Oslo to Stockholm to Auckland

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Tuesday 22^nd August Our train didn’t leave until 1.30pm so we spent the morning relaxing in our hotel room until we had to leave. We had aisle seats next to an Iranian/American father and daughter who were on a whistle-stop tour of Scandinavian capitals. We had an interesting conversation about the USA and its current political situation. The scenery was the same all the way – trees, lakes, farms, villages and towns – all fairly flat. The train went north-east to Kongsvinger and crossed the border into Sweden around 3pm. The rest of the journey was uneventful and we arrived in Stockholm at 18.54, found our way to the T-bana (underground) and arrived at the apartment at 19.30. I enjoyed 3 cups of tea !!!

Wednesday 23^rd August Up at 8.30, breakfast and then to the local supermarket to buy food for lunch and dinner. Jonny bought chanterelle mushrooms and cooked them for us for lunch – rather delicious. We went to the city with Jonny and Sara, and I bought some souvenirs to bring home – 2018 calendar, notepads, bookmarks, pencils, pot mitts – all with moose, horses or Swedish buildings on them. We then visited Sara’s favourite museum – the Museum of Mediterranean & Near Eastern Antiquities and had coffee, hot chocolate and baklava. We later went to Bertil’s for dinner – BBQ Norwegian salmon & vegetables (from Bertil’s garden) followed by cloudberries and icecream– but before then we opened the bottle of Moet & Chandon champagne that Margaret gave me for my birthday and took some group photos out in the garden. After dinner we looked at our trip photos on Jonny’s computer.

Thursday 24^th August – our last day in Sweden. We were up at 7am to farewell Lisa, before she went to work. After packing we walked to Alvik with Jonny & Sara and had lunch at the bakery there – more chanterelles on brioche. Lee bought a large box of chocolates to take to his work colleagues. We left at 3.30pm in Bertil’s car (more reliable than Jonathan’s) for the airport – a slow journey – but were there in plenty of time. The plane to Frankfurt was late in departing and we thought we might miss our connection to Hong Kong. We had to disembark on the tarmac and travel to the terminal building by bus. It dropped us off miles away from our next plane but luckily for us there were no queues at Passport Control, no checking of hand luggage and with a fast walk we made it just as the plane was boarding. Dinner on board then tried to sleep....

Friday 25^th August – uneventful flight – breakfast then arrival in Hong Kong. We had a 4 hour stopover so I found 2 seats without an arm rest between, curled up and tried to sleep a bit. Another long walk up and down escalators, in a train, more escalators to the Air NZ departure gate. I watched a documentary about a very musical family in the UK – the Kanneh-Masons, then the new Pork Pie movie. We arrived in Auckland at 9.55am on Saturday 26^th August and came home in the shuttle, arriving at 12 noon (went via Hillsborough and Greenlane). Bright light and spring flowers greeted us

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