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Post by roverpup on Oct 17, 2023 13:46:56 GMT
And we're off! imgur.com/a/rTzUBnIToday is a looooong train ride to Toronto. Tonight we'll sleep in the airport terminal hotel and tomorrow we will fly out to Vancouver first and then on to Auckland. The train actually left on time! We should get to TO about 1:30 p.m. More to come - when it's more exciting. 😁
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Post by MagdaFR on Oct 17, 2023 15:46:56 GMT
Have a great trip!
We already have 13 hours of daylight so New Zealand must be similar (or better).
Enjoy!
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Post by roverpup on Oct 17, 2023 23:04:51 GMT
NZ Adventure Tuesday October 18
Everything went smoothly this morning. Boarded the train on time and right now we're on our way to TO. Met a couple at the train station going to Cyprus for a month. He was a retired teacher.
We should get to Toronto about 1:30 p.m.
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The train was right on time! It was a smooth transition from Union Station to the Hotel at the airport. Dan's now relaxing with a short nap and then we are going into our terminal an seeing about checking in and see if we can get our boarding passes for tomorrow.
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Didn't get our boarding passes but we took a walk to see where we check in tomorrow.
Funny thing happened - the Air Canada helper was very professional and gave us all the information we needed (including going out of herway to find out where we could buy a new charger) but when I went back to ask her if being business class made any difference where we would go, she all of a sudden softened her tone and was "extra" nice! She said "Oh! Well, you're in Aisle ONE!" and then she smiled a BIG friendly smile and told us where THAT was! We thanked her and went off to buy our new charger. And we checked out the "special" area where the Business Class clients were checked in. Very fancy!! LOL!
Suddenly we were "special". Oh how the other half live! And imagine - we are only masquerading as one of those "special" people!
Anyway we then went to the hotel bar and had a couple of drinks to relax us. Now we're just chilling out in the room until we have dinner. Tomorrow we leave for Vancouver at 1 pm-ish. We are planning on checking out and then heading to the Maple Leaf Lounge to have breakfast (all included in the business class ticket).
**************
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Post by roverpup on Oct 18, 2023 13:58:50 GMT
Got up early and showered. Didn't sleep too well but did a lot of resting.
We checked out of the hotel and then headed to the business class check-in. It was almost empty so we got to an agent right away. Little bit of a scare when she said that she couldn't find our tickets for the TO to Vancouver leg of yhe journey, but she persisted and soon found the problem and corrected it! We got our boarding passes for both legs of the journey, so now we're set for boarding passes all the way through to Auckland.
Security wasn't too bad - just took a bit of time with my bag and purse. But soon we were through and we checked out the gate we were leaving from and then headed to the Maple Leaf lounge.
The food selection was very good! I had a toasted bagel, bowl of fruit, yogurt and a hard boiled egg. Dan had the fruit, a crustless quiche and a yogurt.
And it was quiet and comfortable in the chair section. We actually came early and they are supposed to only allow you in 3 hours ahead of when you depart, but the guy at the desk let us in about an hour early! I think he was being nice because he saw we had a very long day in front of us with going to NZ.
Our flight leaves around 1 pm .
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Post by roverpup on Oct 19, 2023 13:59:12 GMT
The lounge was great but we decided to leave it with about 25 minutes to go before boarding because we didn't know how long it would take us to find our exact gate. Turned out we timed it well and we had to wait only about 15 minutes and then we started to board.
This was only a 5 1/2 hour flight so the business class seats were just larger comfy regular seats, with a lot more leg room and a console/table between our two seats.
We were in the second row just behind the cockpit.
They're serving us lunch soon - both Dan and I are having the chicken dish. But first we're having a cocktail and snacks. I can smell the food from the galley... it's driving me crazy!! It smells soooo good!
Our flight is full! They were trying to get people to check their bags and threatened to be watching really carefully for too big luggage but nobody even glanced at our bags!
... More later... ***********
Lunch was "da bomb"! The salad greens has pomegranate seeds in it! Pomegranate seeds are one of my favourite things! The chicken dish was cooked chicken breast with a tomato sauce with a small pasta (the kind you put in Italian wedding soup). With olives and green beans. Really delicious!
About 2 1/2 hours to go now.
The cabin has been pretty quiet considering we have an infant traveling with a couple who are seated just one row back of us.
More to come! ... *********** Just over an hour to go before we land in Vancouver. They have 12 music channels to listen to and I selected the "chill lounge" channel. It's great - calming meditative music that lulls you into a relaxed state of mind. I'm sure I've never had this before on an airplane.
Even the crying baby doesn't faze me!
When we land we'll probably make our way to the Signature Maple Leaf Lounge in Vancouver International if it's close. Our flight doesn't leave until 9 p.m.- ish (boards at 8-ish) and I don't think we'll be leaving the security area, so we'll have bit of time to visit the lounge I think.
********* Found our boarding gate and we are now in the international business lounge. Very lovely! It's very grey and misty in Vancouver right now.
We just had a light meal - the orzo chicken soup was REALLY good! We're getting dinner and breakfast on the airplane so we didn't want to fill up but sometimes you just eat to fill in the hours. Dan's gone off to watch the hockey game in one part of the lounge and I'm guarding the luggage and using the free wifi.
In about 40 minutes we'll head down to our gate.
And then it's off to Auckland! *************** First impressions of Air NZ... great personal service. The staff was very friendly. The meal was waaaaay too complicated! It really was fine dining and it was a logistical nightmare I'm sure for the staff. There were so many courses.
And they allowed you to "customize" your main course. Lovely but again the staff was run ragged sorting out every detail. There were 18 people in the business class cabin and there were 4 stewards dedicated to just that cabin. Bit things were often delayed because the meal was so complicated. But like I said it was exquisite - the food was gourmet and even the presentation was gorgeous!
The lie-down bed was cramped. Air Canada's layout is far superior! I really felt almost claustrophobic!
And like the meal the actual seat environment was waaaaay too complicated - couldn't find the headphone plug. Couldn't find how to release the tray table. Couldn't figure out the buttons on the entertainment panel. Couldn't reach half the buttons. Dan even had trouble finding the toilets!
I'll have to review the sleeping accommodations later, when I've had a chance to sleep.
Right now they are sloooowly serving the main course. I chose the "Super Salad" with Roasted free range Chicken on top. It is DEVINE!!
I had Carmel Ice Cream with pretzels on top for dessert.
Soon after they started offering to make up the beds. It took about 5 minutes for each stewards to make your bed but WOW it was totally worth it! They actually change the seat into a flat form and the lay a foamy mattress pad on top. Then they supply you with a quilt and 2 soft pillows.
It was a really comfortable sleep. I'm not sure but I think I must have slept about 6 hours. Unlike when it's in seat form the bed is actually quite spacious.
At the moment the crew is just starting to prepare for the "brunch service" (just got a messageon my TV screen that brunch is coming shortly). But most people are still sleeping. Both Dan and I asked them to make up our chairs again. We have about 3 and a half hours before we land.
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Post by roverpup on Oct 19, 2023 14:04:48 GMT
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Post by mllemass on Oct 19, 2023 15:44:29 GMT
It all sounds fabulous! Keep the updates coming!
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Post by roverpup on Oct 20, 2023 14:36:51 GMT
NZ JOURNAL October 20th
Breakfast was HUGE! It came in 4 courses. First was a juice or smoothie, then coffee and a baked item (we had croissants) and then an oatmeal course (it was "overnight oats) which was unbelievably delicious!!! And finally the main breakfast course scrambled eggs either chorizo sausages and potatoes. Both Dan and I couldn't finish.
We watched an intense sunrise over Auckland as we landed and soon we were making our way through customs and biosecurity. Passport Control was a breeze but biosecurity was a HUGE delay!
In fact it took so long our transport driver was just about to cancel but decided to give us a few more minutes.
The drive into the city centre was smooth but fairly lengthy. Check-in was a breeze and soon we were in our room relaxing and getting organized. We decided after-hours showers we would go for a walk and see if we could find the location of where we would board for the dinner cruise tomorrow night. It was a REALLY warm day. We had a few false starts, got turned around a bit and then finally we found the kiosk and talked to the agents about the procedures.
Lunchbaas next on the priority list and we chose White & Wong on the waterfront. Chicken Noodle Soup and a plate of grilled octopus to share. Both were delicious! Especially the dumplings in the Chicken soup!! After lunch we were planning to go to the Sky Tower and make dinner reservations but we loved it so much on the waterfront We decided to bag the tower and come back to the warf . We made reservations at a restaurant called Oyster and Chop. It's right on Viaduct Harbour. We walked back to the hotel for a rest, feeling pretty good about our first day. Got to familiarize ourselves with the Harbour area, checked out tomorrow's Harbour dinner cruise site and used the cards successfully! Plus Dano found his "NZ souvenir" for his collection. We're also thinking of going to the aquarium tomorrow during the day.
See you later! ************* FRIDAY NIGHT
After having our naps, we got ready for dinner. I was having a bit of upset and needed Imodium, so we sought out a chemist shop (really close to our hotel) and I got the appropriate meds (the rapid acting and that dissolves on the tongue). We walked down to the waterfront and too some pix of the sunset before going to dinner at the Oyster and Chop house. We had a lovely outdoor table facing the Harbour pedestrian walk.
Our choice for our meal was an appetizer of 6 raw oysters to share and a couple of cocktails (Dan had a "Clover Club" and I had a "Water Lily"). Our main was a sharing platter of Lamb shoulder and a couple of salads (and our waiter suggested a glass of NZ Syrah red to accompany the meal). The lamb shoulder was enormous! Slow cooked, it was fall off the bone tender and was the size of a small roast! We couldn't finish it of course.
We felt bad because it was so delicious but there was obviously enough food for 4 people, so it was impossible to finish! We were so stuffed we could eat dessert.
Really lovely meal for our first night in Auckland!
After we got back to the hotel we relaxed for a bit but went to bed early to meet sure we were ready for tomorrow. We have to buy a transit card tomorrow if we are heading out to the aquarium. Then tomorrow night is the sail around Auckland Harbour and dinner on the boat. Should be interesting! *************
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Post by roverpup on Oct 20, 2023 14:39:33 GMT
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Post by jbc12 on Oct 21, 2023 11:02:30 GMT
You're off to a roaring start, RP! This sounds like such a dream holiday. Can't wait for the rest of your updates. 🙂
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