New Zealand, Part 1

In a land where anything is possible...
In a time of holiday magic and wonder...
Five travelers are about to discover...
That everyday...
Can be a G'day.

Buckle your seat belts and join us in the Land of the Long White Cloud.
(Since consulting our friends' blogs about NZ trips greatly helped us plan, I might be rather thorough, so feel free to skim and skip. I always do.)

Ephraim had left a week before me for a conference in New Caledonia. His layover was in New Zealand, so we planned for me to bring the kids down and meet him there. "See you in Auckland." And so it was my first adventure to pack, clean, finish the itinerary, and then travel through two countries with three kids alone. Fortunately I pray. And things go well.

The night before we left Isaac got sick on each bed in the house. I was meaning to change all the sheets anyway. It was a busy morning, but we left Pago Pago okay. We flew into Apia, Samoa around 4:30 pm and our flight to NZ didn't leave until that night, so we stayed at a little lodge (Bertie's B&B, nice folks, but one star) for a few hours so the kids could eat, sleep, and get ready for the trip. On the way back to the airport at 11:30 pm, I asked the driver, "Mark, does 00:15 mean 12:15 or 1:15?" "Um, 12:15." "Oh dangit. Let's go faster." For some reason I had it in my head that we left at 1:15 am, so I was panicking. Fortunately it's a small airport, and this was the only flight leaving, so everyone helped us get through customs, security, and on the plane in the nick of time.

Four hour flight. Little sleep. And we're disembarking in Auckland. First impressions: bright, clean, modern, chilly. I love it. Getting through customs, baggage claim, immigration, and all the duty free shops is like going through a maze, and the kids were nearing meltdown. AND my umbrella stroller came off the plane with only 3 wheels. That's better than two, I guess. When we emerged from the maze, I expected to see Ephraim greeting me with open arms. But he wasn't there. So we waited. Got some food. Played on the escalator. And waited.

Finally I took matters in my own hands and called the shuttle for our hotel (Travellers International Hotel, a.k.a. "Little India") to come and pick us up. The shuttle driver (who's also the receptionist) said, "Oh, there was some guy waiting for his family to come. Was that your husband?" "Not for long," I wanted to say. Turns out, when they had checked the flight status online, it hadn't been updated, so they figured our flight was indefinitely delayed. Mr. Receptionist/Driver said he would just wait for my call. And Ephraim went back to bed.

But we're a forgiving family, so we were just happy to be together finally. Who can stay upset in New Zealand?!

Let's see, so I got some rest, we changed, and then we walked to a nearby chapel and joined the Thomas Road Ward meetings. It was now Sunday. The ward actually looked really similar to our MIW in Am Samoa. Except there men wore jackets and women wore nylons.

A sweet family gave us a ride to the hotel and invited us to have To'ona'i (Sunday dinner) that evening. So we rested some more then joined the Aleni family. They had a lovely home (And their bathroom, was really a "bath" room. No toilet. The toilet was in a separate room. Why are bathrooms so different in other countries? Someone should write a book.) They lent us warm clothes for our boys and brought us back to the hotel. We planned the next day and fell asleep before our heads hit the pillows.