Bags had to be out pretty early, but it wasn’t too bad, only a 6:45 wake-up call to pack and get them out by 7:30. Dad and I went downstairs for breakfast and checked out. He managed to have eggs and toast, but after last night’s Fergburger (my breath still sort of tasted like onions after three brushings) I opted for a banana and a pot of tea.
Our coach didn’t leave for the airport till 9:45, so we had some time to kill down in the lobby. Dad showed me a game on his iPad that is quite fun, and I sat next to the “fireplace” (an art deco-ish counter with three gas powered flames behind glass panes) and played for a while.
It was raining in Queenstown this morning, but we didn’t really mind. I just figured it made the fire cozier.
We checked the seating chart on the bus and discovered that we’d come full circle throughout the tour, and we were in the front again.
The ride to the airport was short and security was not too much of a hassle. We boarded the plane and Miles and Charlotte served us all tea and coffee after we took off and tasty little smoked chicken sandwiches for lunch, with rocket and aioli. There wasn’t much too look at over the South Island because it was covered in clouds, but Charlotte came around to chat with a bunch of us. She was just so personable! It was really nice having the same stewards all week. Charlotte genuinely seemed interested in what we’d done on our trip, and wanted to make sure we were having a good time. It seems like a pretty cool job. They got to stay in Queenstown with us, so they had a bit of down time in a beautiful part of the country.
It will definitely be a real step down to fly commercially again...
There were horror stories in the morning paper about traffic in Auckland due to the Rugby World Cup, but we had no problems at all getting to the hotel.
It’s going to be a little confusing, because after as many hotel rooms as we’ve had in the last week and a half, we’re now back in our original hotel... in a different room... So far I haven’t gotten lost or forgotten where I’m supposed to sleep, but our stay is young...
Our room is almost identical (except this one smells a little more like old furniture, but oh well). Dad and I opted for a quiet afternoon at the hotel, updating our blogs now that we finally had a fast enough internet connection. I remember when we arrived at the Langham the first time I thought, “wow, this is a slow internet connection!” But now that we’ve spent two weeks in even more obscure parts of New Zealand, when we arrived this time I though, “wow, this connection is fast!”
Our farewell dinner was at the Skytower, which is over 1,000 feet tall. We had drinks in a little partitioned area, then went to the tippy-top to the rotating restaurant. Renee did a fair amount of hovering for us, making sure everything was being taken care of, because Tauck has never done a dinner at this restaurant before.
It was quite an enjoyable meal. We sat near Renee and she had some pretty amazing stories to tell about places she’d been and things that have happened on various Tauck tours. The food was good, the highlights being the pumpkin soup and grilled snapper.
When we were done with dinner we descended from the tower and (surprise, surprise) had to exit through retail. The gift shop had life-size displays of various Lord of the Rings icons and other movie tie-ins filmed in New Zealand. I was too much of a nerd to resist having my picture taken with Avatar's Neytiri...
Renee bid us farewell back at the hotel. She gets to fly home with most of the group tomorrow, and has 5 (whole) days off before her next tour.
Renee has been an absolutely wonderful guide! Never on a tour have I felt more taken care of, entertained, and enlightened by one person! She was wonderful with us, but what really impressed me was how she was greeted by everyone we visited. It was like she was a member of the family, everywhere we went. And everyone told us how much they looked forward to seeing her and her guests.
This was definitely one of the best vacations Dad and I have ever taken! It was everything a vacation should be, entertaining, enlightening, relaxing, fun... I’m so glad we decided to come spend time with Pamela and her family and visit New Zealand. I can’t wait to come back!
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