Land of the Flat White Cloud: Episode 2

The first country in the world to see the sunrise you say? Well, that makes us the first parents in the world to see the sunrise. Every. Single. Day. Whoop dee doo.

 

Luckily, playgrounds are plentiful. And so are cafes next to playgrounds. 

Take four times a day orally to ease symptoms of jetlag. Warning: Do not operate whiny children for 30 minutes after consumption.

A Kiwi house with central heating?! My goodness, what will they come up with next, a house with no ants?

Winter by a technicality only.

Little Queen Street. Keeping Auckland a one-street town.

Looks like the Skycouch concept is taking off.

Blue sky, sparkling water, sun, islands! Not the Manawatu.

Squiggles secured! Mission accomplished soldier, let's move out! To the Milo aisle.

This is winter? 

Mommy, is this where they catch the chocolate fish?

Hands off our boltholes tech bros! Do you really want to see out the Apocalypse with no central heating?

Which of the Three Waters is this one again? Because this is the one I want.

If you see the Russian Navy coming... well, you'll probably be fine with this 100-year-old cannon.

This is New Zealand after all, you get four seasons in one blog post. Not the Four Seasons. 

The classic corner dairy has gone all hipster. What happened to a bag of lollies for a gold coin? Uhm, the same thing that happened to property prices.

The Zeros are coming! The Zeros are coming! They're coming straight to the price tag for that Double Grammar villa you've got your eye on.

Iced chocolates, a Kiwi classic. It's not Cafe Cuba, but it's close.

Omaha Beach, a.k.a. Montauk South. 

Hang on Dad, I thought you said there are no land mammals in NZ?

Just like the Moa, the extinct Snail Gigantica Pinkus came in XXL only.

They seem much more palatable as unagi rolls, don't they?

Eel Command, come in.

Dinner never more than a boat ride away in the City of Sails.

A flat white a day keeps the jetlag away. Ok, who are we kidding. 

Heading to a playday with Aquaman.

Hey, you're that guy! The one selling the Longest Drink in Town!

Land of the Flat White Cloud: Episode 1

And so it begins. Only a two hour drive, a four hour flight, a 15 hour flight, a Happy Meal and a Big Mac to go. Any longer and Amazon would slap a Prime logo on it and call it Lord of the Rings.

Two hours in and already a sneak preview of the Auckland Harbor Bridge at rush hour. It's not too late to pocket those Happy Meal Pokémon cards and call it a day.

Now listen up kids, forget this whole Covid thing, the only thing you need to remember is do not, I repeat, do not, put an apple in your bag. That's right up there with smuggling in a John Eales autobiography.

Yes Piper, I know it's hard to believe, but Mommy and Daddy used to do this for fun.

Paw Patrol, episode IV.

Houston, we do not have a problem. The kids are actually playing nicely. Requesting permission to do another couple of orbits.

Before you complain about the heat just remember you've got winter in a kiwi house only 15 hours away.

Dad, does the Chūtoro Meal come with a toy?

Four Pokémon rolls, coming right up. I chew you, Pikachu. 

Not on the left coast any more folks, no middle box to check. Pick a side.

Downgraded to car seat class.

Everybody drives in the burbs.

A playground with air conditioning is a beautiful thing.

N Zed 29 with nonstop service to Auckland is ready for boarding. Glad they clarified nonstop because you can't be too careful these days. Looking at you NZ1.

A tailwind? Daddy that's not fair, you said we had 15 hours of TV!

Skycouches for the win.

Kids are asleep by Hawaii, things are looking up.

Patchy wifi over Tahiti, gotta work on that team.

G'day mate, nice to see you too.

Been a long time between flat whites.

Grandpa, which side do they drive on again?

A glorious winter's day. So long as you don't step inside an actual house.

Ride 'em right on down to the fish and chips shop, thanks.

Do merry-go-rounds spin the other direction in the Southern Hemisphere?