Thursday, January 19-Saturday, January 21

We met our fellow travelers and took a chartered bus to SFO.  There were 22 of us coming from the Cupertino area. After getting settled into our “economy” seats we were ready for take-off.  Air New Zealand is a nice plane.  We all had our own 9 inch TV that was attached to the seat in front of us.  The bummer was, Mike and I were seated right next to the Kitchen and my “dog like senses” were making my stomach ache.  The food was good but the kitchen smelled the whole trip.  I decided to drink wine!  Mike watched the movie Contagion and I watched Footloose and A Dolphin Tale!  Mike also played video games.  J

After our 13 hour flight we finally landed in Auckland, New Zealand after losing a day crossing over the International date line.  We arrive here at 4:45 am January 21^st.  Happy Birthday Christy!!

We were met by a tour guide named, Peter.  He is a nice man and he took us to our hotel to store our luggage (the rooms weren’t ready because it was only 6 am) then we got back on the tour bus and toured the city.  As we pulled into the hotel it was like the sky opened up and there it was….”Starbucks”!

It was meant to be!  I am officially in heaven.  J

We saw many parks, Rugby Fields, Cricket Fields, drove over the Harbor Bridge (where people bungy jump)….No thanks!  Saw the whole downtown area, the “War Memorial” (where they were having a Scottish Day and everyone was wearing Kilts and playing Bag Pipes), then we went to the Michael Joseph Savage Memorial (he was the Prime Minister and was known to take care of the Maori people) so they built the memorial on their land, we hiked up and around the Maungawhau-Mt. Eden Crater, put our feet in the other side of the Pacific Ocean, and arrived back at our hotel around noon.  Our hotel is the Sky Tower Hotel and it is under the largest building/tower in the Southern Hemisphere.  People jump off the tower and also walk around the ledges of it.  I thought that might be cool but when you actually go up there it is frightening.  The hotel also has a casino and a sports bar so everyone is happy.  They are getting ready for Chinese New Year tomorrow so the hotel is really busy.  Some people got into their rooms but Mike and I weren’t one of them.  Our room wouldn’t be ready until at least 2 pm.  We were so tired and just wanted to shower and lay down.  My feet and ankles were really swollen after the flight and we didn’t sleep much.  So, since we couldn’t get into our room we decided to walk around the city….(really?)

We found their version of a Westfield Mall which was mostly a food court and a few stores. The city isn’t busy like a city at home….it is really clean and there is little traffic.  Peter says that when the kids go to school they learn to pick up garbage around the city.  They are also required to go to College.  They have separate boys and girls schools.

They drive on the left side of the road so that took some getting used to.  They also walk on the left side of the sidewalk so Mike kept telling me to move over!  The people who live here speak English with an accent…..so every time Peter says Auckland it sounds like Oakland.  The elevators are called “Lifts” and they say that they are “Stoked” that we are here!  The money is many colors and they use coin for the $1 and $2.  Our US dollar is stronger so that is a plus. 

After finally checking into our room about 2:30 pm we finally got our showers and a quick nap.  We met everyone at 5 pm to ride up the Sky Tower for dinner at the Orbit Restaurant.  It is really freaky up there and the floor revolves so that you can see the whole 360 degrees of the city in an hour.  You can also watch the crazy people jump off the tower from your dinner table.  We had a wonderful dinner and then decided to check out the casino for a bit.  They had lots of Roulette tables, Caribbean Stud and some Blackjack.  All of the slots were 1 and 2 cent machines.  So….not interested!  We went to bed.