Long flight

I knew that it would be a long way to New Zealand, but it was not until actually going on the journey that I really understood just how far it would feel! I can't fault Emirates Airlines; the seats were comfy and fairly spacious, and we had a huge choice of films to watch as well as being fed and watered throughout both flights. But, my oh my, what a long journey! The first flight was about seven and a half hours from Glasgow to Dubai, but the second flight was nearly sixteen hours! On the second flight I watched two films (Gifted and Table 19 - both very good in different ways) and about six comedy television programmes. Now, you would think this would be heaven for me, and I did enjoy it, but it was too much all at once. I also read my book and managed a couple of hours more sleep. Anyway, at last we arrived in Auckland at about 10.30 a.m. NZ time although in our heads it was very confusing and felt like night time.

We decided that if at all possible we would stay awake all day in order to get in tune with Nee Zealand time, and that's what we did. After checking into our hotel (the Skycity Grand - extremely nice) we set off for the attractive harbour area, where we had a light lunch sitting outside a lovely wee café. The weather was 11 degrees and sunny; we soon got rid of our jumpers and walked along in our t shirts. We then wended our way up the hill to Auckland Domain Park and the Auckland War Memorial Museum. This was well worth a visit. The park is large and pleasant with a slightly tropical feel to its trees and plants. Set in a slope overlooking the city, the museum was very interesting. There was a section about the history of the Maori people with huts and boats as well as beautiful carvings. The display about volcanoes and earthquakes was good too, complete with a room which recreated what it would be like if a volcano erupted in Auckland bay, including sound, film and alarming movement! 

On the top floor there were exhibitions about New Zealand in the 1st and 2nd World Wars. It was very moving. In the 1st World War, one out of five eligible New Zealanders went to fight; proportionately more than the one in seven in the United Kingdom. There was a Spitfire and a Japanese Zero, replicas of trenches, and lots of information about people who were involved.

When we left the museum we decided to return to the hotel by a circuitous route, to avoid going back down to the harbour. Crazed with tiredness, this turned into a bit of a magical mystery tour, but James bravely navigated us across a motorway (on a footbridge!) and through the university district back to our hotel. We FaceTimed Jamie and valiantly managed to stay awake until nearly 8 p.m!