Picking up where I left off… Breakfast on Friday. We all love food and free food tops the list. The Pullman had a lovely spread: from gluten free options, charcuterie, eggs cooked your way, poached eggs in warm salsa, bacon, two types of sausage links, and juice galore! So I stepped outside my comfort zone (I am trying this a lot this trip) and tried the feijoa juice. It looked like unfiltered apple juice, and tasted a little like apple juice but with little bitty seeds in it. It was quite good.
These pictures really don’t do the breakfast justice and I am not sure why I didn’t get a picture of our plates… I must have been hungry.
From the hotel, we left to catch the shuttle to the domestic terminal of the hotel.. a worker mentioned we should leave around 9 to get there. So the shuttle (there are at least two and the poor drivers just drive in a circle ALL DAY LONG…….) took about 5 minutes. You can self check in and get a bag tag for your checked luggage. Then you put your luggage on the conveyer belt and sit in the large open waiting room while you wait for your plane to be called.
And yes, there was a Krispy Kreme Donut store. And yes, they had a strawberry (not cherry) filled donut. There was no HOT and Fresh sign, but people were buying them. This screenshot is courtesy of the Gammy who said, “So our friends will understand that American big biz stretches far and wide. We may be far away from home but there is still civilizationā¦. And Krispy Kreme not to mention subway.”
We met some really nice people while we were waiting for our flight to be called. A nice couple from Grisborne and one from Nelson. Nelson is in the Marlborough region. Our flight is called, we walk to the doors to take us to the gates, scan our boarding passes, and pass through. No security, no customs, so civilized. The plane was a little puddle jumper and our flight attendant David handed out little glasses of water, lemon meringue popcorn, and strawberry macadamia nuggets.
Once landed in Bay of Islands or KeriKeri, we were told not to use our phones on the tarmac… But then walking into the aiport building itself there was a gate with totems and glass etching on the doors. So what would you do? Yes, I pulled out my phone and was reprimanded. Oops my bad.
We walked into the airport and there was Tatsio our driver waiting for us. We retrieved our baggage and loaded into the car. One of our stops on the way to Russell was to Haruru Falls. He explained there was another waterfall close by, Rainbow Falls (scroll down for Rainbow Falls blurb). So he took us to both!
Flat Jesus made an appearance at the falls as well!
There is a nice little park at Haruru Falls and we were able to see birds in the wild.
We then ventured to the store to pick up some wine, cider, beer, snacks, and lunch food before heading to our hotel, The Duke of Marlborough, otherwise known as The Duke. I would be remiss in not telling you that we took a car ferry to Russell and Pony was in the suitcase in the back of the car. Prince Charming did get his picture taken on the ferry.
After lunch, Dotty went for a walk searching for beach glass, because guess what? No, it is not snowing; Yes, it is low tide! š The rest of us may or may not have had a little nap. Jim and I took a little walk around sunset as we were told the sunsets were beautiful here. We missed it and there were clouds. Then it started to rain. We came back to the hotel, retrieved the Gammy and the Miss Dotty (and maybe a bottle of wine) and headed downstairs to play Rummikub. After 4 hands, we called it quits for the evening and went to bed.
How was the clearance beer?
Havenāt tried them yet!