New Zealand Trip - Monday, August 5, 2019

I woke up at around 7 am and showered and then completed my packing.  I relaxed a bit after I was done and and at 9:30 am, I headed down to the lobby to check out. As I was exiting my room, a hotel employee offered to help me with my luggage.  Help like that was common in New Zealand.  Also, tipping doesn't exist, so that was an added treat!

Once I checked out, the same employee helped me take my luggage to the street and even offered to call me a taxi, but I told him I was calling an Uber.

My Uber driver arrived in about five minutes.  This driver was from Sri Lanka and I had another delightful Uber ride and conversation as we headed to the Auckland Airport International terminal.

And...once I was inside the airport, it was easy to check in and go through security.  Once I got through to the international terminal, there was no gate yet assigned to my flight which was going to Melbourne, so I took the time for some coffee and a muffin and waited.

Finally, a gate was assigned and it was quite a long walk to the gate, but once there I boarded the plane and had a nice flight to Melbourne that took off at 1:25 pm and landed in Melbourne around 4 pm.  (It was two hours behind in Melbourne.)  Just before I boarded the plane, I bought a New Zealand sweat shirt as a quick impulse buy.

I sat next to a couple who lived on the South Island of New Zealand who were going to Perth to see their daughter who was about to have a baby.  They owned a travel company called Westray Adventures in Te Anau, New Zealand.  The man's name was Andy.  I learned that the South Island is nicer than the north island and realize I must visit that part of New Zealand if I come again.

When I got off the plane, I took my time in the restroom, so by the time I went through the border security, I was in the only person there.  I had to dump my water, but everything else I brought went through fine.

The layover in Melbourne was long.  My plane to LAX was not scheduled to leave until 9 pm, so after enjoying a croissant and a Chai tea, I wandered around the huge mall that was in the international airport.  The stuff there was really expensive, but so fun to look at.  I saw so many different types of back packs, wool items. souvenirs, and even Australian Ugg brand boots.

Finally, just as I began to settle into a waiting area, about an hour before the plane was scheduled to leave, and announcement was made that there was further security for those going to the USA and for passengers to head to the boarding area Gate 10.

There my passport was checked again and then we waited.

During the wait I met an 18 year old boy from Irvine who'd gone to Sydney on a musical choir adventure.   He was so "jazzed" after his trip since it had been an honor to be selected.

I also met a lady who lived in Baltimore for 40 years, but had been visiting family in Australia.

Finally I was on the plane and found my seat.  I ended up sitting next to a young couple from Melbourne who were going on a three week holiday to the USA.  They were going to Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York, San Francisco, and then back to Lo Angeles.  The woman was a hairdresser in Melbourne (her named was Jasmine) and her husband is a student.  Wow it was fun to  hear about the adventure they had in store!

The flight was 14 hours and so I watched movies, slept, and watched more movies, and slept.  The food served was good.

I was so glad to land in Los Angeles at around 6:20 pm, but it took what seemed like forever to leave the plane, go on a transport bus to the terminal, go through Passport Security, get my luggage, go through customs, return the Sim card I bought at LAX that did not work properly in New Zealand, and find my brother-in-law Mike.

Mike found me at 9 pm and had been wandering the international terminal since 7:30 pm trying to find me.  Once we connected we headed to the parking lot and Mike got me back to our Long Beach condo at 10 pm.

Wow!  What an adventure!

New Zealand Trip - Sunday, August 4, 2019

I decided to do something fun on my last day in New Zealand, so in the morning I packed my backpack with warm clothes for skiing.

Yes...more skiing!  But...at this time at an indoor ski facility near Auckland called Snow Planet.

Before I headed that way, I walked with Rebekah to the Spark Arena and we stopped for breakfast and coffee on the way at a place called Expresso Works.  She had to be at the rink by 9 so we left our hotel at about 8:15 am so we could have a bit of a time together that morning.

After I said good bye to Rebekah at the venue, I called an Uber and off I went to Snow Planet!  It was a long Uber drive, about 30 minutes, so I enjoyed the beautiful scenery on the way.  My Uber driver was originally from the Phillipines and we had a nice talk about his life in New Zealand.

I arrived at Snow Planet at about 10 am.  I paid for a package that included an all day lift ticket, skis, boots, poles, and a helmet and then I got ready to "hit the slope."  (Yes, there was only one slope.)

When I arrived the facility was not that crowded, but very suddenly, after I used the restroom, there was really a long line of excited people.

Anyway, it took a while to get ready and off I went.  There were only two poma lifts on either side of the slope.

I must have gone up and skied down about ten times before I finally got hungry around noon.

Once I got my scone and coffee I sat in a booth that looked like ski lift chairs around a table.  The man sitting at the booth was a Kiwi (I learned that is a New Zealand citizen) and his name was David.  He was originally from the UK, but has lived in New Zealand a long time.  We had a nice chat as he ate fish and chips.  He wasn't even there to ski...he came for the excellent food at Snow Planet!

After David left, I checked out my phone a bit and then a family asked to share the booth with me.  They were so friendly and so I told them I was there skiing while my daughter was performing in Disney On Ice and it turned out they were going to the 5:30 pm show that night!  I told them I was going too and they even offered to give me a ride there!

The mom's name was Katie and her seven year old daughter Chloe was in a ski lesson, but her four year old son Austin was there with her.  Her friend Grace was there with her seven year old daughter Josephine.  We exchanged numbers and I took their photo.

Then I was off to "hit the slope" again.  The afternoon skiing seemed to be more crowded than the morning.  I took both lifts up over and over again and enjoyed so much skiing down and practicing what I learned in my lesson in Mt. Ruapehu.

I decided I needed to leave at 3:30 pm so I wouldn't miss Rebekah's show.  I had to text Katie and thank her for her offer for the ride, but didn't want them to wait for me since they wanted to leave between 2:30 and 3 pm.

It took about 30 minutes to get all my ski gear off and pack up and turn in my rentals.  Then, I called an Uber ride at 4 pm, but I had to wait about 15 minutes for my Uber.  This Uber driver was from India and we had another nice talk back into the city.  He'd lived in New Zealand for six years and he was newly married and his wife had just joined him in New Zealand.  He told me to make a living he drives Uber (and similar type driving services) six days a week.

I got back to the hotel around 4:50 pm and quickly put my ski clothes away and left the hotel at little after 5 pm and walked to the venue.

What happened at the venue was very upsetting.  The person minding the entry gate would not let me in.  He said the pass Rebekah had obtained for me was not genuine.  He made me feel as if I was doing something wrong.  I had to go to another area and I was finally let in with my ticket, but almost missed seeing Rebekah perform.  The whole situation shook me up.

(Perhaps in another blog post, I will share the inadequate response after I wrote an written complaint to the arena.  In all the years I have seen Disney On Ice shows, this particular venue, in my opinion, was the most unprofessional.  Not only did their staff shake me up, but the response I received after just asking for an apology upset me too.  Spark Arena in Auckland has now left me with a bad impression of how the public in New Zealand are treated.)

Well..back to seeing the show.  Seeing the show was great.  Rebekah had a huge role that night so I took a lot of photos and videos.

At intermission, I went to see Katie and Grace and Chloe and Josephine and Austin.  They had seats in the second row and were having a fabulous time.

After the show, I took the time to complain to Bill, an usher supervisor about the negative experience I had with James when I tried to enter the venue.  I then went to see James again directly and told him I'd reported the incident.

Just as I was talking to James, Katie and Grace and the kids were exiting, so we got more photos and gave one another good-bye hugs.  Meeting them was a true highlight of that day.

After I walked back to the hotel, I stopped at Lord of the Fries and bought a vegan hamburger for myself and also one for Rebekah and a vegan breakfast sandwich for her too and a vegan cookie.  She decided to do "load out" which meant she was going to be working very late before returning back to the hotel and then heading to Hamilton on the crew bus.

When I finally got to my hotel room it was only about 8:30 pm, but it felt so much later.  I decided to do one last load of laundry and while I did my laundry, I watched television and ate my dinner.

I then began the huge chore of packing.  I had so much stuff spread around in the hotel room after two weeks in New Zealand, but eventually my duffle was packed with my Razor Air Scooter, my skates, jackets, and other stuff and my suitcase was almost packed and so was my backpack.

Rebekah finally arrived at about 11:30 pm and we had a nice time visiting.  She had no appetite for the food I bought her, but assured me she would eat it the next day.  It was hard to say good-bye and we hugged an hugged.

I then finally crawled into bed and reflected about my wonderful two weeks in New Zealand!

New Zealand Trip Thursday, 8/1 and Friday, 8/2 and Saturday, 8/3, 2019

Thursday, August 1, 2019

We slept in and had a relaxing breakfast at The Coffee Club and then we began a scooter-walk towards the Auckland Museum.  Before we headed to the museum we went back to the dock to clean our shoes where these brushes were set up for people to clean their shoes before going to the islands.  Our shoes had been muddy, so I wanted to get them clean.  It began to rain, so we headed back to the  hotel to fetch my umbrella.   It was a brisk cold morning.

The scooter-walk was delightful because the GPS took us through another reserve called Auckland Domain.  It looked like we were back on the island!

When we finally got to the museum, what we saw was so beautiful.  We couldn't wait to enter.

We decided to pay for not just the museum entry, but to see the Maori dancers.  So...after warming up and having some tea, we saw the most amazing show at 1:30 pm.  They put on the most amazing show.  They did native Maori dances, games, songs and chants.  It was the most incredible entertainment.

After the show, we went to all the museum exhibits and we learned so much about New Zealand.  We stayed until the place closed.  The natural history area was so realistic.  Seeing the story of the Maori totally fascinating.  Also, learning about New Zealand's participation in both WWI and WW2 taught us a lot.  The exhibition on volcanoes was especially educational.  I am still fascinated that Rebekah and I skied on an active volcano!

We stayed until closing and then decided to scooter back to the downtown Auckland area where our hotel was.  I put in my GPS a place called Poke Bar since I read that the Poke bowls there were the best in New Zealand.

Rebekah and I  had an amazing Poke meal and then went back to the hotel.  It had been a cold and exhausting day.  We reflected on how nice a vacation we'd had together.

Friday, August 2, 2019

Rebekah had to be a work in the afternoon, but we still had the morning free, so we took an Uber to a Buddhist Monastery where we met Sen who took us on a tour of the temple.  We got to make wishes, learn about the life of Buddha, and eat in the vegetarian tea house.  Rebekah had to get her food as "take away" since she needed to get an Uber and get to work, but I got to have a relaxing and amazing vegetarian lunch with Sen.

After lunch, Sen drove me about half-way back to the downtown area.  He had to get new tires for his car, so from the auto repair shop, I set up an Uber ride to pick me up and take me back to the hotel.

When I returned to the hotel, I quickly put my scooter away and then got an Uber to take me to the Spark Arena where Rebekah and the Disney On Ice cast were rehearsing.  I arrived at 2:00 pm, just in time to see some wonderful practices.  It was fun for me to talk to some of the cast and crew members and reunite with some of the cast and crew that Rebekah and I had climbed Mt. Fuji with just a year ago.

Once the rehearsals ended, I picked up my ticket and just waited around for the show to begin.  I had only seen Rebekah in the show once before in Japan, so it was nice to see the show in English this time around.

When the show ended, Rebekah and I met in the lobby and walked back to the hotel together.

Saturday, August 3, 2019

I woke early so I could do my laundry in the hotel.  Once that was done, I got on my scooter and headed towards the venue hoping to connect with Rebekah, but that didn't happen since she did not have a long enough break to spend time with me.  I did have a nice lemon muffin and a "Long Black" which is sort of like Americano coffee in the USA at a coffee house near the venue called Esquires Coffee.  Just as I thought maybe it was time to get up and use the restroom, the morning show must have ended and the coffee house filled up with families.

I then went over to the venue to pick up my tickets for Saturday's and Sunday's shows.  Then I scootered back to the hotel and left my scooter there and then walked back to the Spark Arena and arrived just in time to see the show.

The show was a bit better than Friday night, but I enjoyed it more since I knew which scenes Rebekah appeared in.

After the show I connected with Rebekah for about 15 minutes and then I walked back to the hotel and got my scooter and first went to the New World Metro Market and then I stopped at Lord of the Fries and bought a huge take away vegan burger and then got a rice ball and salad from St. Pierre's Sushi and returned to the hotel and had a peaceful dinner.

I missed Rebekah and wished that I could have spent more time with her today between shows.  As I finish this blog post, I can't help but reflect on how wonderful my trip to New Zealand has been.  I definitely want to come back!