Whoever originally came up with that pithy little statement is on my sh*t list, right above the person who said “good things take time”, and below the person who decided “everything happens for a reason”.
I can bake a chocolate cake in 1 hour, and it is a damn good cake – you don’t need to wait years. Happens for a reason, seriously, look around you, there is no reason for some of the bollocks that takes place.
Grumble.
As you can tell I am adjusting to the end of our holiday very well.
29th June – Goodbye Hawaii Hello Winter
Our flight was at a respectable hour of 930am. So we were treated to a lovely breakfast on the deck.
It was so good, they even bring a toaster so you can either have your bread fresh or toasted, as you like. I wonder how I can sort this kind of service at home.
We had packed the night before so the morning was actually extremely relaxed.
Our Speedishuttle arrived on time, not early as the app had promised, but that’s ok.
We were at the airport with lots of time to spare.
As we were checking in we told the lovely Air NZ lady behind the counter how happy we were to be flying with them again. It’s the little things right.
We were flying premium economy and that means, in Honolulu at least, we get to use the “gold” queue for security. Which actually means the gold non-queue. We got through superfast.
Air NZ does not have a lounge in Honolulu they share with United, so we found the united lounge and settled down for the wait. Actually, Jason settled down with the wifi and a whiskey, I went to duty free J
Our flight boarded on time, we had lovely comfortable seats, and nice staff.
The only down side of our flight was the fact it was a day time flight, its pretty tough to try and sleep during the day, but with a few liquid sleeping pills and a couple of movies I got in a few hours. Bit of a miracle for me.
Jason just slept, as he does (it is his super power), whilst the King Kong movie blasted in his ears. How does he do it!
The nine hours zipped by and we were treated to lovely champagne to finish our honeymoon trip. Jason has quite a taste for the blubbly stuff now.
Without a doubt there is no beating Air New Zealand customer service. The food and drink selection were also very good.
Our arrival in Auckland was hassle free, just like the beginning of our trip J we even managed to get on an earlier flight to Wellington where Shanthi, Toadie, and Poppy were waiting for us.
As we landed in Wellington, about 40 minutes late, it was a pretty sad feeling. Even though we had been gone for two months it did not feel that way. Yep, we had done a lot of stuff, and been to a lot of place, but it did not feel like 2 months prior we had stood in the airport ready to go.
Strange.
Jason went with Shanthi in my car – there was no room for all our luggage and us in my wee Suzuki.
Toad and Poppy were to drive me home. It was lovely to be welcomed back home by friendly faces.
The cold temperature we could have done without.
Trip Summary
From the 5th May to the 30th of June:
- 20 flights
- 11 airlines
- 71+ hours in the air
- 10 time zones
- 15 countries
- 2000kms driven
- 0 luggage lost
- Temperatures from 8 degrees to 35 degrees
- Millions of laughs
- Hundreds of experiences
- Loads of wonderful people
- Memories that will last a lifetime
I hope you have enjoyed following us around the world, we certainly have enjoyed doing it and sharing it with you all.
We are back into our normal routine now, work, dogs, housework, bills, shopping, cooking our own breakfast, making our own bed, and it feels pretty good. I would be happier if it was about 10 degrees warmer.
Thank you to everyone who looked after us, our house, our dogs, our travel. Without you it would not have been anywhere near as awesome.
Princess Poppy the Poppet
Everyone had been asking how Poppy was coping in my absence and what she would be like upon my return.
She was thoroughly spoilt I have to say. Massive thank you to Sarah, Shanthi, Toad and Richard, and Becky who all took time out of their busy lives to look after her. She is a spoilt wee poppet and it was a massive upset to her routine.
The last two weeks of my absence she had spent camping with Shanthi, B, and George and hanging out with Toadie, Richard, and Aya.
As Toad had Poppy we devised a plan. Toad would bring her to the airport. To avoid any crazy jumping out of the car to see me and running into traffic, Toad was to put my backpack on the front seat (diversion), I was to put the suitcase in the hatch (stealth like), and then climb into the back seat all before Poppy was aware.
Oh how we underestimate the Poppy.
The minute the hatch was open she smelt me, fair enough too – long flights with no shower, and it was game on.
I had to throw the suitcase in the hatch quickly and climb into the backseat where a barrage of licks and funny noises greeted me all the way to Upper Hutt. I am so glad she is not the type of dog that will sulk.
What’s Next?
We are planning a holiday next year, but nothing on this scale.
Work has kicked in and I will be travelling a fair bit.
I think we need to update the blog for all our new adventures to come.
For now goodbye, au revoir, ciao, adios, doviđenja, addiju, bless bless. slan.
The Killalea-Walford Travel Blog 