Way back in 2019, we began planning our "Once in a Lifetime Trip" to New Zealand & Australia. Our team consisted of Doug, me (Jan), Jeri, Jerry, Craig & Cheryl. This trip has been planned for 3 years. When we began planning it in late 2019/early 2020 we booked it for 2021 but then COVID hit and it was postponed till 2022 and then COVID was still with us. New Zealand & Australia closed their borders to U.S. tourists because our case numbers were very high and almost half of our US population decided they'd rather get sick and maybe die instead of masking & being vaccinated. We weren't ready to give up, staying optimistic, we postponed it again to 2023. Doug did most of the planning, with the assistance of the wonderful New Zealand Fine Touring Group. The Touring Group assists with driving tours, by making all the reservations for lodging, transportation, entertainment & events. So finally in the year 2023, we are able to board a plane and leave the good old United States of America on our way to a grand adventure.
Doug & I left from our new home in St. Petersburg, FL. Our good friends, Don & Sue drove us to the Tampa airport and will keep an eye on our house. We have installed ADT security. We flew United to Houston, a flight of 3.5 hours. Meanwhile, Jeri, Jerry, Craig and Cheryl were driven from Elmore, OH to Detroit Metropolitan Airport in MI by their friend Kathy and they flew United to Houston also. We met at the Houston airport and then all 6 of us boarded Air New Zealand to Auckland, NZ. It was a long, long flight, almost 15 hours and we flew Economy. The seats were tight and we sat in the middle section of the plane. Most of us wore compression socks and had pillows, blinders and AirPods. We slept on and off or watched movies. Next time, we would break it up and stop in Fiji for a few days. We lost January 31st due to the time change and the extended travel.
We arrived in Auckland on Feb 1st @ 7:00 AM NZ time. We each exchanged some cash and the cashier reminded us that we didn't need many singles because there is No Tipping in NZ. The Exchange rate was in our favor. Passing through Customs was just answering questions on an iPad. I, Jan, unknowingly answered one of the questions wrong (obviously tired) because I had to go see an agent & he asked me if I'd been in prison in the last 12 months & I said No. The agent smiled & said I didn't think so & stamped my passport. As it works out, I was the only one who got a stamp on their passport, the girls were jealous!
New Zealand's North Island is located in the South Pacific Ocean. New Zealand is an island country in the southwestern part of Polynesia, made up of a group of islands in the South Pacific. The North Island, also known as Te Ike-a-Maui, is the smaller of the two main islands, along with the South Island, or Te Waipounamu. The two islands are separated by the Cook Strait, which connects the Tasman Sea to the South Pacific Ocean.
Three days before our arrival to NZ, the Northern Region of the North Island, experienced record breaking rainfall and flooding. We heard from an airport employee that the baggage claim area had 2.5 feet of standing water. We saw no evidence of the flooding in the airport, it was all cleaned up. Our dear travel agent, Christina, who is with the Touring Group, and has stuck with us all these years of planning, had arranged for a driver to pick us up @ the Airport and transport us to City Life Auckland, our first of many hotels. The driver was holding a sign with Doug's name on it. We all felt important. It also brought back memories of our trip to Vegas for Paul & Preston's 21st birthday. Our driver's name was Pramine & he wore a turban. Our ride was a transit van & the steering wheel was on the opposite side from ours @ home & when we loaded up and drove away, we were on the opposite side of the road. It's going to take some time to get used to that. The weather was cloudy & misty and there were still roads closed due to flooding. The worst of the flooding was north of Auckland & our itinerary had to be modified because the areas where 2 of the places we were booked had declared State of Emergencies. Our reliable Christina took complete responsibility & rebooked us in very nice alternate locations. We did miss a snorkeling tour.
When we arrived @ City Life, it was too early to check in so we walked to a nearby Coffee Shop. The hotel was in downtown Auckland, and the Harbor was within walking distance. There we found Rudy's rooftop Bar & it was 5 O'Clock somewhere so we had our first NZ drinks to toast the start of our wonderful adventure. The Sky Tower was our next destination. It stands 328 meters high and they bungee jump from the top, we watched in awe. We did go up to the Observation level to get an excellent view of the City, Harbor and Marinas with a mountain in the distance. With Cheryl along, we couldn't pass up a Casino so we visited that next. Jan won $25 playing digital blackjack, then $15 on the slots. Jeri donated $50 @ the slots and Cheryl won Jeri's $50 playing a slot machine. Our last stop for the day was Tony's Steakhouse, the oldest restaurant in the city. The food was delicious & the interior was pretty with dark wood & antiques. We walked back to the hotel, checked in & all were in bed by 8:30 PM.
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