Other trip days
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Tahiti
Late start this morning. We were asleep until someone knocked on the door. Apparently the phone was off the hook so they could not deliver the wake-up call. The alarm that we set up on the SW also did not work. Shortly afterwards we got a wake-up call. The sun was just rising and I shot some pictures from the window before we left the room. We were late for the 5:45 taxi pick-up so Kwut checked out and I waited for the cab. Dono (yesterday’s cab driver) never showed up. We called another cab and by this time a number of people were waiting to get to the airport. Finally a large taxi van showed up and we all squeezed on board, including the yong guy’s surfboard. Got to the airport and went though a large line for passport control. After that they X-rayed the bags and we moved on to a shopping area outside the security area. I bought some preserves and some chocolate. Had to go through security again due to the dumb design of the airport. Went to another duty-free shop and bought a book.
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Tahiti to Auckland
Boarded a different aircraft (the Bora-Bora), but we waited on the ground forever (30 minutes). Finally took off and I took a nap. The services were much worse this time-the movies had no sound and the games did not work. We got one meal on the plane. I had the Crepes. Filled out the New Zealand entry form. Also did not have a window seat for this flight-we were on row 39 on the middle left side. Flew over the Cook Islands but we could not see them because it was overcast. Landed in a sunny day in Auckland. Had to go through a huge passport control line. Declared the food to customs and I changed money. Looked for the tour director (someone with Globus) outside security but did not see anyone so we took a taxi to the Crowne Plaza.
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Auckland Sightseeing
Got to the hotel around 2:45 PM, and checked into room 1715 and dumped the luggage. Originally had plans to do something in the afternoon, but we had a letter from the tour director saying there was a group meeting at 5:30 PM. Since we had to take a shuttle to go to Kelly Tarleton’s (and might not get back in time), we decided to walk down to the harbor to the Maritime Museum (concierge suggestion). Took pictures of the museum and the harbor and walked on some old rust bucket. Went back to the Wheatlands shopping mall. Could not find a cleaning tape to fix the camcorder. I ate some IK (feijoa, NZ fruit flavor with passionfruit) and had an L&P (NZ soft drink) with a lamb roast sandwich. Walked back to hotel to get to the 5:30 orientation meeting. Met Jann (the Aussie tour director) and the rest of the group. There was a 6:30 group dinner. I got lamb for entree (that’s what they call appetizer over there) and fish for the main course. Jann said the fish was snapper but the waiter said it was bluenose. Had the brulee tart for desert. Ate with two couples from Wisconsin. One dupe said that he was going to climb the Sydney harbor bridge.
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