BTDU

Today we had a very simple plan, namely:

1 – Repack and drive to Auckland Airport…

2 – Return the Ute to Hertz Rentals

3 – Collect Julie’s cashmere jumper (which she had inadvertently left on our flight to Dubai on 17 December!) from the Emirates office at check in, and finally…

4 – Board our plane for the 2 pm 13 hour flight to Vancouver ☺️

After farewell hugs with Gail & Ian and making a commitment to meet up again soon, we packed the Ute then set off at 9 am to give ourselves plenty of time…

We had not travelled along this section of State Highway 1 at this point, so I couldn’t – unsurprisingly I hear you say – not capture some final images of our stay in NZ…

… including, finally, an elusive freight train…that was not going so fast😉🎶…

We arrived at Auckland Airport on schedule, but finding the Hertz Rentals returns depot proved difficult since the signage directed us to the Domestic, not International, Terminal where there was a second depot.

However, we finally returned the Ute then dragged our luggage through the Airport complex to the International Terminal to check in our luggage; job done, all that remained, before heading through security, was the simple task of collecting Julie’s lost property jumper from the Emirates office…

But it would have been helpful if, as promised, their office was open and manned!

After waiting and enquiring for half an hour and getting nowhere calling them, Julie emailed the Emirates staffer who had confirmed their office would be opened; within 5 mins she got a reply apologising for no-one being there, but not to worry, as they would now send it to Vancouver for collection on 5 March!

Not best pleased at that outcome Julie led us through security at breakneck speed to work off her frustration…

After a wee snack we boarded our Air Canada flight to Vancouver and were a tad surprised to be welcomed on board in both French and English…

Leaving at 2 pm we settled into our longest flight of our overall trip, 13 hours, and bid farewell to Auckland and NZ..

Air Canada treated us very well and, after we had both only managed a couple of hours sleep we were soon on the final approach to Vancouver Airport…

Because we had crossed the International Date Line we had left Auckland at 2 pm on 20 Feb, but we had arrived in Vancouver at 6 am on the same day (but 3 am according to our watches and, more importantly, our bodies…)

We were met by our very good friends of 30 years, Leith and Rob, who then drove us to their home in North Vancouver..

We had last been in Vancouver 28 years ago for a delayed honeymoon, so this was a long overdue visit, but our 1st task was to don some extra layers as it was only 8C…

This was a different home, but, with stunning views of the Coastal Mountains, we could see why they’d chosen it…

Once we had had a much needed nutritious breakfast we settled ourselves into their 1920’s villa

Rob, a very talented bluegrass mandolin player, then showed us a gift that he was very proud of; he’d received this excellent piece from a local Luthier, Michael Dunn, he had known for many years…

Determined to make the adjustment to the new time zone, albeit only a 3 hour difference plus sleep deprivation, we had a light lunch then went on a 90 minute walk skirting, along the way, the heavily industrial port on the Fraser River…

Returning re-invigorated, but slightly damp, we chatted with Leith & Rob about some plans for the next 2 weeks during which they told us we would be travelling up to their recently acquired “country retreat” the following day in  Gibsons Landing…☺️

Intrigued at this prospect Leith served up a lovely dinner with Rob the trusty wine waiter before fatigue overcame us…

And we knew we were definitely back in the Northern Hemisphere when we discovered they’d put an electric throw over our bed…which was most welcome😴😴😴