Kiwi Bound - The Journey begins

With excitement and expectation we are off to the The Shakey Isles for a three week journey - Its day one and our transfer to Brisbane Airport is done Limo style with a 5.30 am pick up and it’s all systems go - The Limo ride is a pleasure our driver Roger is a treat and the “ Town Car” is a Holden Caprice - style, comfort and sheer luxury! This knocks the Sox off an Uber or the long trundle on public transport.
At Brisbane airport it’s a breezy check in and a waiting game to board our flight, we do have some light amusement in watching the progress of our luggage through an app which follows our ”air tags” we have placed inside our bags to track there whereabouts. Yes they are safely on the plane and it’s Wellington bound via a connection flight through Auckland. Originally our trip was to include a week of travels on the North Island of NZ - but with the recent cyclone and devestating floods we have changed plans to spend the bulk of holidays exploring the South Island - a shame as we missed seeing Bill and Sue in Auckland and the opportunity to see more of the North

Island
We arrive in Auckland for our transfer to Wellington and it’s a wait through customs and the mild anxiety creeps in as our connection flight is 2 hours away and the customs line is long and we still have a bus transfer to the domestic terminal - customs entry done and the short bus trip a crawl we make it to our connecting flight with as it works out with plenty of time to spare. Ahh the worry for nothing!
Our short flight to Wellington is a breeze, with a wine for Melissa and a beer for me, some crackers and cheese sees us descend into Wellington with a beautiful view of the green hills dotted with wind turbines ( They do call this Windy Wellington) and Ocean views a plenty we land right next to the waterfront with excellent views of the NZ capital - Our pick up driver is waiting in the airport with our name on a small iPad alerting us to his presence we feel
welcomed and he is a pleasure, full of information and good humour. I

am liking this NZ - there is definitely an air of casualness and a relaxed feeling here.
We arrive at our hotel - a lovely old and restored building in the middle of the city - as it turns out we have been allocated a room with 2 x single beds much to Melissa’s dismay , they do say “absence makes the heart grow fonder “ The room is small but beautifully fitted out. A quick stroll down Cuba street where there is a buzz of activity and a kaleidoscope scope of people enjoying the evening, we settle in a Mexican Restaurant and it’s Chimy changers and tacos washed down with a margarita and a beer - pleasant and nice we head home for the night - a big transfer day done and tomorrow beckons for our NZ experience.