New Zealand Discoverer
Day Seventeen – 13 March 2012 – Day of Plague
Weather: sunny, 21
I woke up sick. It was going to get me sooner or later and it hit me like a ton of bricks. Luckily, I came prepared and we didn’t leave till 9:15, so from 6:30 on, I treated myself to decongestant, nasal spray, anti-histamine, Advil, cough syrup and a warm towel for my forehead.
I had a wicked case of the dizzy spells. So bad, all I could do was sit in bed and watch a movie. I managed to crawl out to the bus and asked Nellie (who looked like I felt) if I could leave at 3 pm instead of 5 pm tomorrow and she arranged it right away.
Awesome.
I gave her my glowing evaluation form and crawled onto the bus.
We leave and literally drive across the street to the Treaty House. Nellie gives us an hour to check out the house and the grounds which are beautiful on a day like today.
I check out the house and then find the sign that points to the Maori war canoe. The largest one, I believe. After seeing the Kauri tree, I can believe it was made from one tree. The canoe is massive.
Then I make my way up to the shop to get a Coke that my scratchy throat is calling out for.
We reboard the bus and head off to Auckland. Our lunch stop seems to come quickly when you leave at 9:15. We stop at Whangenei which is not prounced that way. It’s more like Fen-gar-way. It’s New Zealand’s most northerly city and it’s warmest.
I can attest to that.
It has a deep sheltered port, a shipbuilding industry and lots of reefs where one can go diving.
I ask how long the lunch stop is for.
Heh.
I forgo an official lunch since I feel like I just had breakfast and walk around. I found a t-shirt for $37 that says Possums: New Zealand’s little speed bumps.
Heh.
I picked up a muffin for the bus. I walked around on the gorgeous dock where the water is just full of yachts.
We’re back on the road by 1 pm and Nellie puts on some songs including “What’s up Pussycat?”
It’s a quiet drive to Auckland. On the way, Nellie reminds us of the pink sheep and we get ready for a picture. I have to get one – even if it’s somewhat blurry – cause no one would believe there are pink sheep here. Here’s one:
Last stop is to Parry Kauri Park which has two magnificent kauri trees. There’s a walkway to some type of overlook but I never got that far.
The noise of the cicadas was so loud, I had to stop and take some video. Thankfully, the microphone was on or I would have gotten a minute of video of trees swaying in the wind.
We’re back on board and on our last leg to Auckland. Traffic runs pretty smoothly and we get great views of the Auckland tower with a beautiful blue sky.
We drop off some people at the Mecure Hotel around the corner from the Stamford. Then we go around the corner and get dropped off at the Stamford. I go to give John his tip and get a big bear hug.
He’s a hugger, not a shaker, he says. LOL
I give Nellie her well-deserved tip and she says she’s already made a doctor’s appointment to get her cold looked at. This has been a hard tour on her physically. I gave her an extra 20 on top of recommended amount. I’ve never had a tour guide go so far out of her way to do things for people.
I go to the porters to collect the bag I had left behind and they tell me it’s already in my room. Talk about service.
I have the same room which makes the room discovery phase that much simpler. No problem figuring out the tv this time. LOL.
I go down to check my email on the free internet and run into one of our tourmates who left the tour before the Bay of Islands. Her and her mother have spent the last three days in their hotel room and she’s only now getting over this plague. They’re off for a cruise that goes all the way around Australia.
I go out for a walk and pick up a couple of gifts. I pick up a sub and go back to the hotel to do my final luggage pack. I realize I actually have room to fit everything in the one bag. Awesome. I just saved $70 on my second bag fee for Air New Zealand.
My luggage weights about 46 lbs, so I guess I can bring back my nieces 4 lbs of chocolate.
I know my cats would prefer I brought back 4 lbs of nip, but customs might have something to say about that.
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