I am sitting here in the salon of the boat with the windows and door wide open to catch a breeze, should it visit. It is a very humid slightly overcast 90F today. Yesterday it was a very clear 95F, but the humidity was also present.

In the couple of weeks we had left in Tauranga, we tidied up our lives, made note of all things legal and did what most do when faced with a long absence...eat the food you want to eat, go to special places and enjoy the company of good friends and family.
We made the long trip north to Whangarei to visit Warrens 92 yr old father who is in excellent health, though with failing eyesight. We also caught up with his brother and sister.

 Life has a habit of throwing curve balls, and the thursday prior to us leaving NZ we were thrown a good one. My youngest child e-mailed me to say that the boss wanted him to move to Auckland ASAP. We knew this might be a possibility, but he had also declared that he wanted to stay on in Hamilton, and we thought he might be able to do so. Much frantic internet searching for apartments and room-mate situations followed.
It was decided that we would take the child (well, he is almost 22) to Auckland with us on the Saturday (15th June) and would take a look at some places to live over the weekend. The room-mate situations turned out to be grotty and not at all desirable as well as grossly over-priced. Having seen some of what was on offer in that department, he made the decision to get his own one bedroom apartment. For those not acquainted with the Auckland real estate market....demand is high, prices are through the roof and the condition of the properties leaves a lot to be desired in certain $ brackets.
The child returned to Hamilton on the Sunday night bus, not having found anywhere to move to. Warren and I promised to take a further look for apartments on the monday and tuesday if we were able. Bear in mind that we were leaving for the USA on tuesday night!
Phone calls were made and only one was returned. As luck would have it we were able to view a city center apartment at 10am tuesday, AND, as luck would have it, it was perfect. Too bad the child is moving into an apartment sight unseen, but he will have to trust the parental units on that one. He moves in this weekend with the help of his boss. Phew!

Having moved out of the apartment in Tauranga on the friday, after the all-clear from our realtor, we stayed in nearby Mt Maunganui with special friends and enjoyed their company  and wonderful hospitality for that short time. We are hoping they will come over here and keep us company!
Saturday and Sunday nights were spent in Auckland at the lovely home of the Hostesses with the Mostess, Lisa and Carolyn. They are our Home Away from Home. Of course we cannot go on without mentioning the company of their little dog with the poor dentition, Ewok!
Sunday evening we were joined by L and C and our immediate family for a farewell dinner.
It is good to know all family members are well taken care of, especially our seniors.

We decided not to sell the car on the internet, afterall, as we were able to use it until the afternoon of the day before departure. Taking it to Turner's Auctions was the most sensible thing to do, for us. We just hope they sold it at yesterday's auction!
Our last night in Auckland was spent at the Copthorne Hotel on the waterfront. We had a stellar view of the old Ferry Building from our room on the 7th floor and enjoyed watching everyone hurrying too and from work, morning and night, knowing we were escaping all of that:)

Tuesday dawned sunny and bright, but by mid-afternoon the rain front came over and we left the hotel in an Airport Shuttle, in a downpour. The shuttle driver drove so crazily fast and that along with the swerving in and out of the 3pm traffic made me extremely nauseous, not to mention nervous.
Easy check-in at the airport with our carefully weighed duffle bags (Boats need soft bags onboard) and time for a Japanese meal (light food) before going through the departure procedure.

The plane had left the gate and was about to taxi, when the Captain told us they had a fault in one of the engines and would be returning to the gate. This was after we had sat in the plane for 45 mins. or so while they decided what to do. We all disembarked and waited in the departure lounge for a further 2 hours while another plane was readied for us. We were given $10 food certificates each, which we made good use of, as by now it was 9.30pm.

We finally got off the ground at 10.30pm. This was cause for some consternation with us, as we had allowed 4 1/2 hours for Warren to go through the Immigration procedure needed at LA airport, in order to enter the USA on his Immigrant Visa. Kudos to Air NZ for the way they handled all this, and for booking us on the next flight available to Houston. As luck would have it, we made the original flight with about 10mins to spare...they were already boarding! We arrived on schedule at Bush Intercontinental Airport at 10.50pm the day we left:)

We caught a taxi (the cheapest option) from Bush to our hotel in Clear Lake...50 mins of sheer hell...this driver bested the Auckland shuttle driver, driving consistently 20-30mph OVER the speed limit, and terrifying me out of my wits...I have to mention here that the normally very cool Warren was also not impressed with the driving.
We were grateful for a good night's sleep at the Microtel and woke at a normal hour for breakfast (included) and then a short walk to the nearest Starbucks...the only place you get something resembling a good NZ Latte! A call from our rental car company made us scurry back to the hotel for our pick up.