Arriving in New Zealand

We made it!! Fiji airlines was great. Good food, big seats and very friendly service. Wonderful start to our trip.

Speaking of friendly service, our friend Patti kindly drove us to the airport and saw us off on our journey. She also took the above two pictures.

We arrived to amazing hosting by our adopted kiwi family Mama and Papa Gwilliam. They made us lunch, did our first grocery shopping and left on a mini holiday, leaving us to enjoy their house in a residential area outside Auckland.

Mama Gwilliam is such a lovely whirlwind I didn’t even get a picture, so here they are with my sister Julie and her family:

We enjoyed the local parks, fish and chips, coffee and views while we recovered from jet lag. Papa G loaned me his bike and I almost died three times because everyone was driving on the wrong side of the road. Don’t tell Kylie.

First stop done. On to Mount Manganui to play in the waves and get sunburnt.