Nau Mai! Haere Mai! New Zealand
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After a 3:45am wakeup on Friday, February 19th followed by a 3 hour flight to Vancouver, a 10 hour layover at Vancouver airport and a 14 hour flight to Auckland- WE ARE HERE! We arrived in Auckland on SUNDAY February 21st at 5:05 a.m --> 19 hour time difference from our counterparts in the central time zone. Lucky for us, security was quick and our shuttle was waiting to bring us to our coastal town we will be staying in for the next 2 weeks.
Our first day brought us through the gorges of a local mountain range down through to Tauranga airport(pron: TOE-ranga) where we picked up the rental car and waited for Ayn to meet us at the airport to follow her back to Papamoa Beach to our rental bach. Sandra, of course, already loved driving on the opposite side of the car on the opposite side of the road.
Ayn took us to pick up groceries at the Pak n Save where we learned that the cost of living is about the same as Sioux Lookout for the most part HOWEVER shampoo and other toiletry items WERE CRAZY expensive for small amounts! Once we were settled, we headed to the beach that is literally a 2 minute walk around the corner, to stay awake and enjoy the 31 degree heat while we waited for Ayn to come back.
In an attempt to continue keeping us awake (avoiding sleep to combat the possibility of jet lag) Ayn, Damien and the kids brought us for fish and chips on the beach before we climbed around Mt. Mauganui as the sun came down on our first day here in Kiwi land.
As I write this post, it is 7:08 a.m. on February 22nd and we are getting ready to head to Arataki Community School for a traditional welcoming ceremony and our first day in the classrooms!!
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