flexabull-blog
The Full Plate. (and pint)
Ramblings about the outdoors, travel, and other things I fill my free time with.
51 posts
Don't wanna be here? Send us removal request.
Last Seen Blogs
recipesfcom
Recipesf.com
hissesssss
TUNGLR
lilibarglow
Lili’s IB CAS blog
karenfordonte
Caring For Donte
karenfordonte
Caring For Donte
Photo
Hi,
I just moved my posts from Posterous! Do go though my blog for all the new posts.
Its easy to migrate try JustMigrate
3Crumbs app
4K notes
·
View notes
Text
New Zealand / Tahiti - Day 2
At around 1:00 PM we arrived at Auckland International Airport. After a fairly quick customs procedure, we grabbed our bags, and jumped in our hotel shuttle. We planned a room near the hotel since we had an early departure the next morning for Dunedin. We had seen Auckland on our last trip, so there was no real desire to get anything more than an airport hotel. After settling into our room, my wife donned her bathing suit and headed to the pool (it was pleasantly warm, upper 70's, low 80's) and my Dad and I made our way down the road to the nearby grocery store and bank. We stocked up on snacks (bits left in the pan flavored chips?!), beer and wine. (the essentials) Later that day we ventured down to a nearby pub for dinner. When we arrived we were disappointed to find out there were closing, and not serving any more food. Bummer, but they were still serving drinks, so we each grabbed one, and then returned to the hotel. Luckily they had a limited dinner menu, so we ate there and called it an early night. Even our god awful sleeper sofa couldn't keep us from getting a decent night sleep.
0 notes
Text
New Zealand / Tahiti - Day 1
About a year ago my wife noticed an email in her inbox about trip deals. In it was a trip to New Zealand via Air Tahiti that included a 3 night stopover in Tahiti. Intrigued, we looked into it, we have been to New Zealand before and loved it, the airfare was very fair, and the chance to spend some time in Tahiti sold us. (I have been intrigued for years about the South Pacific, but I always assumed it would be too expensive, and I'd probably never make it there.) So we booked the trip with my parents for February/March 2012, with the stopover in Tahiti being on the way home, and we decided to extend it to 5 nights, figuring a return to Tahiti was probably not in our immediate future.
So the weeks went by, and eventually February 17th came, and it became time to finally leave for our trip. We had a 11:50 PM flight out of LAX, and had to fly from Sacramento to LA, before heading on to Auckland. The drive down was uneventful except when it became time to find our hotel. My Dad had arranged for a park and fly, while it was a bit inconvenient, we would save about $100 parking at a hotel near the airport instead of at the airport. We arrived at the hotel, and my Dad went in to check in and arrange our shuttle. After a few minutes, he walked out of the lobby with a confused look on his face, we were at the wrong hotel. The good thing was, we were in no panic, since we had plenty of time to get catch our flight. Thanks to modern technology, we were able to find his original email, see that the hotel we needed was about 5 minutes away, and eventually we were on our shuttle to the airport, with our car parked at the right place.
We flew from Sacramento to LAX out of the new terminal. Let me just say that Sacramento did a fine job with the new terminal. It's bright, airy, with very quick and prompt tram service between check in and gates.
LAX however is a nightmare. It is no surprise that this airport always appears on the "worst aiports" list. It's hard to get around, outdated, and a lot of the staff in unfriendly. And this isn't even taking into account the international terminal, which has ONE place to eat for about a dozen gates, and the "gate" where we were departing from looked more like a giant dim warehouse instead of a terminal. On top of all of that, we were bused way out onto the tarmac, then had to ascend a few flights of dark stairs to finally reach the door to our plane. Some of thes gripes are minor, but in general LAX is not pleasant, and a big contrast to Sacramento.
The flight was smooth, and pretty nice. The Air Tahiti staff was friendly, entertainment choices were fine, and before we knew it we landed at Faaa International for a 2 hour layover. The airport is small, but nice. Interesting, it is the only airport I've been to that is "open". They literally have a large outdoor open area in the terminal. (though it was mainly a spot for smokers, but still a nice and fitting touch)
Upon leaving Tahiti, we were treated to beautiful views upon leaving of islands of Tahiti and Moorea, a nice preview of what was to come a few days down the road.
Another 5+ hours later we arrived in Auckland, and New Zealand part 2 was officially underway.
0 notes
Text
Sunset over Moorea
via Instagram http://instagr.am/p/H1_U5pgu3d/
0 notes
Text
Look away if you are a vegetarian.
via Instagram http://instagr.am/p/HxCuMcAu64/
0 notes
Text
French Polynesia
via Instagram http://instagr.am/p/HwpLGQAu2J/
0 notes
Text
Everything is far from here.
via Instagram http://instagr.am/p/HsLnlGgu14/
0 notes
Text
Shotover River
via Instagram http://instagr.am/p/HmxXgRgu2L/
0 notes
Text
Moeraki Boulders Beach
via Instagram http://instagr.am/p/HXKUTygu8F/
0 notes
Text
Security Buildings
via Instagram http://instagr.am/p/HVWf9ngu_a/
0 notes
Text
Nugget Point
via Instagram http://instagr.am/p/HVFtwrAu8w/
0 notes
Text
Sandfly Bay
via Instagram http://instagr.am/p/HR28NJAuwV/
0 notes
Text
Savoy
via Instagram http://instagr.am/p/HR2NTHguwH/
0 notes
Text
New Zealand Railroad
via Instagram http://instagr.am/p/HR2EWYAuwE/
0 notes
Text
Imperial Buildings
via Instagram http://instagr.am/p/HQ0-qkgu5d/
0 notes
Text
Harris
via Instagram http://instagr.am/p/HQ01HQAu5c/
0 notes
Text
Regent Theatre
via Instagram http://instagr.am/p/HQ0fOMAu5b/
0 notes