Arrival Day

My flight was due to land at 12:25 NZDT on Sunday 4th February. Due to the time spent on the plane and the time zone differences, I had essentially missed Saturday except for a few hours in Seoul Incheon aiport.

The cabin crew woke the passengers with a lovely breakfast (I went for fruit, pastry and then blueberry pancakes) and I eagerly watched out the window for a glipse of land. As we had onboard WiFi I knew that the siblings group had already landed and were making their way into Auckland.

We flew over Northland and as we approached Auckland Airport I had a great view over the city towards the CBD. I wondered if the Gillings / Everard group were at the viewing platform in the SkyTower looking out for me? (spoiler: they weren’t!)

I passed through the ePassport gates easily (there was no queue at all) and went to pick up my case. Although I had a “priority” sticker, this seemed to make no difference and it seemed like everybody else got their case before me. However, it gave me time to sort out my travel SIM and let the others know that I had landed. By the time I picked up my suitcase the queue to get through immigtration and biosecurity was pretty long, but thankfully there were many lanes open and everything moved quickly.

There is always a bit of confusion at biosecurity, and the group in front of me made things even more complicated as one of their party had all of their passports but was in a different queue… they managed to sort this, but then nearly left one of their bags on the scanner (I had to chase them down and point this out).

My dad left a WhatsApp message to say to meet them in the pickup zone, but I had no idea where this was in relation to the arrivals area so I scanned for signs as I walked into the hall. I was clearly a bit oblivious as I missed the calls of Jo, Ems and Eddie, who were waiting for me on the other side of the barrier! I was so happy to see them after the long journey and really chuffed that they came in to meet me. We made our way out to the pickup zone and waited for Dad to circle round and pick us up. It was great to finally get into fresh air, and even better that it was warm and pleasant out.

The van arrived and we quickly got my stuff loaded into the back. After some hugs and greetings, and a roll call (as the last to join, I was assigned number 8) we all got back onboard for a short trip to Hamilton.

We had a quick stop at some services for a comfort break, and in my case to load up on caffiene. In my jetlagged state I had forgotten to get out any cash, and also forgot that I had a Wise card for spending while in New Zealand, so my bottle of coke ended up costing a small fortune.

As we approached our destination of Hamilton it was clear that the journey was taking it’s toll and most of the van had a bit of a nap (thankfully not Dad). I resisted as I really wanted to try to avoid jetlag, and the best way to do that is to stay up until a “normal” sleeping time.

A couple of months prior to this trip we had discussed the itinery for the first week, and what we would all do for accomodation. Dad and Jo have their own place in Hamilton, and although it would probably have been technically possible for the whole party of 8 to sleep there I thought that it would be a bit too much of a squeeze. I found a place on Booking.com that wasn’t far away and was “whole home” accomodation.

Initially I booked this just for myself, but after discussing with Dad and Jo we agreed that Ems, Nick and the kids should stay there too. That would give Mich her own room in the shared apartment above Dad and Jo. The landlord, Cyril, had agreed to this too but as I had only paid for one person we agreed to sort out the payment for the others later.

As I had chosen the accomodation, and initially was planning to stay there alone, I was a bit nervous about whether the others would be happy with my choice. On reaching Hamilton I called the landlord to arrange to meet up and get the keys. Cyril met us there, gave us a tour of the property, and showed us how everything worked.

My fears were unfounded: the place was really lovely. It’s set on an old smallholding and the grounds of the property had lots of established plants and fruit trees. The sound of birds chirping filled the air, and bees and butterflies flittered between the flowers. I had booked the property for the first week of the holiday, and I was really pleased with the choice.

There was plenty of space in the lounge / dining area and although the kitchen was small it had everything that we needed. The kids headed to their twin room and had a nap while the rest of us unpacked and made ourselves at home. We had showers and freshened up before getting ready to head out to Hamilton Gardens.

Dad and Jo brought round some provisions such as milk, cereal and bread which was really nice as it meant we were all set up and didn’t have to worry about doing a shop on the first night.

We managed to rouse the kids and get back into the van, and Dad drove to Hamilton Gardens for “Gourmet in the Gardens”. Eddie was not that happy about having his sleep interupted so stayed in the van with Ems but the rest of us took our camping chairs into the park to enjoy some street food and live music.

I opted for a pulled pork sandwich with apple slaw and cheese, and Nick was kind enough to share his churros. As the sun was setting and the air getting cooler, and we had all had a very long day, after we had all eaten we decided to head back and retire for the night.

I set my alarm as I knew we had a relatively early start in the morning and I had no idea how long I would want to sleep.