(Excerpted from Cindy’s blog)
Yes indeed! We are finally here. After a very hectic morning on Friday we left at 11 am. We didn’t get everything done as we would have wanted. But we made great strides in down-sizing so next time (?) we will do better.
Once we got to the airport everything went amazingly smoothly. Our luggage was checked without incident (and arrived intact), security was quick and our connecting flight was equally smooth. We did talk to a couple waiting for the same flight to San Francisco who happened to be from Bainbridge Island, too! They also would love to live and work in New Zealand. So they may look into it.
We arrived in Auckland at 6 am. We exchanged some money, got our luggage from baggage claim and met our driver, Randy. He filled us in on Kiwis as we rode to our temporary apartment. Another smooth exchange!
The apartment is very nice. Two floors with 2 bedrooms and a bath on the second floor. It is one street away from a main street that is lined with shops and restaurants. A bit upscale. A little further up the street are more stores and some fast food places.
We stayed awake all our first day as recommended to prevent jet lag. We walked around the neighborhood and located a grocery store, library and bank. By 8 pm we had crashed. We slept till 8 am this morning. Another day of walking. Our internet connection is Whoosh. We can try it out for a month and see how it works.
The rest of our week is to be filled with setting up our life here, banking, driving and habitating. We meet up with a house hunter on Thursday.
Til next time….