M'off to the other side of the world

[2 wheel humvee]

The day is almost here for the first of several flights booked many months ago, our youngest son emigrated to New Zealand 16 months ago and we are heading out for a reunion.
My wife and I are flying on Wednesday to San Francisco and staying for 6 days, then we fly on t Auckland where Josh lives and staying a couple of days with him and his wife,
then we fly to Queenstown in the South Island where we have a couple of rental cars booked and an Air B&B for 2 nights, from there we move on to Lake Tekapo where we are staying for 3 nights,
next we stop at Kaikoura for 1 night and 2 days before driving up to Picton to drop the cars off and get a ferry across the sound to Wellington where we stay for 1 night, the next day we fly back to Auckland for a couple of nights before flying home via the same respective routes.
Our eldest 2 children will be joining us but they are flying out via Tokyo.
Josh is a very organised young man and we have a full itinerary of activities and visits mapped out such as a Jet boat ride a glacier visit and whale watching boat trip-we are going full tourist mode as well as a few "chill" days, it will be quite the reunion, I'm sure there will be tears of joy and of sadness.
I may pop in here from time to time and upload a few pics or I may just save them up until I return.

 

[Tinytim]

The day is almost here for the first of several flights booked many months ago, our youngest son emigrated to New Zealand 16 months ago and we are heading out for a reunion.
My wife and I are flying on Wednesday to San Francisco and staying for 6 days, then we fly on t Auckland where Josh lives and staying a couple of days with him and his wife,
then we fly to Queenstown in the South Island where we have a couple of rental cars booked and an Air B&B for 2 nights, from there we move on to Lake Tekapo where we are staying for 3 nights,
next we stop at Kaikoura for 1 night and 2 days before driving up to Picton to drop the cars off and get a ferry across the sound to Wellington where we stay for 1 night, the next day we fly back to Auckland for a couple of nights before flying home via the same respective routes.
Our eldest 2 children will be joining us but they are flying out via Tokyo.
Josh is a very organised young man and we have a full itinerary of activities and visits mapped out such as a Jet boat ride a glacier visit and whale watching boat trip-we are going full tourist mode as well as a few "chill" days, it will be quite the reunion, I'm sure there will be tears of joy and of sadness.
I may pop in here from time to time and upload a few pics or I may just save them up until I return.

Wow !

 

[Sgt Bilco]

What a great trip and have a belter of a time.

If you want a trip to Alcatraz when you are in SF, highly recommended, you will have to book in advance as it gets insanely busy. Saying that, it's out of the main tourist season so you may get straight on to a tour.

 

[timeandtide]

The day is almost here for the first of several flights booked many months ago, our youngest son emigrated to New Zealand 16 months ago and we are heading out for a reunion.
My wife and I are flying on Wednesday to San Francisco and staying for 6 days, then we fly on t Auckland where Josh lives and staying a couple of days with him and his wife,
then we fly to Queenstown in the South Island where we have a couple of rental cars booked and an Air B&B for 2 nights, from there we move on to Lake Tekapo where we are staying for 3 nights,
next we stop at Kaikoura for 1 night and 2 days before driving up to Picton to drop the cars off and get a ferry across the sound to Wellington where we stay for 1 night, the next day we fly back to Auckland for a couple of nights before flying home via the same respective routes.
Our eldest 2 children will be joining us but they are flying out via Tokyo.
Josh is a very organised young man and we have a full itinerary of activities and visits mapped out such as a Jet boat ride a glacier visit and whale watching boat trip-we are going full tourist mode as well as a few "chill" days, it will be quite the reunion, I'm sure there will be tears of joy and of sadness.
I may pop in here from time to time and upload a few pics or I may just save them up until I return.

Have a great time Steve, I’m sure you will!

 

[JonnyBravo]

You will have a fantastic time
You havent allowed enough time to explore NZ, its a fantastic country.
You just wont want to leave

Enjoy !



6 days in SF ?

 

[parkys100]

The day is almost here for the first of several flights booked many months ago, our youngest son emigrated to New Zealand 16 months ago and we are heading out for a reunion.
My wife and I are flying on Wednesday to San Francisco and staying for 6 days, then we fly on t Auckland where Josh lives and staying a couple of days with him and his wife,
then we fly to Queenstown in the South Island where we have a couple of rental cars booked and an Air B&B for 2 nights, from there we move on to Lake Tekapo where we are staying for 3 nights,
next we stop at Kaikoura for 1 night and 2 days before driving up to Picton to drop the cars off and get a ferry across the sound to Wellington where we stay for 1 night, the next day we fly back to Auckland for a couple of nights before flying home via the same respective routes.
Our eldest 2 children will be joining us but they are flying out via Tokyo.
Josh is a very organised young man and we have a full itinerary of activities and visits mapped out such as a Jet boat ride a glacier visit and whale watching boat trip-we are going full tourist mode as well as a few "chill" days, it will be quite the reunion, I'm sure there will be tears of joy and of sadness.
I may pop in here from time to time and upload a few pics or I may just save them up until I return.

NZ is a brilliant country ,attempt squeeze in the Coromandel area .
Been twice ,got married in Whitianga .
Have a good trip

 

[2 wheel humvee]

Cheers everyone we are all checked in and packed and ready to go tomorrow, our oldest 2 are waiting for their flight at Heathrow so it ‘s all systems GO, really looking forward to it now , thanks for the tips and advice we are going to book a few days out this evening, high on the list is Alcatraz and Sausalito in San Francisco, Coromandel is also very likely in the North Island as it’s not too far from where our Josh lives and he’s keen to show us around there

 

[Montydog]

Have a great trip Steve


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Jon]

In San Francisco, def ride the trams (day tickets available) and if you get the chance, do the fire engine tour; https://www.sanfranciscofireenginetours.com/

 

[Big Si]

I worked in NZ for a couple of years, lovely people, and stunning country.

Have a great trip!

 

[Robbo1200ADV]

Went in 2020 absolutely loved it . Did North and south islands in a camper . Would love to go back . Have a fantastic time with your family . This is the life !!

 

[Hairnet600]

if you go to milford from te anau head out early as it can be very busy

i cheated and flew in - not cheap but highly recommended

also coromandel and east coast of north island and very north west of south island

want to do that last bit again the next time i go

 

[Oldrat]

Fabulous trip, you won’t want to come home, I guarantee it

 

[2 wheel humvee]

We got to SF late in the evening, some idiot (me)had booked e bikes for 11am the next day so after a hotel breakfast and a cable car trip we headed down to the piers to pick up the bikes and head over the Golden Gate to Sausalito (very pretty and stinks of cash) and got the ferry back across, then spent the afternoon exploring, eating, walking and riding all manner of public transport, great fun so far, quieter day planned for tomorrow but the following day (Saturday) we are going over to Alcatraz and then maybe a look around the WW2 troop ship Jeremiah O’Brien.

 

[TIJ650]

I actually lived in SF for over a year donkeys ago (don’t remember, but just before big earthquake). Strange city……..freezing in the Summer (compared to rest of Cal), actually reminded me of Edinburgh with cold breeze. Unlike anywhere else on the west coast, it felt quite European and was the 2nd biggest gay town in America (Atlanta 1st). Was still run by Unions too. Haight-Ashbury definitely worth a visit especially if you like The Grateful Dead and air cooled VW camper vans?! lol

 

[2 wheel humvee]

A little catch up is in order, time to catch up on socials and the availability to connect online have been like 2 paths that seldom meet over the past few days, we’ve been busy exploring, here’s a few pics to give you a taste.
I wanted to to find some of the filming locations from the Steve McQueen movie Bullit, we found the Mark Hopkins international hotel easily enough and then found the store (VJ Grocery) and the apartment used by Frank Bullit on Clay street, we went in for a look around where there is a mural commemorating the movie high on the wall, and of course we visited Lombard street, along the way we spotted a couple of interesting vehicles fading in the California sun.

 

[2 wheel humvee]

The city is well served by its public transport system with buses and trolley buses as well as the infamous cable cars we took advantage of this by purchasing a 7 day Muni pass with cable car addition, we were still racking up 20-30000 steps per day in the hilly streets, the Bay Area is also served by driverless Jaguar I pace taxis (WAYMO) which we saw everywhere, we decided to give these a try one evening for a trip across town to a restaurant and rated them quite highly, the usual “been busy tonight drive ?” Is completely superfluous.
We did spot some interesting street art on our travels although we were not actively seeking it out, some interesting pieces in the china town area especially.

 

[Hairnet600]

ahh thats what the pic of the jag was

 

[2 wheel humvee]

Time to update this before it all slips into the darkest corners of my dwindling grey matter, our last couple of days in San Francisco we spent taking trips to Muir woods and Sausalito (lovely place but absolutely stinks of $$$$$ ) taking ferry rides and a visit to the cable car museum, San Francisco had been a bucket list visit for me, the seed probably planted many years ago the first time I saw the movie BULLIT, a tick in the box, we had both enjoyed our time here, it had been a great entree to the main event in Auckland which was next........

Giant Redwoods at Muir Woods National Monument

We took a trip up to Battery Spencer to get the money shot of the Golden Gate bridge.

Feeling like a taste from home we had our last meal and drink here, an Irish curry & chips washed down with a pint of the Black stuff, and it was a pretty passable pint

So long San Francisco it's been a blast

 

[2 wheel humvee]

Having thoroughly enjoyed the starter that San Francisco had become (and it was some starter) it was time to pack our bags and head out over the pacific to New Zealand the main course, a change of plane meant we had to forego our economy stretch seats for plain old cattle class albeit at the front of the row next to an emergency door, so extra leg room (plus) where everyone goes to stretch their legs and do yoga mid flight (minus) we took off on Tuesday at 7.45 pm (or we would have had the flight not been delayed) for a 13 hour flight to Auckland due to land on Thurs 14th at 5.50am the duration of which was 13h 5mins, we lost Wednesday somewhere over the Pacific, I made a note to look for it on the return leg.
We were prepared to get a cab from the Airport to Josh's place given the early hour we were due to land, of course that didn't happen and a happy and emotional welcome awaited us

We had a reunion at Josh's place where we were staying, for the next few days we wandered about Auckland and the surrounding area, the weather wasn't the best but we spent great quality family time together, we ate out we stayed in for a home cooked meal, we drank, we played games, we laughed and we cried.

Auckland Sky Tower (in the rain)

Somebody got a new pair of Salomon trainers.

We took a (very realistic....) VR ride at the top

We took the elevator back down but some people were in a hurry.....

We spent a few hours in the museum ( rainy morning).

Here we go I've found my level now.

There are some very friendly in neighbourly sorts in the suburb of Parnell

Morning coffee on the verandah was nice and it's good to see that Josh & Nic are keeping on top of the gardening......

Seeing the sun rise in the East takes some getting used to though.