We Made It To New Zealand

Wednesday evening, Jan. 4th, the night before leaving for NZ, Will and I were busy packing and "ticking off" as the New Zealanders would say, our list which had grown to #83. 

 Diana, Michaele, and Ellie, close family friends, will be house sitting for us while we're gone.  For this reason, we were dumping clothes in boxes to open up dresser drawers and transferring hanging clothes from one closet to another.  At 2:30 A.M. we hit the sack and were awakened 4 hours later at 6:30 by our alarm. 

 Our flight went well and we were able to sleep, arriving in Aukland feeling rested.  The only set back occurred when they weighed our carry-on bags and found them to be overweight.  Problem solved by paying more money.

 We flew from Aukland to Wellington, a one hour flight.  Wellington is the capitol of NZ and located at the south of the north island.  We spent a "lovely" day riding the cable car and touring the Botanical Gardens which were established in 1868.  The Lady Norwood Rose Garden has 106 beds. 

 Wellington has long been compared to San Francisco.  Quoting from the guidebook, "In addition to a susceptibility to earthquakes and a punishingly hilly topography, both cities have a superb coastal location with ocean vistas, an abundance of cool, sunny weather, and a shared penchant for old wooden houses done up in rainbow colors."  Like San Francisco, Wellington has cable cars.

 On Sunday we woke up to rain.  Our friends, the Daleys, had called us on Wednesday before we left town to tell us to bring rain pant, rain jackets, umbrellas, and ponchos.  They had just returned from a trip to Australia and NZ and had encountered rain.  Following their advice, we were prepared for our Sunday adventure.

 I will post this now as I have limited internet connection and may loose it all if it goes out on me.