These are a couple of flowering bushes that I liked at our hotel:
We left the hotel and were on our way in a van with a trailer. The van did not have enough room for me to get my legs into the seat, but I was able to sit in the first seat behind the driver (Rod sat in the passenger seat). Unfortunately, at one point the driver took a wrong turn, and in trying to back up, wrapped the hitch on a telephone pole, with the van on one side and the trailer on the other! They wound up getting it sorted out, but that left us with a bit less time at our stops that day.
Our first stop was back at the Hundertwasser Toilets for a “bio-break.” I was sitting with Elizabeth, who was kind enough to duck down so I could take a photo of the “Kawakawa” sign!
One thing that I likely didn’t mention in the previous post about the toilets was that I hadn’t been able to locate my superglue. I completely emptied my (small) purse – nope. So, I had “affixed” it in the window with toothpaste (yes, really)! I was a little nervous to go in to see if it was still there. While we were driving, I found the superglue – right in the pocket it was supposed to be!! So I went in, and luckily the marble was still there. I “dusted off” the dried toothpaste, applied the superglue, and we were back on the road again! Here are a few more photos from the Toilets:
We stopped for a “coffee stop” in Whangerei. It is a port town, that decided to revamp the entire waterfront. They didn’t have a lot of tourist visitors, and so they decided to put in a Hundertwasser Museum! It opened in 2021. They even had some of his artwork, loaned from Vienna. In the photos below, you can see the museum, a HUGE fig tree out front, some kids doing art in a side room, the uneven floors (Hundertwasser felt that flat floors were not “natural”), some of the tiles and designs (including a black kiwi bird and a seahorse), and then coffee, prosecco, and H (in the glass)!
Here is a posting about the “uneven floors”:
Next, we headed to a small park with Kauri trees. They are now endangered, so you have to spray and wipe your feet before entering. These kauri were not possible to get logged out – so they are some of the most ancient in New Zealand. A lot of the kauri wood was exported to the U.S., and the sap was used for linoleum! Because no gold was found in this area, timber was their export. The first kauri in the photo is the McKinney Kauri – not a great picture, but you can see the dimensions on the sign. It’s 800 years old. The 2nd is the Simpson Kauri, which is 600 years old. The tree ferns were at least 30 feet tall!
Then, off to our final “pub lunch” in New Zealand! I’ve mentioned before that their signs are pretty classic. It is their Voting now (for the next 2 weeks), and there are a lot of Vote signs on the road – my favorite, though was the “No Fart Tax!” sign. (Yes, really, there’s a “fart tax” for the methane made by farm animals.)
Our pub was no different! Here are a few photos not only of the pub (including some photos of the teams that had to drag the kauri from the forest), but also the signs at the pub:
Then, we were off to Auckland Airport. Air New Zealand has a thing called “OneUp.” When you choose your seat, you can choose to enter basically a “silent raffle” to the next higher tier. As Lynn and I were in Premium Economy, that would mean Upper Class. The minimum that you can “bid” is $500, so I bid $501. And I got it! So I was able to have a lie-flat seat, etc. on the way home. (P.S. – Lynn tried to do it at the airport, but they wouldn’t. And there were at least 6 seats empty in Upper Class, plus she said only about 15 people total in Premium Economy.)
Unfortunately, as we were waiting for the plane in the Priority Pass lounge, I just started feeling “Not Right.” I thought it was a migraine, which I get on occasion. I hadn’t been drinking that much water that day, so tried to “load up” on water while waiting. The lovely free food/beverages/etc. just looked nauseating.
It got worse as we boarded. I turned down dinner, and asked for a cup of “hot white sweet tea” instead. Then I asked the flight attendant to fold the seat down.
I told them not to wake me up for breakfast, so I was lying down/sleeping for the bulk of the flight. I did have another “hot sweet white tea” about 30 minutes before landing, and took some Tylenol.
Global Entry was easy peasy – my update came the day before we were to fly out! (My Global Entry had expired in 2020.) Melissa picked us up, and Lynn was able to “re-jigger” the things we had put in her bag v. my bag for ease of transport.
And – yes – you guessed it. I had worn my mask assiduously on the plane out to New Zealand, but hadn’t worn it there, or on the way back. And the little “T” lit up on the COVID test! I guess I am no longer in the ever-dwindling cadre of NOvid folks! Melissa is off to Tahoe, luckily, so basically I’m lying around feeling crappy. I did get Paxlovid, but I can’t really make it down the driveway much less feel confident in the car, so my poor Mom is going to pick it up for me. Well – back to bed! There you have it – the trip to New Zealand!!!