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Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Auckland
January 17th 2023
Published: January 17th 2023
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Kia Ora everyone.

It's now Wednesday morning and back on ‘home’ soil now after another relatively good flight back from Honolulu yesterday.

Nothing really to report about the day….started a bit earlier than others…..finished packing up…most had been done the evening before.

Got the ‘baggage man’ up with a trolley to pick up ALL the cases while we went to check out…only to be told our debit card had been declined again.. Knew there was more than enough $US on it to cover what was required to be paid so suggested to the nice lady that it did need a PIN number…..Golly gosh now it worked. I’m beginning to think they don’t have PIN numbers on cards in the US…seems a bit weird. Anyway got it all sorted and paid.

Loaded the Chevy Impala up with the bags and headed for the airport…a little early really…but had to stop for petrol so the car could be returned full (didn’t want to incur their $7.50/gallon charge for petrol if it wasn’t full……petrol station price around $5 a gallon) and also wasn’t sure how long the rental return would take and getting to the international terminal etc. so in my usual style gave ourselves plenty of time.

Stopped at petrol station not far from the hotel on the road to airport. They have a system over here where it seems you can pay at the pump…same as at our unmanned stations….except the 4 places we got fuel on Maui and Oahu wouldn’t accept international cards at the pump…so had to always go in and prepay. That seemed fine when I knew how much I wanted to put in but a fill-up…”Oh you just tell me how much you think it will take and I put a hold on your card for that much, then come back in when finished and we’ll sort it out”. Starting to get a bit leery about holds on cards over here as we’ve had a few issues but anyway did what I was told and it all seemed to work out.

Headed to airport and one thing that is done well at airports everywhere, that we’ve found’ is really good signage for rental car returns. We found the right lanes etc. and the return process went really well…so much easier than their checking-in for a car.

Got the shuttle to the international terminal…seemed a long way away…and checked in at Hawaiian Airlines without any issues and that got rid of our 3 big cases. One extra one from coming up…we’d packed one of our cases coming up inside another larger case so that we had a case to carry all the ‘spoils’ of shopping home (and all Ryan’s disc golf discs that we had picked up.)

Headed through security…shoes off and all…Joy getting fully frisk searched and swabbed (for explosives we assume) this time…mind you she is made of metal 😊

Long wait with plenty of reading etc. etc. before boarding around 12.40pm local time for a 1.30 departure scheduled. Didn’t leave until just after 2pm..waiting on late passengers apparently.

Flight was uneventful but had some of the nicest sandwiches served up in a snack box about an hour and a half before landing at Auckland…would say they were some of the best airline food we’ve ever had…just simple ‘egg salad’ (that’s what they call it in US) and ham and cheese but really top notch.

Landed around 9.20pm and then had to wait for another 15 minutes or so while NZ Agriculture sprayed the inside of the cabin for pesties.

Everything in arrival went smoothly….did my usual and declared everything that might possibly cause an issue…medicines, small wooden carvings, big bag of plain unpainted long wooden golf tees that I can’t buy in NZ but found at Walmart, peppermints etc. etc. Had it all written on a list that I read to the bored looking man at customs and straight through…all bags x-rayed though..seems that everyone had that done anyway.

Craig and Steph were waiting out front for us (thanks heaps guys) and drove us to Denise’s. Staying here for 2 nights while she’s away running a ‘Kids Heart’ camp somewhere on the outskirts of Auckland…poor kids won’t know what’s hit them (just kidding!!) Both fairly bushed and hit the sack around midnight.

This morning, after a good sleep, just sitting have breakfast and finishing writing about our trip before heading out to have lunch with Annette and Tony and then barbecue with everyone at Craig and Steph’s tonight.

Drive home tomorrow.

That’s our ‘50th Wedding Anniversary’ trip to Hawaii. Lot’s of great times and a few not so great but you don’t remember those ones for long. My hi-light was the day of our actual anniversary when we went whale watching late morning/early afternoon and then a sunset dinner cruise in the evening…a really special day for us celebrated in a very unique way.

Thanks for following our journey and reading my ramblings….I’m sure they made good bedtime reading and put you all to sleep. It’s been a lot of fun and now back to reality..again!!

Until next time…….

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