Greetings from New Zealand. Yes, I have been out of contact but hey it takes about 100 years to get from Seattle to Auckland. We arrived and I finally have a wireless internet connection and am able to proceed with this Kiwi saga. Just a little trivia here and a digression which I do frequently... the time difference between Seattle and New Zealand is 21 hours. You might be thinking, oh geeze that's gonna cause one heck of a jet lag with all those time zones. However, there is a silver lining here. Allow me to explain. Say it's noon here in NZ, well on the Pacific Coast of the U.S. it is 3PM yesterday. Really if you give it a bit of thought, it is only a 3 hour time difference. Pretty cool. That's right you can board the aluminum tube which then catapults you and more than 100 of your closest friends 6500+ miles and upon arrival will only need to reset the watch a mere three hours back. OK, so it is yesterday where you are and all of this travel involves crossing the international dateline AND the equator.On to the fun stuff.
As you know, we are traveling with Greg's brother Gary and his wife Laura -from here on out they are the Love Birds. Well, one thing about the Love Birds is that they do not travel light. I have one smallish bag and my backpack which acted as my carry-on. My bag has what I need and a bit more and what I could not fit into it, I crammed into my backpack. The Big Fella -Greg- has a big bag because he is well, big. He also has a backpack. The Love Birds brought six bags. Yup, that is three a piece. I have no idea what is in all those bags except I have pondered that they emptied their closets into them or maybe even the contents of their house. Our rental car, a mid sized Hyundai SUV, barely holds all of the luggage and the four of us. It has been interesting and I can't wait until we need to stow all the luggage when we are traveling in a motor home which is tomorrow.
We have been on the North Island since February 17 and leave tomorrow morning for the South Island. We have had a couple of adventures that I promise to get to later, but it is getting late and I do need my beauty sleep. Ciao.
Maybe Gary and Laura could each donate one of their bags to a charitable organization...everyone wins.
ReplyDeleteeagerly waiting for more info on the Love Birds. Have fun one and all
ReplyDeleteAnyone heard from them???? Just saw the news????I am very worried!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteMom, Dad, please call me. Right now. Earthquake.
ReplyDeleteGlad you two are on it. Jennifer and I, too, are concerned.
ReplyDeleteRight now I am guessing no wifi or cell phone service if they are nearby. I am sure we will hear from them soon. Keep good thoughts....
ReplyDeleteEveryone checking here to see if they are okay -- we found their trip itinerary. They are 200 miles north of Christchurch, in a national park, and probably have no idea there was even a big earthquake.
ReplyDeleteAnna - thanks for this posting. The news stories and photos are devastating! Thinking about you all, and hoping for more info soon.
ReplyDeletexoxo
Carol & Steve
We have had an email from them and they are safe. Mary did post to her facebook for those who have access to that. Limited internet access now but they will keep us posted.
ReplyDeleteWe were so fortunate to be in Abel Tasman Nat'l Park the day of the earthquake. We have seen some of the local coverage and it is truly devastating. One suburb of Christchurch has at least 60% of its buildings down or damaged to the point of needing to be knocked down. One very large hotel in ChCh is leaning and will likely need to be taken down before it falls down. It is really bad. We of course will avoid the area but have a flight out of ChCh on March 4th to Auckland. Will keep you all posted. Mary
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