Kia Ora from New Zealand

We have arrived at our destination of Auckland New Zealand!!!! This leg of our journey went quite nicely minus a couple little hicups like Darryl having to see to a fainting girl at the airport and Zaiah barfing in her carseat 1 minute away from our hotel. Otherwise, everything went smoothly. Immigration, security, the flight through Air New Zealand which was AMAZING btw. They Embarrass North American airlines. The food, service and clenliness of the airplane was wonderful. We even enjoyed a couple glases of wine and beer complimentary :)
This was unlike our travel experiences over seas.
From balancing weight in the suitcases, to pulling it all through the airport without letting Darryl's beast of a kite board bag not hit anyone which did end up happening once or twice, it was maddness. Trying to keep an eye on the kids, on the passports and boarding passes, the carry-on's....
So we get through T.O and then we get to L.A.X where we began what felt like a 10 suitcase, 8 carry on, backpack adventure with carseats and the stroller. We had to pick up our suitcases again for an 8 hour layover to transfer them onto the Fiji airline which didn't open for a couple of hours. We were stuck with these suitcase.
Then began the line-up's and disorganization. One thing we learned very quickly is that there is truth to the saying "island time". Fiji time is definitely different then it is for us in North America. Nobody is rushing for anyone. Very laid back, a nice way to say slow, friendly but often confusing.
The 10 1/2 hour flight was a little painful. The girls slept off and on and we felt as if we were in a twilight zone for most of it. By the time we arrived we were sweaty, tired, and hugry. The heat and humidity hit us like a wall. None of us being dressed for this type of climate. But once we got down and retrieved all of our suitcases, which unbelievably they all made it, we were greeted by the warm smiles and friendly and helpful natured fijians. The Sheraton that we stayed at was breathtaking with its open air foyer that flowed to the back where there were a number of pools, resturants and bars along the back drop of the Ocean. The hospitality of the people of this beautiful resort was above and beyond.
After checking in we enjoyed an amazing breakfast buffett but it was still only 7:30am at this poin so while waiting to check into our room later that day we grabbed our suits and headed for the pool. Because of our early arrival one day felt like two which was great since we lost a day jumping the full 18 hours ahead in timezones.

We stayed here one night and then the next afternoon headed on a boat to an island resort. The beach was pure paradise! We enjoyed 3 day's of beach, pools, snorkeling and other water activities. The girls swam for 8 hours every day of our time in Fiji. Another thing we learned the hard way was that at this resort you need to check, double check, and the triple check EVERYTHING. The service on this resort wasn't as amazing and many times we found ourselves in predicaments that we thought we had already been clear on. Things like luggage, bugs, water and sport safety, for the kids, time etc. Very confusing and at times very frustrating. But, the beach made it all worth it here.
On our last day we headed back to The first hotel b/c it was close to the airport so it was a nice way to end our trip and thankfully they were nice enough to hold the extra luggage that we had while we were at the other resort. So glad we didn't have to lug that with us again.

So we've had one full day now in Auckland and so far we love it! They people are friendly, the weather is great (similar to ontario summer so far) and the view, stunning. Darryl has been trying out his right hand driving skills which is very funny and scary to be in the passenger seat. He is doing great though. Not quite sure when I will attempt my skills in opposite land.

Hope to write more soon and figure out the best way to upload our pictures. For now here are a couple that Tracy took.