On Christmas Day we we picked up bright and early from our central Sydney hotel and as always we thoroughly enjoyed our visit. Sydney is a city we could return to quite frequently!
Traffic was light as you might imagine so we arrived at the airport very quickly. However, once we were inside the Terminal building it was heaving! We have traveled a few times on Christmas Day and Gatwick has always been quiet but clearly travellers to and from Sydney have different ideas.
We had a bit of an issue with on line check in. Since all of our flights were booked through Emirates, I tried their web site first only to be informed that since the flight was handled by their partner Quantas ( which I knew) , I had to check in via the Quantas web site. Dutifully I followed the procedure on the Quantas web site only to be told that since the booking was with Emirates I needed to check in on the Emirates web site. I went through this loop a couple of times and then threw several objects and gave up!
I knew we had plenty of time at the airport so was not concerned until the Quantas check in lady said she could only find a ticket for me and not for the LLW. After much discussion we pointed out that the LLW's tickets were on pages 3 and 4 on the e-ticket!
Luckily the Quantas lounge was very good, as opposed to the Virgin Australia lounges and we were soon sitting comfortably with flat whites in hand.
It was an excellent flight with proper long haul seats and very good catering. The obligatory glass of Christmas champagne was accepted and enjoyed.
As our flight approached Auckland it was throwing it down and we rushed into our cab and were soon at our hotel in Ponsonby, which was quirky and quite small but good. We had a walk out to the centre of Ponsonby and there were a few eateries open but we both felt that we had eaten enough on the flight so not were favoured with our patronage. The next morning was brighter and as the day progressed, the sun came out and the temperature rose. A taxi took us to the home of Maui Camper Vans and we had the usual lengthy check in process which would have been worse had we not check in on line. After about an hour we were on our way in a brand new Camper Van with only 45 Km on the clock.
As usual the roads around Auckland were busy but after about 40 mins we were past the remaining suburbs and the road was quiet but two way and much slower. After an hour and a half the LLW decided that a coffee stop was in order. No surprise there then!
We were in good time and arrived in Whangarei about 2pm and headed straight for the supermarket, Countdown on this occasion, and stocked up on some goodies and lots of basics.
This afternoon we are meeting up with Helen, Rich and Rosie who now live in Ngunguru and Helen had kindly collected the portable gas BBQ which Ray had ordered from the UK. The obvious thing to do was to christen the BBQ at the camp site so the Price family duly arrived with lots of goodies and a very sleepy Rosie. As the evening progressed Rosie woke up and proceed to wreak havoc across the camp site having a whale of a time on swings, slides and trampolines. She is absolute;y lovely!
A great evening was had by all
Traffic was light as you might imagine so we arrived at the airport very quickly. However, once we were inside the Terminal building it was heaving! We have traveled a few times on Christmas Day and Gatwick has always been quiet but clearly travellers to and from Sydney have different ideas.
We had a bit of an issue with on line check in. Since all of our flights were booked through Emirates, I tried their web site first only to be informed that since the flight was handled by their partner Quantas ( which I knew) , I had to check in via the Quantas web site. Dutifully I followed the procedure on the Quantas web site only to be told that since the booking was with Emirates I needed to check in on the Emirates web site. I went through this loop a couple of times and then threw several objects and gave up!
I knew we had plenty of time at the airport so was not concerned until the Quantas check in lady said she could only find a ticket for me and not for the LLW. After much discussion we pointed out that the LLW's tickets were on pages 3 and 4 on the e-ticket!
Luckily the Quantas lounge was very good, as opposed to the Virgin Australia lounges and we were soon sitting comfortably with flat whites in hand.
It was an excellent flight with proper long haul seats and very good catering. The obligatory glass of Christmas champagne was accepted and enjoyed.
As our flight approached Auckland it was throwing it down and we rushed into our cab and were soon at our hotel in Ponsonby, which was quirky and quite small but good. We had a walk out to the centre of Ponsonby and there were a few eateries open but we both felt that we had eaten enough on the flight so not were favoured with our patronage. The next morning was brighter and as the day progressed, the sun came out and the temperature rose. A taxi took us to the home of Maui Camper Vans and we had the usual lengthy check in process which would have been worse had we not check in on line. After about an hour we were on our way in a brand new Camper Van with only 45 Km on the clock.
As usual the roads around Auckland were busy but after about 40 mins we were past the remaining suburbs and the road was quiet but two way and much slower. After an hour and a half the LLW decided that a coffee stop was in order. No surprise there then!
We were in good time and arrived in Whangarei about 2pm and headed straight for the supermarket, Countdown on this occasion, and stocked up on some goodies and lots of basics.
This afternoon we are meeting up with Helen, Rich and Rosie who now live in Ngunguru and Helen had kindly collected the portable gas BBQ which Ray had ordered from the UK. The obvious thing to do was to christen the BBQ at the camp site so the Price family duly arrived with lots of goodies and a very sleepy Rosie. As the evening progressed Rosie woke up and proceed to wreak havoc across the camp site having a whale of a time on swings, slides and trampolines. She is absolute;y lovely!
A great evening was had by all
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