I made it to New Zealand safe and sound. The flight from Vancouver to Auckland was nearly fourteen hours. This is my third visit to New Zealand. I came the first time in 2012 when Ben proposed to Iris, then again in November 2017 for the birth of my first grandchild, Percival. This time is special because not only am I here for the birth of Tilly’s first baby (currently nicknamed Kiwi) but my parents came along as well.
Travel to New Zealand While You Still Can
I have been encouraging my parents to visit New Zealand since I first came in 2013. I was here again for the birth of my first grandson, Percival, who was born in 2017. And finally, something clicked, because this time when I booked my tickets for New Zealand, they booked theirs as well.
We parted ways at Auckland airport. My parents are headed down to Masterton where BEN! and Iris live. They will spend about a week there, spend another week exploring the country on their own (hello, Hobbiton), and then a week up here in Whangarei with Tilly and Jared and (hopefully) Baby Kiwi (who is due June 8th).
You haven’t officially arrived in New Zealand until you drink a bottle of L&P. I am pretty sure that’s in the Bible. Or something. At any rate, I sipped this L&P while I worked on Percy’s rainbow cable knit vest. I was hoping to finish it on the plane but ended up doing very little knitting since it was a red-eye and I was tired. I will finish it in the next day or two and then mail it to Iris.
Airport Security in New Zealand
As in, there is no airport security on domestic flights in New Zealand. I checked my bags for my flight from Auckland to Whangarei and then decided to go through security and grab lunch. Except, when I went to walk through security an hour before my flight, I was told, “We aren’t boarding until 12:25.”
As an American, I naturally assume that going through security in an airport will include: removing my shoes, going through a body scanner, having my carry-on x-rayed, giving blood and DNA samples, leaving all liquids behind, offering up my firstborn child as a sacrifice, promising not to abuse kittens, drink decaf coffee, or chew my gum too loudly.
Turns out, in New Zealand they just let you walk right on a plane like they are just assuming you aren’t some kind of sociopath intent on taking the lives of complete strangers.
Weird.
I hadn’t realized your girls are so far apart in NZ. Somehow I imagined them being around the corner from each other!
It makes me happy that security still doesn’t exist in NZ ❤️
No security??? That’s awesome. One more reason to contemplate becoming a Kiwi!!
Pleased to see you made it to NZ! There is some security on domestic flights – the larger planes, so that usually only means security when travelling between the major cities (Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin). It’s nice not to worry about it for all other destinations!