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| Our Route Back to the North Island |
With all that knowledge, we elected to fly back to Auckland on the morning of NYE, which necessitated that we drive back to Queenstown. It would be about a two-hour drive, and I purchased "flex-time" tickets on Air New Zealand. They run about 10 flights a day on the route, and with this ticket, we were confirmed on the 1:20pm departure, we could take an earlier or later flight at will. This gave us an insurance policy for any unforeseen circumstance.
The weather was again excellent when we awoke. We elected to "splurge" and go for the buffet breakfast at the hotel, as we knew we'd be on the go. At breakfast, we saw most of the Gate 1 group, for whom this was their final morning. All of them would be driving to Queenstown too, at different times, for flights to wherever.
The drive was very easy and quick. I had been worried about running out of gas, though. We hit one station along the way, but it was unmanned. We had learned early on that we were unable to pay for gas at the pump using only our credit card. Even though we have an embedded chip, we are required to sign the receipt since we do not have a PIN, for which one needs an attendant to print out and collect the signature. I tried multiple credit cards and even my debit card, but with no success. The onboard computer said we had enough gas, but I was nonetheless very happy to find a manned station about 5 miles outside Queenstown.
We had arrived early enough that we made an 11:30 am flight, even after returning the rental car. That changed our calculus for the day, so we looked at things to do in Auckland, while waiting at the gate. K had seen a sunset harbor cruise and dinner aboard a sailboat. I was certain it would be long sold-out, if only because it was NYE. I was shocked to find three spots available. I was trying to complete the on-line booking when they started boarding our flight, and I completed the transaction just as we began our taxi for takeoff. I sent payment, but had to turn off my phone before I got confirmation. Part of me was certain I would see a subsequent e-mail advising that there were no seats after all.
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| Our Plane for the Return Flight to Auckland |
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| Taking Off From Queenstown |
The flight was less than two hours, with some spectacular views. Upon landing, I had both a confirmation e-mail and text from the tour operator. Color me surprised. I had booked a car for the day, as I was not originally sure what would be open on New Year's day, and I thought a car afforded us freedom to go outside town if we wanted. It ended up, too, being cheaper than taxis into and back from town, so all was well. The car, also, was brand-new, and nice step-up from the beater we drove on the south island.
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| The Descent Into Auckland |
For our first night in Auckland, almost 10 days earlier, we had stayed at a hotel directly below the iconic Sky Tower, This is from where they launch fireworks for NYE, so staying down there again would have been far too expensive, and I worried about getting into and out of the area. We instead booked an apartment close to the waterfront and piers, and which had parking. We were able to get in right away, and Anna announced she needed to shower. K had been reading about an "artsy" area of town, full of galleries and cafes, called Parnell. It was close to our hotel, but not wanting to miss our dinner cruise, we elected to drive. Things were beginning to close for the evening's festivities, but we did visit a few galleries and found some very unique keepsakes.
Shortly after getting back, we headed out for our cruise. It was about a 20-minute walk down to Queen's Wharf, the primary marina in the center of town, close to the cruise terminals. The Queen Elizabeth cruise ship was docked, and would be spending the night, so guests could watch the fireworks from her top deck.
On the south island, it had been fall-like, and I can think of few times -- if any -- when we weren't wearing our fleece jackets or coats. Back in Auckland, it was warm again, and actually felt like summer. We had read to dress warmly for the sailboat, so we were all overdressed and sweated a bit while waiting. On the boat, we were fine. We learned upon boarding that the reason seats had become available was because a second sailboat had been added at the last minute. Our boat was identical to the other, but we learned that someone had chartered the second boat to go back out later, to watch fireworks, so they had a crew and a decided at the last minute to open up for more dinner bookings. We were among those, and what was particularly nice was that we were three of 10 total guests on our boat, whereas the other was full, with 30 guests. That gave us plenty of room, and a chance to talk with the other passengers.
Our skipper was a 28-year-old transplanted Scotsman, whereas his first mate was a native Kiwi woman, all of 22 years of age. With us were a couple from Colorado and their adult son, who had spent time in New Zealand as a student. Also along was couple from Chicago and two British lady friends, both of whom now work as nurses in New Zealand. It was very interesting to hear all the transplanted British folk speak about why they came, and why they stay. We learned that New Zealand loses a large portion of their younger population every year, as they think the country is too small and too isolated, and they want to see more of the world. That would mesh with what we saw, at least with the churches, as it was only older people. A huge number of Western expatriates come every year to visit and work in New Zealand, and many of them choose to stay. New Zealand evidently has a strict point system to determine who is granted citizenship, as it is based on the most-needed skills. The two nurses and the boat captain were all in line for citizenship, as their "point totals" were high enough. None of them had any interest in leaving New Zealand. We also learned that the country just recently put a stop to all new applications for residency visas from British citizens until Brexit is finalized. Evidently a large number of British retirees were electing to move to New Zealand rather then deal with the mess in England. We figured something was up, as the Air New Zealand inflight magazine was full of advertisements for retirement villages with statements such as "your Pound is still worth something here," and "get away from all the hot air."
The sail around the harbor was very nice and relaxing. We had drinks, and we were served a catered dinner. We had pre-ordered the meals, and they were quite good, and designed to be eaten on deck while sailing. We heard, without surprise, a lot about the America's Cup sailboat race, and that the next one would be hosted in Auckland in 2021. We had walked past multiple construction zones along the waterfront, as well as areas clearly marked where a subway was being built. This was all being done in preparation for the America's Cup. It seemed like a bit of overkill to me for a boat race, but I guess it is a really big deal to some. The sky was particularly colorful, too, and we were told it was due to smoke from the tragic fires in Australia.
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| Sailboat for Our Harbor/Dinner Cruise |
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| Watch Out! |
We returned to the marina about 9:00 pm, and the bars and restaurants on the wharf were already overflowing with people. Folks had already staked out seats along the piers, too, for the fireworks, which were still three hours away. It was quite the party scene and vibe. We debated staying down to soak it in and watch the fireworks, but instead mutually agreed to go back, try to get the final LotR movie -- The Return of the King -- on the TV somehow, and then watch fireworks from our balcony.
The hotel had proudly boasted of installing brand-new smart TV's in all the rooms, which I thought might make it easy to find our movie. I was wrong. After fussing for quite a while, I was able to bring up Netflix, Amazon Prime, and even YouTube Video, but none of them would let us stream the movie. It is clearly available on Netflix and Amazon Prime, but because we were in New Zealand, they were blocked. We gave up and instead elected to watch a hilarious stand-up special by the comedian Jo Koy. Anna and Katherine had not seen him before, and now we all want to go see him when he visits DC later this month.
A few minutes to midnight, we all gathered on the balcony. We were on the 8th floor, but could not see the top of the Sky Tower. We'd been told we would be able to see the fireworks, but we weren't sure exactly where to look. All of sudden, we could hear a chorus of voices counting down. The voices seemed to be coming from all sides, and then the fireworks erupted over the building across from us. It was not an unfettered view, but we could see most of them, and it allowed us to welcome 2020 and wish K a happy birthday, 18 hours before we could have in Virginia. We joked often that K was going to have her longest birthday ever, lasting at least 36 hours -- more, if you factor in that Jane and Dean were in Arizona.
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| Happy New Year, Sleepy Birthday Girl! |
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