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| New Zealand Trip Visitor Stories |
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After showering, cleaning the kitchen, emptying trash, clearing cupboards etc, the apartment was in decent shape, and we were ready to make our way to the airport (it is 9:15 am). There is still a light mist as we drag our belongings down Sydney streets to the Museum train station. We get on our subway and make it to the airport by 10;00 am. Check-in at the China Air desk goes incredibly smoothly, so we are in the security line very quickly. The queue is long at security and I get pulled aside and asked to empty the contents of my "electronics" bag. They rescan everything, and find no problem. By this time, Rose has passed through security and has come over to help me. Well no good deed goes unpunished, for after I was approved to proceed - she was "wanded" to test for explosives (2nd time this trip). Of course they find nothing and we can now proceed to our gate (gate 56
The 4 of us leave security together, then Rose and I split from the kids to claim a tax refund of $71 from our earlier lens purchase. The line here is enormous, but moves fast - by 11:00am we have completed the necessary paperwork for our claim, and we feel good that we took care of this chore when we had plenty of time to spare. Gate 56 proves to be a 10 minute walk away. As usual, we are carrying heavy "carry-on" bags - and the 10 minute walk becomes a struggle. We reunite with Jake and Amanda in a cafe very close to our gate, and we all take advantage of the free WIFI to catch up on things.
Our plane is late to board, but it boards quickly once started. Overall the flight was a good, uneventful one, with the exception that Rose and I were watching the Intern, and Amanda was watching Bridesmaids, and all of us were unable to see the crucial last 5 minutes or so of our movies, as we landed too soon. We collected our luggage, and using one of the many luggage carts laying about the airport, we dragged our stuff through the lengthy security process, then over to the Budget Rental car desk. It took less than a half hour to sign for and acquire our Toyota Prado SUV. The vehicle is Suburban-esque in its girth. Amanda volunteers to drive, as she has the most experience driving on the "wrong side of the road". It takes some time getting used to several issues driving this vehicle:
it's huge, and driving on the left side of the road, while sitting on the left side of the car, the driver often over estimates how much room they take up on the left
turning right is a pain when you drive on the left side of the road
the turn signal and windshield wiper controls are reversed, so often the driver turns on the windshield wipers while intending to engage the turn signal
Tom and Rosemary's HomeAmanda does an awesome job, getting us out of the airport to our Airbnb in Christchurch owned by a lovely older couple (Rosemary and Tom). Rosemary greets us at the door, and takes us upstairs to our rooms. It is a beautiful house and they go the extra mile to make us feel at home (Tom even has the American flag flying from their backyard flagpole).
Living Room/Dining RoomWe ask for dining suggestions, and Rosemary directs us up the street a couple of blocks where there are Italian, Vietnamese, Thai and Burmese restaurants, and we choose the Burmese one for dinner (The Bodhi Tree). The restaurant proved to be a real hit, as once again we collectively order a variety of small dishes (including two soups), and we share them - and they are all "good eats". We even share a couple of desserts - an unusual but tasty semolina and coconut milk cake that Jake and I shared, while the ladies shared the chocolaty "muddy mud cake".
Fully satiated from our meal, we stopped at a gas station to pick up some mixers and gatorade. There was a brief scare, driving on the wrong side of the road, but no harm, no foul as they say. We returned to the house and were invited into the living room to join Tom & Rosemary. For about an hour and a half, we had a lovely discussion, learning much about our hosts (Rosemary is a retired hospital administrator who worked quite a bit with patients suffering dementia), and Tom (a widower after 48 years) is an inventor who sells kitchen gadgets, including a pan for distributing heat while sauteing on the stove-top, as well as a crispy pie plate with dozens of venting holes). They in turn were fascinated to learn our collective story. It was a very pleasant evening and a great introduction to New Zealand!
We arrived at the Sydney airport at 10:00 am local time (almost 2 hours late). We had no trouble getting through Customs, and upon retrieving our luggage, we were met by Jake and Amanda in the concourse. A quick subway ride to the Central station, followed by a short walk brought us to Jake and Amanda's apartment (very close to the Chinatown section of Sydney). After a quick "freshen up", the four of us walked to the Royal Botanic Gardens - a beautiful park with excellent views of Sydney Harbor. Our hike through the Gardens culminated on the other side of the Opera House, where we dined along the water at Portobello's restaurant (the salmon bruschetta was wonderful!)
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| New Zealand Trip Visitor Stories |
We then returned to the apartment via subway (this time stopping at the Museum stop (the apartment is equidistant to both stops). We chilled for the evening, with Amanda and I humbling Rose and Jake by winning two Euchre games (the second win secured by a loner from Amanda).
Our whirlwind tour of the South Island of New Zealand is sadly coming to an end. We had requested an 8:30 am breakfast yesterday evening, and Geoff had accepted our request. Rose and I walked over to the dining room exactly at 8:30, leaving Jake and Amanda an opportunity to shower and get ready for the day with proper privacy.
The New Zealand guest who was watching Coronation Street with Geoff yesterday evening had also requested the same time, so she joined us just after we sat down. A few minutes later, a couple from Switzerland also joined us. The breakfast table was beautifully set, and the room itself looked out onto the farm. Watermelon, peaches and yogurt were already out on the table, while two types of Muesli were set out on a separate table. Everything seemed perfect, until we started to serve ourselves some food. Where was the spoon for the peaches? Where was my napkin? How do we serve the honey? It turns out that poor Geoff was thrust into the role of homemaker at the last minute
Airbnb Farm. His wife who normally handles all of the details for these breakfasts was called out of town a few days earlier to care for a niece injured in a horse riding accident. Geoff was very apologetic, and was quite charming in his unpreparedness.
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| New Zealand Trip Visitor Stories |
There were two French girls that were doing hot food cooking in the kitchen (once again, young folks working for room and board in hopes of touring the world). With just two of us requesting eggs and bacon, it sure seemed that one of the girls could have left the kitchen and rescued Geoff from all of his running back and forth to retrieve forgotten items. Interestingly, we learned that there was a communication problem in describing how fried eggs were prepared. "Over easy", or "sunnyside up" meant little to New Zealanders. They had thought that these terms were created in Hollywood (they'd heard them used in movies, but were totally clueless as to what they may mean). Eventually we explained what they meant and our eggs were cooked pretty well.
The hot breakfast took a long time to arrive, and it was obvious we would not make a 9:30 am Mass this morning, so Rose went back to the room momentarily and let Jake and Amanda know that they did not need to rush to get ready. They eventually joined us as we were finishing up our meal
Rooster in the Backyard of Airbnb Home. I decided to excuse myself and walk around the grounds outside, as did Rose a little while later. The farm was quite charming, as were the several roosters and hens that dotted the grounds (the very same roosters that had begun to crow at approximately 4:45 am this morning). We didn't have much time to spare, as we had a several hour drive back to Christchurch, from which we were flying back to Sydney (7 pm flight).
The route back to Christchurch was much like yesterday's terrain - rolling hills and wide valleys. We made one sightseeing stop on the way back at Moeraki Boulders. These "boulders" consist of a group of several, nearly spherical rocks that are laying in a small area of beach, easily accessible to us (at least they are during low tide). The boulders actually are the result of everything else eroding around each boulder. How they happen to form here, and how they result in almost perfect spheres is a mystery to me still. We hang out by the boulders for about a half an hour then it's back to the car.
We return to Christchurch with plenty of time to spare - in fact we have enough time to return the house key we accidentally kept from Tom and Rosemary (our Airbnb hosts in Christchurch). One of the benefits of flying out of a small airport is the ease in which we accomplish what can be a painstaking process in larger airports
Inside a Moeraki Boulder. We return the rental car, check our bags, pass through security and walk to our gate in about a half hour. The flight back to Sydney is near perfect, starting and ending right on time.
After we passed through security in Sydney, I try to hire a Uber driver for our trip to Malabar. For some unknown reason, my Uber app keeps telling me I need to choose the more expensive Uber Black in order to be picked up at the airport. We decide that the price benefit of Uber vanishes if we have to go with the Black option, so we just hire a cab. We are picked up within 10 minutes of getting to the taxi stand, and it takes about 20 minutes to get to our Airbnb home. After negotiating both a lock on the gate, and the lockbox, we finally enter the duplex. It is pretty spacious, with 4 bedrooms, a good sized living room and kitchen and a nice bar on the patio in the backyard. It appears that a young family resides here, with a toddler and a baby. The couple seems recently married (the wall leading upstairs is loaded with pictures of their wedding. Oddly, they have several boudoirs pictures of the wife in the upstairs bedroom. I mean, who has several boudoirs shots hanging up on the walls of their own home, particularly one that they rent out?
By now it is about midnight Sydney time (2 am New Zealand time), and we are all ready for bed...