KIA ORA AOTEAROA!

We had no idea that the orange drink heavily promoted on cinema screens in the 70s was actually a Maori greeting.  Literally translated as "good health/well being" but more generally used as just "Hi".  And with Aotearoa meaning "Land of the long white cloud" and adopted as the name for New Zealand, we can announce our arrival at Auckland with "Kia Ora Aotearoa!"

We really enjoyed the spacious cabin, gourmet meals and other advantages of Air New Zealand's award winning Premium Economy class.  Our aircraft featured a unique Hobbit livery and the safety briefing was a highly entertaining and amusing take on characters from Middle Earth including an appearance by the trilogy's director, Sir Peter Jackson himself.  Our flight  even arrived ahead of schedule.

At Auckland, another excellent family taxi service; this time by Mandy's brother Kevin who kindly drove the 400km round trip from Tauranga to meet us.  We will be staying with Kevin and Di for a few days and exploring Tauranga and the wider Bay of Plenty area.