Day 16 – January 9 (the longest day ever):
Go home day. The general consensus around the family is that we are ready to be home, but not ready to face the reality of home. School, work, and the loss of Kay is a lot to deal with. For the first time however, we really thought we could have stayed longer. In other big trips, while we were also ready to be home, we were also ready to leave wherever we were. Despite living out of suitcases and always on the move, this place has been magical. We could stay for months if life allowed it (at a slower pace).
We got up slow and packed up fast…for real this time. The travel ahead was long and everything needed to be in its place. One more hotel breakfast and we hit the road back to Queenstown and started the timer for the day. We did this on the way to Auckland too; from our front door in Louisville to our hotel in Auckland was 33 hours (which included a 12-hour play-over in LA). 2.5-hour drive to the airport, easy check-in, and security and a light snack. We played some games before boarding the first flight at 2:15pm; <2hour flight to Auckland. In Auckland, we got our bags and re-checked them and did all the duty-free shopping legally allowed. The big flight boarded at and took off at 8:30pm (still Tuesday). This big leg of the flight (12 hours) was a bit more eventful than the one coming out where everyone slept. Sleeping was hard to come by and we had the stress of an impossible transfer in LAX. Plane was scheduled to land at 11:15am (still Tuesday, WTF?), and we had to catch our Denver flight which departed at 1:15pm. 2 hours in LAX to get off a 777, go through customs, get our bags, move over 4 terminals, re-pack (duty-free!), rec-check our bags, go through security and board…not going to happen. To make it even more interesting, Caden, our favorite puker, upchucked all over me somewhere over the Pacific Ocean. The flight attendants were incredibly friendly and helpful (highly recommend Air NZ if you get the chance), and got us mostly sorted out. However, I spent 20mins in the airplane bathroom washing my pants (why didn’t we pack a change of clothes…We did on the way out?!). So, it is 4 hours before landing and I am sitting in my underwear with a comfy aircraft blanket wrapped around me while my pants sat soaking wrapped in towels and smelling of puke sealed in a plastic bag…how was this going to play out?
We landed and got to the gate at exactly 11:15am (Tuesday!!)…perfect timing. We stayed casually behind as the passengers deplaned, then I pulled out the still very wet and smelly pants and put them on. The goal here was to keep moving and stay away from people as to not make them sick. But now we had the added time needed for me to open a suitcase and change clothes. There was no way we were going to make the flight. And, at this point, we so badly wanted to be home. Not delayed for another flight or, God forbid, another connection! In my defense, I did not schedule the flight this way. I picked a Southwest flight to Denver that left at 4pm thinking that would be plenty of time to move slow, get a bite, then get home. But Southwest canceled that flight and this is what we got. But wouldn’t you know it, even with being the last off the plane, getting our bags somehow dead last in customs, walking what felt like 2 miles across LAX, changing clothes and packing alcohol, and going through security; we still had time to spare. Not a lot, we pretty much boarded, but we made it. Had it been any other day then this magically long Tuesday at noon, there was no way we made it.
<2hours later, we landed home, got bags, grandma Myra picked us up and took us to Chipotle and home. Our flight in Queenstown took off at 2:15pm Tuesday the 9th and our last flight landed in Denver at 4pm Tuesday the 9th…26 hours later.
Wow…best trip ever. We will be talking about this one for years. I doubt anyone read all of this or has the time to look at all the pictures, but I sure loved writing it and putting it together. Our kids, not super happy to be going to school, still have the glow of Aotearoa all over them. Maybe this will not be a once in a lifetime trip…
Shockingly, we didn't take a single picture this last day...so enjoy the most important part of the trip summerized below
Go home day. The general consensus around the family is that we are ready to be home, but not ready to face the reality of home. School, work, and the loss of Kay is a lot to deal with. For the first time however, we really thought we could have stayed longer. In other big trips, while we were also ready to be home, we were also ready to leave wherever we were. Despite living out of suitcases and always on the move, this place has been magical. We could stay for months if life allowed it (at a slower pace).
We got up slow and packed up fast…for real this time. The travel ahead was long and everything needed to be in its place. One more hotel breakfast and we hit the road back to Queenstown and started the timer for the day. We did this on the way to Auckland too; from our front door in Louisville to our hotel in Auckland was 33 hours (which included a 12-hour play-over in LA). 2.5-hour drive to the airport, easy check-in, and security and a light snack. We played some games before boarding the first flight at 2:15pm; <2hour flight to Auckland. In Auckland, we got our bags and re-checked them and did all the duty-free shopping legally allowed. The big flight boarded at and took off at 8:30pm (still Tuesday). This big leg of the flight (12 hours) was a bit more eventful than the one coming out where everyone slept. Sleeping was hard to come by and we had the stress of an impossible transfer in LAX. Plane was scheduled to land at 11:15am (still Tuesday, WTF?), and we had to catch our Denver flight which departed at 1:15pm. 2 hours in LAX to get off a 777, go through customs, get our bags, move over 4 terminals, re-pack (duty-free!), rec-check our bags, go through security and board…not going to happen. To make it even more interesting, Caden, our favorite puker, upchucked all over me somewhere over the Pacific Ocean. The flight attendants were incredibly friendly and helpful (highly recommend Air NZ if you get the chance), and got us mostly sorted out. However, I spent 20mins in the airplane bathroom washing my pants (why didn’t we pack a change of clothes…We did on the way out?!). So, it is 4 hours before landing and I am sitting in my underwear with a comfy aircraft blanket wrapped around me while my pants sat soaking wrapped in towels and smelling of puke sealed in a plastic bag…how was this going to play out?
We landed and got to the gate at exactly 11:15am (Tuesday!!)…perfect timing. We stayed casually behind as the passengers deplaned, then I pulled out the still very wet and smelly pants and put them on. The goal here was to keep moving and stay away from people as to not make them sick. But now we had the added time needed for me to open a suitcase and change clothes. There was no way we were going to make the flight. And, at this point, we so badly wanted to be home. Not delayed for another flight or, God forbid, another connection! In my defense, I did not schedule the flight this way. I picked a Southwest flight to Denver that left at 4pm thinking that would be plenty of time to move slow, get a bite, then get home. But Southwest canceled that flight and this is what we got. But wouldn’t you know it, even with being the last off the plane, getting our bags somehow dead last in customs, walking what felt like 2 miles across LAX, changing clothes and packing alcohol, and going through security; we still had time to spare. Not a lot, we pretty much boarded, but we made it. Had it been any other day then this magically long Tuesday at noon, there was no way we made it.
<2hours later, we landed home, got bags, grandma Myra picked us up and took us to Chipotle and home. Our flight in Queenstown took off at 2:15pm Tuesday the 9th and our last flight landed in Denver at 4pm Tuesday the 9th…26 hours later.
Wow…best trip ever. We will be talking about this one for years. I doubt anyone read all of this or has the time to look at all the pictures, but I sure loved writing it and putting it together. Our kids, not super happy to be going to school, still have the glow of Aotearoa all over them. Maybe this will not be a once in a lifetime trip…
Shockingly, we didn't take a single picture this last day...so enjoy the most important part of the trip summerized below
