Day 4 - Orewa - M&M's

Monday 31st January 2011 
       Local Map.

We woke feeling refreshed after a good nights sleep. The morning was overcast and windy but improved to become quite warm as the day went on. Sandra made everyone some toast and after chatting to the family on 'Skype' we eventually ventured out into the sunshine.

Mark, Maria and JB paddling at Ore



  

Sandra making toast

                                             

Mark drove us to Orewa where we strolled along the beach before having some lunch.




Orewa was the first place Mark and Maria lived when they arrived in New Zealand in 2008.

Orewa is the heart of the Hibiscus Coast offering awe-inspiring landscapes, lush regional parks, amazing wildlife all wrapped in a fine climate.

The Beach is one of the regions safest and cleanest swimming beaches and is attracting an increasing number of tourists to the area each year.

JB (with clues from Mark) found the 'Geocache' hidden under the bench.



The area where Mark and Maria currently live is in the district of 'Rodney'. Obviously named after JB's Brother and to prove this a photo had to be taken and entered on the blog just
for Rodney who is a blog follower.
 

We had lunch at the Italian restaurant in Orewa sitting outside in the sunshine. Orewa maintains a wonderful village atmosphere whilst hosting a sumptuous selection of restaurants and cafes, stylish gift shops and clothing shops as well as all the business and conveniences you would expect in a thriving town, all within steps of the pristine foreshore of Orewa Beach.

Picture above shows Sandra listening to Mark's 'fisherman's tale' whilst enjoying a cooling drink after which we headed home relishing our first taste of New Zealand sunshine. Lovely!

Day 3 Dubai to Auckland via Sydney

Sandra in lie flat position



Left Dubai after an hour's delay at 11.15 am (Dubai time)
in the super A380.
This was longest stretch of the journey - over 13 hrs.



Seat 14E Row 14







Our seats were in row 14 (they do not have a row 13!) in the middle, very comfortable and quiet. We were served a delicious meal, Sandra enjoyed the sea bream on a bed of mashed pumpkin and spinach accompanied by two glasses of wine. JB had a pasta dish with a Bacardi and coke. 

JB and Elisha

Because of the time zones we slowly lost all sense of time but managed to amuse ourselves quite well with the in flight entertainment. We slept very little, possibly because we had so much to discover on the 'ICE' entertainment screen and had to get our money's worth!  
  

The bar on the A380

Somewhere over Indonesia we paid a visit to the bar located at the back.
It was good to chat to other passengers in a very friendly and relaxed atmosphere. Elisha, the stewardess, behind the bar took a Polaroid photo of us to record the rare occasion of J&S propping up a bar (drinking tea of course) at whatever time of day or night it was.

Finally we landed in Sydney and just had enough time to shower and get a cup of tea before re boarding and settling back in the same seats for the final leg of the journey a mere 7,676 miles which took just over three hours flight time, but because we passed through two more time zones and were now 1 hour late, we didn't arrive in Auckland until 3.15 on Sunday afternoon 30.01.2011 (2.15 in the morning for those of you in the UK).

The view through Mark's patio window



Mark and Maria were there to meet us holding a "Welcome to New Zealand" sign and drove us in lovely sunshine the final one hour drive to their house overlooking Matakatia Bay near Whangaparaoa.

Local Map

View from the balcony - Matakatia Bay with Rangitoto volcano and Auckland in the far distance. Manly Bay to the right.

The view overlooking the sea is fantastic (panoramic picture kindly donated by Maria). The little lump in the horizon (to the left of the picture) is the local volcano, Rangitoto. They tell us it's not active so let's just hope they're right, as it's only about 20kms from the house (as the crow flies).

After enjoying the view for a little while over a cuppa, we unpacked and went for a takeaway meal followed by a short stroll down towards the Gulf Harbour Marina, by which time it was 9.30pm and we were knackered and ready for bed.  

Day 2 Dubai Airport

Friday 28th and Saturday 29th January 2011

Our Emirates flight was 20 minutes late leaving Manchester.



Aboard the 777-300 we had seats 6a and 6b just two seats on their own at the back of business class. At first we thought they would be great until (if you recall on the last blog - the children in check in?) we were surrounded by them. Felt like a creche but now I know why 'noise cancelling' headphones were invented.

The food was good but not very welcome (to us) at what was 10.15pm.



The in flight entertainment kept us amused especially when Sandra discovered the games!


We did not sleep very much despite the seats being very adjustable and comfortable with electric massages built in.



Getting close to Dubai with the sun rising



The seven and a half hours seemed to pass quite quickly.

Chatted to M&M via 'Skype' on the free WiFi at Dubai airport. The Wi Fi was good with multi national charging points for your electronic equipment everywhere.

We had time for a shower and a small breakfast. The Emirates lounge in Dubai was huge, too big we felt, with lots of choices of food but the toast was like rubber and cold.

Our flight was further delayed when leaving Dubai but by now we were loosing sense of time so it did not seem too important.

 

Day 1 Departure

Friday 28th January 2011

Jean, our very smart blond, Lady chauffeur collected us at 5.20pm in her silver Mercedes E class estate, 8,000 miles on the clock. She was a Scot and originally from Lanark. She was very professional and chatted all the way about the many places she had traveled to, mainly on cruise ships including a recent visit to New Zealand. She told us she is the only lady driver with her company - we had to laugh. She dropped us right at the door to the Emirates check in. The check in was smooth and effortless.

Sandra In the Emirates lounge at Manchester airport

The fast track was good and there seemed to be very few people around. We are now in the Emirates lounge overlooking the airport apron watching our flight arrive sipping a glass of iced water. We should be called to board at 7.45pm. Both a little concerned because we saw  some small children, with parents, checking into Business class. Oh dear!

Watch this space for the next episode, hopefully at Dubai. 

Trip to New Zealand


Hi everyone, thought you might like to view a blog of our trip to New Zealand.
Click on the link in the e-mail whenever you want to view the blog. Hopefully we will be able to update from time to time so you can keep a track of what we are up to.   


At last we are finally on our way!

 This is the first blogg to inform you that we depart Manchester on Friday 28th January.  A chauffeur driven car will take us to Manchester airport for our Emirates flight leaving at 20.10. For the plane spotters amongst you the first part of the journey is on board a 777-300.

We arrive in Dubai the following morning after almost 7 hours flying. As we are at Dubai airport for three hours a visit to the super business class lounge is a must where hopefully we will be able to take a shower.

Onward from Dubai to Sydney we travel in the super new Airbus  A380-800 plane.

Check it out on the Emirates web site: http://www.emirates.com/

This is the longest stretch and will take 13 hrs 40 mins, we touch down for about an hour at Sydney followed by a further 3 hrs 15 mins flight before finally landing in Auckland (North Island) on Sunday 30th January at 14.10 (New Zealand time)  by which time we will be so pleased to be met by Mark and Maria after a total flight time of almost 24 hrs!!!

We plan to spend the next three days with Sandra's Nephew, Mark and his wife, Maria. They live on North Island on the East Coast at Matakatia - Whangaparaoa. During this time the plan is to chill out and possibly take a day trip to the Tiritiri Matangi Island Sanctuary.  This is an island administered by the Department of conservation and is close to where Mark lives. We go by ferry boat, spend the day there and hopefully, with the help of a guide, should see and hear many of the islands birds. Mark and Maria have bought us this visit for our Christmas present!

Thursday 3rd February. We fly from Auckland on Jetsave @ 12.30 to Christchurch on South Island (1hr 20 mins flight) where we will collect a hire car and spend four days discovering the Christchurch and Canterbury area. From there we continue around South Island for about a month stopping off as we feel.

Eventually back to North Island for a few more days with Mark and finally depart New Zealand on 11th March to commence the return journey via a four day stopover in Sydney at the Holiday Inn, Old Sydney. We arrive back at Manchester on Wednesday 16th March @ 11.45. Watch this space for more updates.  route map