Wed 10 Feb - From NZ to OZ

With a scheduled early afternoon flight from New Plymouth we left R & J’s at 11.00 am and stopped for our customary flat white at a café en route recommended by resident coffee connoisseur, Rich. We then did a quick tour of the front at New Plymouth before having a picnic in one of the many parks whilst dodging some heavy rain showers. At 2.15 we took off from New Plymouth and flew the short hop to Auckland and then at 5.30 bade a (temporary) farewell to the land of corrugated iron roofs.
We arrived in Sydney at 7.00 pm local time and after a scare with our luggage arriving late we entered a deserted Arrivals Hall. We’d never experienced such a quiet airport - even daughter Emma and partner Charlie, who we were going to be staying with for our two weeks in Sydney, were absent! After a slightly worrying wait Emma arrived and we were given a quick tour of the city, getting our first sight of the Opera House and crossing Sydney Harbour Bridge on our way to their apartment in Queenscliff, just north of Manly.