The Journey begins .....

Have no idea if I am doing the right thing for my blog, but here's hoping this will post! Brian drove me early to catch my morning flight to Vancouver, where I spent a beautiful afternoon with Mickey and Gordon prior to departure....we walked along Crescent Beach enjoying a beautiful blue sky day, gentle ocean breeze, with me devouring as much fresh air as my lungs could hold, in readiness for the long flight ...... had a fresh salmon sandwich at a bistro nearby, and several hours later, another great halibut dinner at the airport Fairmont with M & G and off I flew into the unknown territory of New Zealand......

Wow, what a long long journey.....longest time I have ever been in a plane....over 14 hours! The pilot came on a half hour before landing to advise that the winds were so strong that we would divert to Christchurch instead of Auckland!! Well, bumping, along, a half hour later, he came back on and said, that we would attempt Auckland regardless ....... hmmm ......haven't heard passengers applaude a landing in thirty years, but they did on this one :) I think I am still holding on to my tummy! In any event, I arrived around six am, went straight to my hotel, had breakfast and slept.....and this despite having several hours of a good sleep on the plane.......rained all day, so I stayed in, reorganized my bag, read, slept some more, had a massage, a late lunch and here I am the next morning, having had more sleep in the last two days than I have in a month! The sunrise was awesome and I am now off to explore Auckland on foot....I am staying right at the ferry terminal, so may also hop on one and go across the bay to a nice spot for lunch.....the sun is shinning, clear blue skies and the air so fresh after a day of rain....perfect! Will attempt posting pictures after I fire up the camera later today :) Love to everyone. Seija