New Zealand.
Warning! This post contains a lot of Schady and Muller family photos, which you may find boring, or may have puzzling names.
The 13 hour flight from San Francisco to New Zealand crossed the International Date Line, resulting in a lost day on our calendar, before we arrived in Auckland at 06:00 on Wednesday the 15 October. After picking up a rental car, we braved the morning rush hour through the city and across the harbour bridge to Browns Bay, where Annie’s brother Joe and his partner Mary lives.
By midday we joined our round the world sailing friends Michele and Topher and Sarah and Mike for lunch in Devonport. Unfortunately, the intrepid Jonny and Tina who rounded Cape Horn on their way back to NZ, couldn’t join us. It was good to catch up with their news, as we all had by now become grandparents and settled down in our homes in Australia and New Zealand.
Whilst in Devonport, we popped in at Annie’s niece Julia who had joined us on Esprit in the Mediterranean and is now the mother of two lovely girls, Emilia and Sophia. Cousins Julia and our Michelle who are about the same age, spent quite some time together working in London. Julia and husband James are back in NZ.
The next morning, we did the 2,5 hour drive down to Whiritoa on the East coast, to visit Annie’s sister Penny and husband Frank Tonetti at their batch (holiday home). The weather was still sunny and we did walks and Annie joined the local pickle ball players for a few games.
After a pleasant two nights, we did the short drive down to just north of Tauranga, where my niece Anneri, her husband Robert and two children Madison and Logan now live in a lovely house, overlooking a river estuary. They have settled down well in NZ and are working hard to put the kids through private school. We left early on Saturday morning for the 530 km drive to Wellington.
The New Zealand countryside is absolutely beautiful and green with trees growing into leaves and blossoms with the approaching spring. We stopped a few times for coffees and snacks to give Annie some breaks, as she drove the entire distance. We arrived at our hotel in Wellington at 4:30 pm.
Ruapehu is the largest active volcano in NZ and is located at the southern end of the Taupo Volcanic Zone in Tongariro National Park. At 2797m high, it is the highest peak in the North Island. It has the North Island’s only glaciers and is a popular ski destination.
After a quick shower, we caught an Uber to Annie’s nephew Paulo and Shahlaa his new wife, for drinks. They treated us to dinner at a restaurant with an amazing nine course meal of small tasting dishes. Paulo and Shahlaa have recently returned from a three month overseas trip and we got up to date with their travels. The NZ Pinot Noir wines were tasty and lubricated our conversation until late, before taking an Uber back to our hotel.
We had a late start on Sunday and after lunch, walked down to trendy Cuba Street to meet Annie’s other niece Lisa, husband Saije and baby Peaches for drinks. It was good seeing them and were impressed with Peaches’ development at two years and four months old.
Monday saw an early start for the 660 km drive back to Browns Bay in Auckland. This time I insisted on sharing the driving, boot and all, for alternating two hour driving stints. We got back to Browns Bay at 6 pm. Interesting to note: Having not paid for petrol for our EV in three years, it was a shock to pay more than $200 for petrol for a weeks driving a Toyota HYBRID vehicle! Petrol costs around $2.75/l.
On our last day in Auckland we drove up to the Whangaparaoa Peninsula, a suburban area about 50 km north of Auckland to have lunch with my late mom’s cousin Catie, and husband Pieter and their daughter Michele and husband Nico.
Annie’s nephew Marco, came for dinner on our last night. The flight back to Sydney the following day was quick, but it was bit of a surprise to arrive to Sydney’s 39 degC after leaving Auckland’s 20 degC! So here we are back at home after seven weeks away. Expect a lull in our posts, as I still have a month to go in this damn moon boot!
Cheers, Annie and Dirk.