Monday December 30, Melbourne and Auckland
An uneventful night flight to Melbourne, a three-hour layover and another uneventful flight to Auckland. Inge managed some sleep but I didn’t. With losing a night and a five hour time change, it’s great that I’ve been sleeping well for the last few weeks.
Slow process going through the formalities to enter New Zealand, but easy. As NZ is strict about bringing plant matter into the country, we thought it would be harder. We had to declare that we had hiking boots with us, that we had been in a forest within the last 30 days and that we were bringing in wood products (a carving we purchased in Australia). But the inspection of our belongings was quick. Luckily, we know the rules and washed our hiking boots squeaky clean before leaving Australia.
Mike was waiting for us at the airport. Liz cooked a good meal and we managed to stay up until 9 pm!

Hi!
We’ve been enjoying your adventures, in spite of being preoccupied with some other issues. Luke, Monika and Liam are with us for New Year’s Eve and Gwen will be here around midnight. By then we will be sound asleep.
Enjoy every moment in the Southern Hemisphere.
mj