scott, Jessica and Isaiah in Auckland. The South Island is less populated (with people, not sheep) and is considered by most to be more beautiful than the North Island. Continuing our current  “take me, show me” philosophy of travel we are taking a nine day escorted trip that traverses the South Island seeing all the major sights. We start in Queenstown, the home of the original bungy jump ( no, I will not be doing it although it is rumored that it is free if you are over 70!) and end up in Christchurch. From there we will fly to Napier, the art deco city on the North island,  where Scott and Jessica will join us for a three day holiday (it is Easter weekend) before flying back to Auckland. We will see if I can keep up with my blog entries on this trip!

 

Amui mai ia matou…..which is “join us” in the Maori language.