Dec 31, 2025 - Auckland NZ to Melbourne AU

 

We set the alarm for 5:00 am so we could catch the 6:10 am shuttle (Yellow Bus) to the airport. We arrived at the bus early and ended up getting the earlier, 5:50 am, bus which was fine since we had heard warnings about the long lines. We also have no TSA Precheck or Priority in countries outside of the US, so we got there early. Turned out we had plenty of time and no surprises at the strip search.

Between movies and shows we burned up the 3.5 hour flight with a break for a light breakfast (yogurt). Another customs check in Australia and then an Uber ride to the hotel (Dorsett) in downtown Melbourne.

We decided to walk across town to the Melbourne Museum to get a little history. We spent a couple of hours there and then hit "museum saturation" and walked back to the hotel to rest. Then out to an English Pub for dinner.

It's New Years Eve and there are 9:30 pm fireworks just a couple of blocks from here for the kids (and old folks who can't stay up until midnight), then another fireworks show at midnight. I'll let you know if we made either of those...

 December 28, 2025 - Bisbee AZ to Auckland NZ

Three flights today. 6:15 pm flight from Tucson to Phoenix so we were "wheels up" out of the driveway 2:15pm. A couple hour layover in Phoenix and then a flight to Los Angeles. A couple hour layover in LA and then the long 13 hour flight to Auckland, NZ. As usual we leave on a Sunday and arrive on a Tuesday since we cross the date line. We'll get the hour back when we return.

We had dinner on the plane and then a few hours sleep, then breakfast on the plane. Customs at Auckland and Deb (aka "Eco-Terrorist") got busted again by the sniffing dog for the apple she had just left on the plane. To be fair, Milo got busted as well since he had just disposed of his apple on the plane as well after they told us about the $400 fine.

Customs was fairly routine and we decided to drag the suitcases the three km to the hotel (JetPark Auckland) for exercise. We had a few hours nap and then dinner in the hotel. The NZ dollar is worth $0.58 USD so things are fairly reasonable. Then off to bed.