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NZ Rimu Trip Last Day (Sunday, February 21)
It’s hard to believe two weeks have gone by since the start of this trip! Our last scheduled activity today was a swim encounter with the fur seals. Because of my scuba diving, I’m pretty familiar with swimming with “the fishes.” And since I didn’t want to get all wet and then have to figure out how to clean up before getting on a plane this afternoon and deal with packing a wet bathing suit, I decided to take pictures instead. Suzie felt pretty much the same, so she and I did the alternate activity, a hike up above the cliffs where we could take pictures.
I haven’t had a chance to use my telephoto lens since the start of the trip at Braemer Station, so I took that along on the hike. That’s what allowed me to get pictures of the others in the water. Without that lens, they’d have been small blobs, too far away to recognize.
First picture is when we managed to get to the top and are looking back on the town. Then a shore shot. The one with two people walking along the path is Pamela and Scott heading for the start of the swim. Then there are alternating pictures of rocks along the shore with the progress of the snorkelers into the water. The shot with the group gathered to the left of the big rock is when they were swimming with the seals, who were apparently really playful. All reports were that the experience was great; definitely worth the time and effort to get there and back.
When we saw the swimmers starting back, Suzie and I turned around and headed back, too. I got a couple more shots of the landscape at the top of the cliff, including the last shot of the mountains with the clouds below the tops. This place is just beautiful!
Once the snorkelers were cleaned up and dressed, we headed for Christchurch, which was a few hours drive. One stop for a quick break and another at an ATM; and eating lunch along the way, we arrived at the airport at a little before 2:00. Diana and I had the first flight out flight to Auckland, at 3:00.
The last few minutes of the trip were a bit sad, facing the imminent good-byes. Seven of us got off the bus there and the other five were heading into Christchurch to hotels. But good-byes said, we motivated into the terminal. The place was not too large, but the Air New Zealand kiosks and counters were all the way at the end.
It was a pretty quick operation, just checking in with a bag, dropping the bag at the bag drop (:)), and following the signs to our gate. Security for domestic flights here is a bit different than in the US. No concern about liquids, so I didn’t even have to empty my water bottle. No taking shoes off. I did have to take the computer out of the case, but that was all. We were at the gate by 2:20, all ready to board, which we did 20 minutes later. Easy peasy.
Arrival in Auckland was, as you would expect from a bigger airport, a bit more confusing. Well, only the part about how to get from the airport to our hotel! Thinking a taxi would probably be more money than we wanted to spend, we opted for a public bus. Once again, friendly Kiwis helped us get oriented and not too long after we arrived, we were on the way downtown.
The walk from the bus stop to the hotel was a couple of blocks, much of it unfortunately uphill, but with our last two weeks’ experience, we were in shape for it! We checked in, dumped our stuff and headed back down to the concierge desk to see if we could get a Hobbiton tour–one of the main reasons Diana is staying here for a couple of days. Alas, all tours (and I mean even the not-published ones the concierge checked into) were full. We were surprised to find out the cost: around $300 NZ ($200 US). That’s for an all-day tour, including the entry fee everyone has to pay to get into the place: $80 NZ. Yikes! We were going to do it, though, figuring that coming all this way and not doing it because of a few dollars was being penny-wise and pound-foolish. But the decision was out of our hands.
Alternate plans are for us to catch the “Hop On, Hop Off Explorer” bus that goes to a few of the main sites around Auckland that look interesting. That’s just $45/day, and the buses run by each stop every 30 minutes. We’ll be able to explore each place as long as we want and then catch the bus to the next place.
It was a long day and I wasn’t interested in going out for dinner. Diana planned to skip dinner altogether, so I just ordered room service. We both took showers, put on the robes we found in the closet, and are lounging around. No time requirements or restrictions tomorrow mean we can get started whenever we want. Tonight is for resting, so g’night from Auckland on the New Zealand North Island!
