Melissa is back! First of all, can I say that I *hate* the new WordPress. I can’t figure out for the life of me how to wrap text, insert photos, etc. It used to be SO EASY. Hopefully I will get the bandwidth at some point to figure out how to do this correctly . . . but that’s not going to be today.
Melissa’s best fan Winston was glad to see her (“Where ya been, Auntie?”). The last time that she came to bail me out and house sit/dog sit was back in 2019. Yep – COVID happened. Melissa met Clementine with a bit of trepidation, as a 100# big blockheaded 2 year old American Bully was a lot different than Winston, the 16 year old “elder statesman.” However, as you can see from the photo, Clementank won her over – or, perhaps, just wouldn’t let Melissa get up until she submitted to loving her. Ha!
Melissa took Lynn and me to SFO on Wednesday – we had both done the “pre-check” that allowed us to just do the bag drop. Lynn had seen this/the boarding pass check-in online, I had seen the New Zealand Customs online check in, so (fingers crossed), a good pair thusfar.
God bless American Express Centurion lounges – both the SFO and LAX ones saved our bacon. The airports were packed but the lounges gave us some elbow room – okay – and great food and some champagne ;-) Above is my “patented” Herbert-marble-in-champagne-pre-trip shot with Lynn :-)
Too much walking for my foot (including about 30 minutes in LAX from one end to the other). Way too much walking. Soldier on . . . Kia Kaha :-) Lynn hadn’t realized her bag didn’t have a shoulder strap – when she was investigating the Centurion Lounge in LAX I asked if the (free) masseur had time, and was able to get her something for her neck and shoulders. Yay ;-)
We had upgraded to Premium Economy (thank goodness!), and so were welcomed to our own personalized greeting on Air New Zealand. (“Kia Ora” basically means “Hello.”)
Mind you, the idea of being in a mask for a zillion hours on the flight wasn’t my idea of a great time, but I’ll be darned if I will go from “NO-vid” to “COVID” on the plane before a holiday!
The flight attendants were great – Premium Economy better than Economy (ho boy, cattle call, Moooooo), with seats that kind of reclined and kind of had a leg rest – though of course not the “lie-down-flat-and-peel-me-grapes” of the upper class. :-)
After a day on board (well, not really, but yes really, if you go by time zones), all I could do was croak “coffee” at the lovely flight attendant, who gladly obliged.
Once we got to the Auckland Airport (Friday – we’ll “grab” Thursday back when we return), first you need to go through passport control. If you have a U.S. passport and have filled out the “NZeTA” app, you can do the “e-scan” and waltz on through.
If you’re Lynn.
Obviously they believed I was some sort of nefarious character, and the “e-scan” gave me the big red circle with the crosshatch. (Luckily no alarms sounded.) I was led to the “control official” line instead.
It did take some time, so I waved Lynn to go downstairs to Baggage and see if she could retrieve our luggage. Wow, WHAT A PAL am I….I sashayed on down JUST has she heaved my luggage off the carousel – !!
Off we went to Customs. Once again, there is an app, this one called “NZTD.” Lynn hadn’t seen the notification to fill out this app (it came in an Air New Zealand email) – but once we got to our group leader, Ron, he said that it was new enough that he had never seen it either!
You use it to fill in the declaration forms 24 hours before your plane takes off for New Zealand. New Zealand is VERY strict with respect to what can come into the country. NO fruit, animal products, etc. – or shoes that have been on a farm within the last x number of days – or shoes with dirt on them – or (dot dot dot). The NZTD app allows you to declare what you ARE bringing in. Though allowed, you must declare things like (pre-packaged, not handmade) protein bars, etc. – including the Ghirardelli chocolate minis I’d brought as a gift for our homestay family. (Our guide had informed me that the dry sourdough starter from Boudin would be confiscated. Whaa-whaaaa.)
I’d checked box for “machine-packaged Chocolates, Sweets or Lollies.” The sticky point was that Lynn had Kind bars, which are not only chocolate, but also nuts, seeds, etc. so she checked “Other.”
I thought she was behind me as I wound my way past hundreds of folks with the paper Customs forms clutched in their hands . . . right to a Customs official. Whoa! She took my passport, asked me if I had anything “but the chocolates” to declare, I said No, she stamped my passport, Done.
Wait.
Wasn’t Lynn behind me?
Nope.
Scanning back through the sea of humanity, I saw her way-way-WAAAAAY back at the entry to the area. Unfortunately, the “Other” she’d checked for the Kind bars (Note to others: declare it as chocolate…) had held her up while they tried to figure out what to do with her. Unfortunately, they made her go through the line where all the “paper declaring” people were queued . . .
20 minutes later . . .
I just waited behind the Customs officials, though there wasn’t a place to sit. I didn’t want to go OUT of the Customs area, in case Lynn got held up further.
I emailed our guide, who had said he would be waiting for us (and 4 others on our flight) right outside the Customs exit, to tell him that Lynn had been held up, I was through, but we were here.
Lynn ultimately got through, we were led past the bag-sniffing deerhounds (like a long-legged beagle) – very interested in my CLOTHING but not my BAG (hello Winston & Clemmie), and out the doors we went, I was sure the last to arrive.
We were the first to meet the guide!
I’m not quite sure how we managed it – but we were WELL in front of the other 4 folks – three traveling together from near Scottsdale (a married couple and a widower), and then another gal from West of Phoenix (Japanese, super nice, light on English but long on OAT trips – actually – all but me are at the “VIP” level). Toshiko was last out the Customs door, perhaps because English is not her first language. It was two hours from when we touched down before she emerged (I believe it took Lynn and me maybe 30-40 minutes all told).
We drove to the VOCO Hotel in downtown Auckland. Downtown is called the “CBD.” All I can think of every time I hear that, of course, is CBD/THC :-) I’m typing lying on the bed – nicely appointed room, a bit light on the water pressure, but two big queen beds looking out on the Auckland Sky Tower, which looks a bit like the tower in Toronto.
We had a few hours to relax, re-pack, etc. until about an hour from now when we have our first “official” meeting with the other travelers. Dinner isn’t included today, so I imagine that Lynn and I will toddle down to Queen Street, find an ATM, and get some dinner. In case you want to see the real details of our trip instead of what my addled brain is remembering, follow Lynn’s blog HERE. :-)
It will be an early evening for me FOR SURE, as I have to meet my Uber at 6:30 a.m. to head out to row on Lake Pupuke, in Takapuna, tomorrow at 7:00 a.m.! HERE is the club’s website. I’m bringing MRA oar lapel pins, to try to bribe them to forgive me for whatever I do on the water. Wish me LUCK!!!
If you want $100 off, call OAT at 1-800-955-1925 and request a catalog, tell them you were referred by Sandy Shepard, customer number 3087257, and get $100 off your first trip!