Five Kiwis in the Netherlands

We had a good flight from San Francisco to Auckland, New Zealand. We had breakfast about 03.00 in the morning and landed early at 04.55! We were delighted by the welcome -

Maori carved entranceway

In USA and the Netherlands we always went in the visitors queue for Passport Security so it was a nice surprise to find a queue at Auckland for NZ passport holders! After collecting our bags we had no trouble getting through Customs, we had declared all the food and wood which was all acceptable. We checked our bags through for the last part of our trip, Auckland to Christchurch then we walked in the dark from the International building to the Domestic terminal. We headed for the McDonalds and had a second breakfast to keep us going. The weather was cooler and it was still dark until 07.30!

We went through security to the departure lounge and watched the sunrise while we waited to board.

Auckland sunrise

We had a smooth flight down to Christchurch and took a few photos of Canterbury.

Notice the river cuts through the hills

Christchurch was grey and cold. We were pleased we live 10 minutes from the airport, we were home quickly, heaters and jug on, and an extra jersey! What a change of weather!

Emma went to University at 11.00 - she only had one lecture for the whole day! and then she went to see her boyfriend James. Chris dropped Jennifer at school after lunch and Rosemary biked to her school. Shirley stayed home and made dinner early. Jennifer was in bed first at 17.00 and slept for 14 1/2 hours. Rosemary and Emma went to bed at 19.00 and Chris and Shirley were in bed at 21.00!