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!
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