10 August 2011

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Alarms went off around 5.15am to pack and leave for the airport and our flight at 9.15. All went smoothly, with time to top up the tank before dropping the car off after 1900km of travel from Cairns. Flight left slightly late due to waiting on board for one late passenger, who later in the flight I lent my newspaper to. I think he had something to do with Qantas. Strangely we would bump into him again up in Paihau the following day!

At the airport we went to pick up the hirer car and ask if we could upgrade it to a 12 seater mini bus to give us a bit more room when Neil joins a few days later. Fortunately they did one at little additional cost, but as usual we got lumbered with having to pay extra to reduce the excess from £1500 to £150.

The drive to the apartments was very slow to start. It seemed like the local roads weren’t designed to connect up with the modern motorways, which when we eventually got on them were uncrowded and fast. The apartment block had a small amount of parking behind which Tux managed to get our huge mini bus into.

The décor of the place was very urban chic with plain concrete walls. The apartment were fine although the view were of other apartment blocks. Tux went straight off walking and said he would join us at Sky City around 7.15pm. The rest of us tried to get a taxi outside and whilst we managed to get one for the girls, Michael and I walked briskly to get their only a few minutes after them. Tux meanwhile had ended up in the casino! He waited to meet his friend Dave and Sarah. Dave was a Brit who lived in Auckland and was married to Sarah who was part Maouri. I’d arranged to meet my old school friend Nick and his wife Yoko in the bar, the floor below the revolving Orbit restaurant. Shortly after they arrived, Tux showed up with Dave and Sarah and we all enjoyed a drink and the wonderful views.

We had our table for 10 in restaurant and enjoyed over a few hours a couple of revolutions of the tower and view and some wonderful food. Nick recommended the local Hawkes Bay Pinot Noir wine. As I’d invited both Nick and his wife and Dave and his wife, I picked up a rather large tab at the end of the evening, but everyone had had a memorable evening.

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