Shane & Norma

A plane and taxi ride to remember!

Step into the time tunnel so Norma and I can catch you up with our adventures from the beginning. I will recap the rugby tour at a later date, however, you must keep in mind that I faithfully follow road code!

Norma, Sharon, Beau and I bid the tour "haere ra" Sunday April 26 and saw them onto the bus bound for Auckland Airport and their Air NZ flight home to Canada. It was bittersweet to see them go, however. On one hand, it meant that Norma and I were now starting our long awaited journey through NZ and beyond. On the other, it meant that the Ebb Tide tour that had been so much fun was over and that we wouldn't see our friends until late October.

Tours are a special part of the sport that we so dearly love. All aspects of a tour bring team-mates and supporters closer together starting the day that the decision to go on tour is made. Everyone works hard preparing for a tour and plays hard while on tour. Tours are filled with laughter and special moments that make friendships stronger and lasting memories. Good times!

I digress so back to the task at hand... Beau and I had long planned to celebrate the end of the tour with a long night in a pub. Our bodies told us otherwise though; three weeks of tour on top of two+ years of planning and organizing takes a toll on fifty-year olds! We each went our separate ways with our wives for a quiet evening and much needed rest!

Norma and I thought we would spend at least another night in the hotel in Takapuna until they said our room, complete with single beds, would cost us $159/night! We did not have to wander far though for something more reasonable. We found a funky one-bedroom travel trailer in the local holiday park located right on the beach.

Takapuna Trailer

Takapuna Beach

The park was a ten minute walk from the hotel and the trailer only cost $75/night! We made it home for three nights and explored the local area by foot and bus.

Fossilized Tree Trunk - Takapuna

It was the perfect wind-down for me before heading out on our journey!

Otto - Takapuna Holiday Park Greeter

We left Takapuna early morning Wednesday April 29 via shuttle to the airport for a flight to Queenstown. The Qantas koala was not a happy critter that day! The screen in the departure area told us that our flight was delayed. After finally boarding the plane, we waited and waited in our seats while the captain told us...twice...that it wouldn't be long until an undisclosed "mechanical problem" was corrected. Not so! The crew soon ushered everyone off the plane to wait for a replacement...plane, that is!

Norma and I watched the two-hour window for catching our pre-paid bus from Queenstown to Te Anau closing rapidly and the customer service rep in Auckland didn't seem to care. We boarded our new plane and arrived in Queenstown about 1/2 hour after the bus left. Thankfully, the customer service rep there came to our rescue and had us loaded into a cab with apologies for delays. We arrived in Te Anau two+ hours later and the meter read $540!