So finally, Christmas holidays are upon us. I tried hard to sleep in until 8 o’clock, but I alway love a holiday escape, so I woke up around 7:45 and Deb graciously said I was allowed to get going.
So with the final items packed, and Scott (our house-sitter) all instructed we caught our cab to the airport. All the check-in things at Virgin are now totally automated, including bag drop, so once the technology was conquered we headed to the lounge for a snack and a drink. One of Deb’s work colleagues was travelling on the same flight, so we intended to catch up prior to boarding. But more exciting than that was sitting near Sophie Monk (The Bachelorette! no less) while various people asked for selfies. I of course did not participate in such trivialities.
Our flight over was uneventful, although I was somewhat surprised to get a meal and some wine at ‘no extra cost’…. A rare experience on a Virgin Flight! We picked up our rental car, a Kia Sportage. It is quite wide and cumbersome and seems to play a musical tone to cater to most eventualities … turning off, door open, lock the car… etc.
There is a new extension to the motorway out of Wellington which means you now get to avoid a lot of the small towns that often get jammed with traffic. We stopped at Fishermans Table at Paekakariki, a restaurant that serves fresh seafood and by all reports has done so for a long time.
The decor is showing it’s age, but the food was good, Deb and I both had a scallop mornay. The scallops were fresh and tasty. The outside tables offer fantastic views of Kapiti Island, especially late in the day as the sun gets low. I took this photo around 8:30.
It took us about another hour to get to Feilding where we checked into our hotel prior to a quick drop-in with the family to get instructions for the coming days. It seems things are largely organised, so we are looking forward to a few days of fun and relaxation.
Until tomorrow.
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