New Zealand Summary Part 3
Well, if you have ever been to Wellington they call it the windy city and the day we arrived was one of the windiest days they had had in a very long time. When we got out of our hotel, which was right along to waterfront, the wind kicked up a bit and then we turned the corner around the national museum and we were fully on the waterfront. WOW, is all I can say. Ilise and I were laughing to each other that if the kids were with us, Drew, our daughter, would have just been blown away by the wind. We had to lean our whole bodies forward not get blown over, it was incredible! We were able to visit a museum that captured the earthquake in Christchurch, which lasted 37 seconds, with 37 pictures and each person photographed was able to write 37 words about their experience. It was a very interesting exhibit.
That evening we were picked up for dinner by our clients and their wives and we all headed out for dinner. We had a wonderful time and everyone got along great. The food was Asian fusion which Ilise and I really enjoy and after dinner we headed back to our hotel for a nightcap. All in all, our first day in Wellington was really nice. The following day I went to work at 8 AM and Ilise was able to have the day free. She spent most of the day at the famous museum in Wellington right across from our hotel. She had a really nice day, as did I.
Ilise and I reconnected at the hotel around 8 PM to begin our long trek home. We flew from Wellington to Auckland and arrived around midnight with a 6:20 AM flight scheduled to Sydney. That left us about 4 hours of sleep as we needed to get to the airport 2 hours early, which we are glad we did. The airport in Auckland was packed at 4:20 AM! Ouch! We got on our flight on time and arrived in Sydney at 7:30 AM with a two hour time advantage. This time we had a 7 hour layover so we checked our bags at the airport and headed back to Syndey.
Since we saw the Opera House and did a harbor tour on our first layover we decided to take a walk in an area of Sydney called The Rocks. It was a very nice day, not too hot, and we walked for almost two hours. We stopped in a few art shops and then made our way back to the airport. On our first layover we decided to take a taxi to and from the airport but on this trip we took the train. The train was much more effective and just a bit over half the cost of the taxis. Both were fun experiences but in the future I believe the train is the best way to go.
All that was left was our 14 hour flight back to LAX and then picking up the kids. The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful as we arrived at LAX on-time, spent some time at Starbucks catching up on some work and then heading back to pick up the kids. We arrived around 9:30 AM and the kids didn’t arrive until 3 PM. The kids were very happy to see us and told us all about their trip on the way home. It was really nice to see the kids, but I am glad they were able to spend some quality time with their grandparents and Ilise and I were able to spend some real quality time together without them. Maybe next year the kids will go to NY and spend some time with Ilise’ mom. We will see.
‘Til next time …..
Larry Kesslin 