Auckland New Zealand is the southernmost destination on this trip. As you can see with the green line on the map above we are almost halfway around the world. We got to the airport in Tahiti and had to go through security. The contrast between the Bora Bora security and the Papeete security is infinite. When we took out our liquids and took off our shoes we were brought back to the real world. At the gate we had to weigh our big bags and they were too heavy so we had to check them in for the first time. It's just as well as we had to climb up some gigantic stairs for this plane. That would have been a real workout carrying everything up those stairs. Our seats were lovely and the six hour flight seemed very quick for us. The terrain of New Zealand was invitingly green. We saw some ships lined up on what seemed like a river as we were landing. It was a long walk to the immigration and customs with lots to see. The immigration was easy for me but Leslie had a different experience. The electronic kiosk asked three questions. The last question was have you been incarcerated for more that 6 months. I answered no, but Leslie answered yes by mistake. That meant she had to go to the line and answer the three questions again but in person. She then got a passport stamp and I did not. Since it was Sunday we had a smooth and easy taxi ride to the Hilton Harbor.
Leslie popped up to the lounge just before we got on a flight and found the elusive doughnut she has been seeking throughout the world
Some of the outermost islands of New Zealand
This is the shadow of our plane inside a circular rainbow. The first time we've ever seen this phenomena
The very inviting coastline and landscape of New Zealand
I wonder what the greenery is down there?
This plane was gigantic. Notice that there are two full rows of windows so there must be two full floors on this plane
Inside the airport this welcoming gate was just beautiful and very elaborate
Now that we see the skytower we know that we have arrived
