Saturday, April 6
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| The walk out to the lighthouse |
We made the most of our last hours and fit in one more adventure before returning to the airport. To Nugget Point we went! About an hour and a half south of Dunedin, we drove along the coast of the Pacific Ocean for most of the trip, then up a very sharply curving, narrow road.
On the walk out to the lighthouse, we first heard, then saw seals playing in pools and on the rocks way below us. Mom was happy to watch the seals then walk back to the car, and Dad and I continued on to the lighthouse. Once out at the lighthouse we saw the rocks coming up out of the ocean - the "nuggets" of Nugget Point. As with everything we'd seen during our time in New Zealand, the natural beauty was incredible. I'm so glad we squeezed in one last excursion to see God's creation instead of "killing time" in the city before heading to the airport.
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| Nugget Point Lighthouse |
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| The "nuggets" of Nugget Point |
When we checked in at the airport kiosk, we found that we were all separated for our 14 hour Auckland to Dallas flight and couldn't change seats. The woman at the ticket counter was less than helpful - or empathetic - and pushed us off, just saying the flight was full. We got to the airport plenty early, 1:00pm, (which they stress in the U.S.) but the security line didn't open until 2:00pm for our 2:30pm boarding! Another instance of "if we'd only known sooner..." and more proof of how small the Dunedin airport is: they only do security for one flight at a time!
We arrived in Auckland and again tried to change our seats at the ticket counter but they couldn't. At least this woman was much nicer than the one in Dunedin and at least tried. She said it was unlikely, but they may be able to change seats at the gate, so I rushed over, leaving Mom and Dad in the dust. Again, it was all for nothing though because the gate didn't open until well after Mom and Dad got there and when it finally did the screen read, "Flight full. No seat changes."
So, we spent our longest flight all separated. We put the "seat chat" to a little use though! In Dallas, we stood in line after line for customs and security then found our gate. There was some redemption of the disappointing journey home though when we boarded our last flight and found out we were in the extra leg room aisle!
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| That's what I call leg room! |
It's a bummer that our trip ended on such a sour note with airport and flight stress, but it couldn't overshadow the incredible 10 days spent touring this magnificent island country. New Zealand, I'll be back.
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