A new year means travel to a country that starts with New. This is not our first time in New Zealand but our first chance to really explore here. We got up early so we could be out of the house by 7:30. We pushed and pulled our bags three blocks to the rail station and took the train right to the international airport. We had 3.50 AUD left on our cards, just enough to be sure that the ride was going to work. We checked in at the gate with only one minor issue. We had to show them a ticket for our departure from New Zealand on 16 February. For once technology came to our assistance and the needed itinerary showed up in our Emirates Airlines app. Off to the lounge for some bacon a a serious attempt to hydrate. We had a bit of Australian cash leftover and tried to exchange it but the money changer would only exchange 200 AUD or more. Weird business model but we spent that money on Navy Strength Gin instead. Win win for us. The flight was uneventful and pleasant enough. Enough turbulence to force us to stop reading and rest our eyes. The coast of New Zealand appeared out of some clouds all craggy and scenic. There were more clouds as we landed and a bit of rain on the drive in. Our luggage arrived without a hitch although I was a bit worried as there were 100's of bags all around the turnstile. We are still wondering why those bags were there. Once again we had to decide whether to declare our tea. Yes it is a food/plant product but no, there are not any bugs within our tea. We declared it back in Perth and that may be why we it took us almost two hours to get through customs there. This time we declared it and ended up goring through customs in less than an hour. That was faster than the folks with nothing to declare. All of then had to have their bags x-rayed while we just got a smile and a pass from our agent. Leslie saw a taxi-van and we decided to jump into it since was sitting there. We have had to search out Ubers and this taxi would be able to handle all the luggage. He took us right to our AirBnB front door and we offloaded. I went to find the key in the locked lockbox room a few doors down. It was easy and we were in the room super fast. It was a nice place with a balcony and very comfortable mattresses. The sushi place we searched was closed and as we were walking around looking for another place to eat, it started raining. Lucky for us we were passing Movenpick Hotel that has a fine rooftop restaurant. For being a place of convivence it was surprisingly good. After dinner we grabbed a half dozen eggs and some bread for the morning and headed back.
Goodbye Liquor Store. This was a standard BWS (Beer Wine Spirits) but for Mardi Gras they added the "YASS" between the BW and the S to make it sassy and they also started drag queen delivery
We only waited for the train for 5 minutes!
We pushed it uphill and guided it downhill
Bacon and snausages
The view of Sydney from the lounge
A spacious lounge
Pip the Platypus looks tasty
A chocolate penguin
Surfing the bubbly buzz
I was going to whisper in the ear but there was no ear there!
Navy Strength!
Goodbye Australia
Hello New Zealand
Mudflat bay
Auckland here we come
100's of bags...why?
Have to get in to get to the lockbox
Find the right lockbox
Found it!
Out looking for sushi!
Not here
Not here either
Yes it is Ebisu
And they are closed till 11 January
A great relaxed vibe at the Movenpick
Nice view
Nice dinner location
Cars either getting delivered or just unloaded
Smashed cucumbers
Heirloom tomatoes
A fancy chicken selection
As close to sushi as we could get
Wagu Meatballs!
