[Click on the heading above to open a webpage with better graphics, a comment field, and email sign up field.]
Kia Ora is a welcome greeting in Maori.
We arrived safely Sunday morning at 5:30 local time. Auckland is 16 hours ahead of Toronto time. I know... it's a little confusing thinking about something going on tomorrow...
Our flight from Toronto to Los Angeles was delayed leaving by about 25 minutes, but we thought we were going to be fine because we had a two and a half hour layover in Los Angeles before our flight to Auckland. I was bored waiting to land in LA so I started to watch the little map of the plane approaching LA on the monitor. I thought the navigation system was messed up when the plane did a big circle over the mountains then was flying in a zig-zag pattern towards LA. When we finally touched down, we stopped dead on the tarmac. Soon after that, there was an announcement that the airport was shut down because Air Force 2 was taking off (presumably with the Vice President on board). That explained the weird flying pattern coming in to LA, the pilot was killing time on the approach to LA.
We finally deplaned about an hour later than planned. Still an hour and a half to spare, no problem, right? Except that we had to change terminals in LA, and the worst part was having to clear security once more. In LA, after the airport was locked down. Talk about a circus.
For those of you who have followed Mary Ann in a crowd, she's tough to keep up with. Even though the staff let us use the priority line, it looked like an impossible task to make our flight. Rather than asking for permission to cut in front of everyone, Mary Ann took the position that it was easier to apologize for cutting in front, rather than asking permission. Almost everyone let us cut in front of them, so we made it through security with about a half hour to spare. Thanks to her, it looked like we were going to make it.
We were flying Air New Zealand from LA to Auckland, and had booked (and paid for) preferred seats, which would give us a little more leg-room. The problem was that Air New Zealand gave away our seats and had moved us to the next row back (they said there was a glitch in the booking system and they had double booked the seats). No preferred seats... and we had to watch a snotty-nosed kid enjoying the added leg room that he didn't need anyway. I think Mary Ann will have a few things to write about to Air New Zealand on our return.
At least we made the flight...
We picked up the rental car in Auckland, and made our way downtown and found Chris' hotel. He was staying in a two bedroom executive suite, and the second bedroom was vacant, so we are staying in Auckland free. Very nice.....
Auckland is a beautiful city on the coast of the North Island. The city was built in the 1800's and many of the original buildings are still in standing and are used in office, commercial or retail uses.
The waterfront has been redeveloped as a public space, and it actively used by the residents.
And Chris was free on Sunday, so we all went for a walk around the waterfront.
The waterfront is know as the Viaduct district, and the old silos in the area still stand. That area is know as Silo Park. Some residents were using the park for their Tai Chi session.
In fact, for a Sunday afternoon, all of the downtown area was busy with locals enjoying the sunny day.
As much as we tried, I managed to stay awake until 8:00 in the evening. And I slept well for almost twelve hours.
Today is a work day for Chris, and Mary Ann and I will spend the day in the Auckland Museum, and a little shopping in Ponsonby (think Yorkville). I think I lost my credit card...
More about that later.
If you are reading this blog for the first time, don't forget to review the archives at the right side for earlier entries. And feel free to add a comment, as well as share this blog with your friends. If you have not already done so, please enter your email address in the "Follow my Blog by Email" box on the right hand side. It will be much easier for me to stay in touch with you. If you don't see a signup box on the right side, then click on the blog heading and that should take you to a webpage with better graphics. You should then see the signup box on the right side. If you have trouble signing up, send me an email at mark.girard@rogers.com.
Kia Ora is a welcome greeting in Maori.
We arrived safely Sunday morning at 5:30 local time. Auckland is 16 hours ahead of Toronto time. I know... it's a little confusing thinking about something going on tomorrow...
Our flight from Toronto to Los Angeles was delayed leaving by about 25 minutes, but we thought we were going to be fine because we had a two and a half hour layover in Los Angeles before our flight to Auckland. I was bored waiting to land in LA so I started to watch the little map of the plane approaching LA on the monitor. I thought the navigation system was messed up when the plane did a big circle over the mountains then was flying in a zig-zag pattern towards LA. When we finally touched down, we stopped dead on the tarmac. Soon after that, there was an announcement that the airport was shut down because Air Force 2 was taking off (presumably with the Vice President on board). That explained the weird flying pattern coming in to LA, the pilot was killing time on the approach to LA.
We finally deplaned about an hour later than planned. Still an hour and a half to spare, no problem, right? Except that we had to change terminals in LA, and the worst part was having to clear security once more. In LA, after the airport was locked down. Talk about a circus.
For those of you who have followed Mary Ann in a crowd, she's tough to keep up with. Even though the staff let us use the priority line, it looked like an impossible task to make our flight. Rather than asking for permission to cut in front of everyone, Mary Ann took the position that it was easier to apologize for cutting in front, rather than asking permission. Almost everyone let us cut in front of them, so we made it through security with about a half hour to spare. Thanks to her, it looked like we were going to make it.
We were flying Air New Zealand from LA to Auckland, and had booked (and paid for) preferred seats, which would give us a little more leg-room. The problem was that Air New Zealand gave away our seats and had moved us to the next row back (they said there was a glitch in the booking system and they had double booked the seats). No preferred seats... and we had to watch a snotty-nosed kid enjoying the added leg room that he didn't need anyway. I think Mary Ann will have a few things to write about to Air New Zealand on our return.
At least we made the flight...
We picked up the rental car in Auckland, and made our way downtown and found Chris' hotel. He was staying in a two bedroom executive suite, and the second bedroom was vacant, so we are staying in Auckland free. Very nice.....
Auckland is a beautiful city on the coast of the North Island. The city was built in the 1800's and many of the original buildings are still in standing and are used in office, commercial or retail uses.
The waterfront has been redeveloped as a public space, and it actively used by the residents.
And Chris was free on Sunday, so we all went for a walk around the waterfront.
The waterfront is know as the Viaduct district, and the old silos in the area still stand. That area is know as Silo Park. Some residents were using the park for their Tai Chi session.
In fact, for a Sunday afternoon, all of the downtown area was busy with locals enjoying the sunny day.
As much as we tried, I managed to stay awake until 8:00 in the evening. And I slept well for almost twelve hours.
Today is a work day for Chris, and Mary Ann and I will spend the day in the Auckland Museum, and a little shopping in Ponsonby (think Yorkville). I think I lost my credit card...
More about that later.
If you are reading this blog for the first time, don't forget to review the archives at the right side for earlier entries. And feel free to add a comment, as well as share this blog with your friends. If you have not already done so, please enter your email address in the "Follow my Blog by Email" box on the right hand side. It will be much easier for me to stay in touch with you. If you don't see a signup box on the right side, then click on the blog heading and that should take you to a webpage with better graphics. You should then see the signup box on the right side. If you have trouble signing up, send me an email at mark.girard@rogers.com.
Thanks for reading...
Mark
No comments:
Post a Comment