We have had a mental few days packing, organising and cleaning (plus farewelling friends and family over a few drinks if course!) But today the big trip began with a 5am start (Bernie only went to bed around 2am bless her!) and we soon realised that we had packed way too much gear...
Naturally we persevered and took the short flight from a glorious Kerikeri morning, to Auckland. The plane merely skimmed over the face of the planet due to the fifteen items of luggage we somehow talked then into checking in! We then (somehow) lugged our bulging gear to a hotel and spent the day with Paul, Shirley and co. at an awesome dinosaur and mini zoo attraction before heading back to the hotel to have a bit of a luggage cull... After a few fireworks and lots of debate, we reduced the load to a much more manageable amount. Massive thanks to Paul and Shirley for carrying the rest of our gear back to Hamilton to store for us... A second inspection of our slim line luggage revealed that I had inadvertently reduced the kids clothes from lots to very, very little (Will may have to live in a ninja turtle or spiderman outfit fur the next 12 months, but to be fair, that's probably what he would choose!)
Long story short, I was very successful in causing my over-tired, over-worked wife into further stress and repacking after endless weeks of planning and preparation... At least we'll be able to move around airports and islands without the use of an articulated vehicle!
Tomorrow we have a 3am start and a total of 13 hours in the air with two extremely excited (and better rested) children... Please wish us luck!
This is the luggage situation at 5.30am this morning... Rest assured it is now a buggy, one large holdall and about 5 other bags less...
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