The Traveling Team Arrives

April 7th, 2007 - 4:00pm - Parnell Village, Auckland, New Zealand

As I sat on the warm sunny second-floor patio writing notes, the folks from New Caledonia arrived! Now the traveling team is complete!

Sophie is on the left, Julie's in the middle with Pablo in the carrier, and Laurent is on the right. (Just to confirm the connections, Julie and Laurent are married, parents of Pablo, and Sophie is Julie's daughter. And, so cosmopolitan are they that they all speak both English and French!)

And here's me with Pablo and Sophie as we all get ready for bed!

I have arrived in New Zealand

Dateline: April7th, 2007, 8:34am, Dunk Cafe, Parnell Village, Auckland, New Zealand

Hi everyone!

I've landed safely in New Zealand. After dropping off my luggage at the motel, I am comfortably settled in at a local cafe called "Dunk", which is RIGHT next door to Starbucks, but I opted for the local option! =) Since I was the first to arrive (they were still putting out tables when I got here) I got the prime seating in the back corner, right by the only power socket in the place! =) (If they hadn't found that for me I might have been forced to go next door! =)) And I am logged on to the Village's free internet wifi network! I tell ya, this is the way to travel! =)

I ordered Organic Bangers and Mash for my second breakfast! (First breakfast at 4am on the plane was an omlette with stewed tomato and potato buds.)

(Here would be a lovely photo of that meal if I could only get my chip reader to register its existence on the desktop! Oh well, I'll add it later...) updated 4/12 to add photo!

Update at 2:58pm

I spent hours sending the last e-mails for work, and, funnily enough, the offices of Paramount Pictures, New Zealand are right next door to the cafe! So I guess the Viacom Family is never far away... =) I saw the clientelle of the cafe turn over a million times (though breakfast is still served till 3pm and the pancakes look GOOD!... hey, isn't it about time for lunch? =)

Now that is all done I think a walk to the beach is in order!

Adventurers and Explorers

April 7th, 2007 - 7:07am - Auckland Airport, New Zealand

This quotation was on the wall of the airport at Auckland, New Zealand. I, of course, love the sentiment! =)

Across the Pacific Ocean off to New Zealand

April 7th, 2007 - 4:30am - In the air over the Pacific

Just in case you're wondering where in the world I'm going, here's a little bit of context, courtesy of the Air New Zealand back-of-seat video display.

Bon Voyage!

I'm about ready to go on my Adventure to New Zealand and New Caledonia! The plane leaves in 19 hours and I haven't even started packing! But I have made a list! =)

I'll be seeing my friend Julie and her family and I'm very excited!

Stay tuned for more posts!