The Long Way Down (by air)

Thirty hours after leaving the Radisson Hotel in Calgary we have arrived at the Great Ponsobey B&B in Auckland, NZ. We flew from YYC to YVR to LAX to AKL. We had a rather long stopover in Vancouver but my old air force roommate, now retired AC pilot (Mike Marynowski) came out to the airport to meet us for breakfast. It was nice to see Mike and catch up.

The flight on Air NZ from LAX to AKL was definitely a step above average. The 747 400 series was new and roomy (by today’s standards) and the service was excellent. Two nice meals, free wine and champagne ( since it was New Years Eve) served in a real glass wine glass, blankets, pillows and a very good entertainment system. We slept most of the flight, cleared customs with no delay and met our ride to the B&B.

Since our room was not yet ready we left our luggage at the B&B and explored downtown Auckland and the waterfront on foot. We soon discovered that Jan 2 is also a statutory holiday in New Zealand and not many stores and restaurants were open. Those that were open had signs up saying that since it was a holiday, a premium would be added to the prices. The premium varied but 15 or 20 percent was standard. While enjoying a 20% more expensive beer on the water front we received an explanation for the additional charge... The employees are paid time and a half for working on a holiday plus they must be given an additional paid day off in lieu. The additional costs of staying open on a holiday are therefore passed on the customers. An interesting concept that I think would not easily be accepted in North America. On the up side... it was very good beer!

We got to bed at our usually early hour so we are up early waiting for breakfast and reorganizing the luggage. The bike shop where we are to pick up the bike doesn’t open on Saturdays until 10am so we will be off to a later start than we had hoped. The trip to tonight’s B&B is about 350K but we could shorten it considerably if bad weather and time are a factor. The weather forecast today is for showers this morning but the forecast looks better for tomorrow.

I’m excited about the challenges ahead today. I’m a bit nervous about riding on the left side of the road on an unfamiliar bike. Fortunately we pick up the bike on the outskirts of Auckand and ride away from the city.