Travelogues ...headin' down the highway lookin' for adventure...
Tuesday, February 29, 2000
Joe and Connie (Roger's brother and sister-in-law) arrived this morning and we lead them down the block to the Loaded Hog for another hardy New Zealand breakfast. The Kiwis and the Italians are once again heading out the harbor in hopes of good winds and the chance to retain (for the Kiwis) the Americas Cup.
We walk them back to the hotel where they opt for a couple of hours rest and Roger and I take the "link" bus across the street for the Domain, New Zealand's national museum. The "link" buses follow a circle around the city and arrive every 10 minutes. We pay 50 cents to take a quick ride within a block of the museum.
As we are walking up the steps to enter the museum, I am struck with a major BFM (blinding flash of memory). I was supposed to have written and mailed to Randee (my daughter) a special letter telling her what she means to me, which she will read on her walk to Emmaus (spiritual retreat) this weekend. The letter is supposed to be a surprise and my letter along with others from family members and friends will be given to Randee on the last day of the retreat. Though the museum was wonderful, my thoughts were completely preoccupied with how to get it to her in time and what to write. I am capable of top rate fretting when the occasion merits it.
I put my thoughts aside momentarily as Roger motions for me to come see, "Can you believe this," he says. We are taken with a replica of an old garage which reminds us of his father and my grandfather's garages. Interesting, here we have a fascinating culture and history to absorb and we are drawn to what reminds us of home and our past.
We are back at the hotel by 1:30 to pick up Joe and Connie for the ferry ride to Devonport only a few minutes away across the harbor. Though I'm still bothered by the thought of writing Randee's letter, I manage to do a little retail therapy in record time and Connie is able to do the same picking up a English bone china cup and saucer.
We rest for a while and have light snacks of New Zealand Green Lipped Mussels (the best mussels anywhere, according to Joe and Roger) and vegetarian nachos (honest) and make the time to catch up with one another and swap stories. While Roger and I are ten years younger, Connie and Joe have far more energy and travel experience. They are amazingly peppy to have just completed that long flight with very little rest but I know at some point soon they will need a good dinner and a long night's rest.
As soon as we are back in Auckland, I make a beeline for the nearest cybercafe telling them that I will be back within the hour.
It takes more time than I had thought to find the café and finish the letter. After signing off with oooo's and xxxx's, I pushed the send button and suddenly the screen lights up with ERROR, ERROR, can't send. A young geekie guy, wishing only to help, promptly clicked the wrong button and zap it was gone.
To make a long story shorter, it was finally retrieved and emailed. Things continued to go downhill-literally. As I was rushing out and back to the hotel, I took a wrong turn and ended up winding down a narrow alley totally lost. Auckland sits on a narrow straight between two bodies of water and I was finding it next to impossible to get my bearings. Somehow I eventually wandered onto the right street only to look up and see Roger, Joe, and Connie anxiously looking about for me. It was far past time to eat dinner and I know by then I had pushed their kind nature to the limit as the day was getting really long for them, about 20+ hours.
We ate at a nearby seafood restaurant and came straight back to the hotel where the boys headed for the bar and Connie and I to our respective beds.