April 7, Making Our Way to Melbourne

Yesterday, we had cancelled our original flight to Melbourne before we knew I would get a new passport. That flight was scheduled to leave Auckland at 8:50am. Once I was given a new passport, we rescheduled our departure on the 12:25pm Air New Zealand flight. Therefore, we had time to sleep a little later, have a leisurely breakfast, and return to the room for a bit, before departing the hotel. About 9:50am, we went downstairs, had the concierge call a cab, then headed to the airport.

When we went to check in at the airport, things occurred about as we had expected them to. With Doug’s new emergency passport not being tied into Australia’s electronic travel authority (ETA) system, we knew that we would not be able to do standard check in. The ticket rep tried to help us with applying for a new ETA with the reissued passport, but the glare of the surface made it extremely ticket to read. Fortunately, she persisted and enlisted the assistance of a colleague, a younger woman, who was able to do it fairly quickly and with little difficulty on a different phone. Eventually, they were able to enroll me in the ETA system with the new passport. My travel was approved within 5-7 minutes, so we continued to the security gate, and eventually got through to the international terminal.

While we were in route to the airport, we received an email that our flight’s departure had been delayed from 12:25pm to 14:10 (2:10) pm. Therefore, we had a lot of time to sit around and wait. Still, the time to depart did eventually arrive. We went to the gate and waited for the boarding announcement. As we were waiting, we struck up a conversation with a woman who was seated next to us. She was there with her husband, two young daughters, and her parents. They were all Americans. Apparently, she, her doctor husband, and children had come to New Zealand before the pandemic set in. Once the pandemic did set in, they were locked in the country, unable to leave. And so, they decided to permanently reside there. Her parents came from Miami, Fl to see their grandchildren, and now the entire family was headed on vacation to Australia for two weeks.

Boarding time was called, we loaded the plane, and the flight took off. Here are some of the photos I took from the plane’s window – our last look at New Zealand.

(Auckland coastline)

(Auckland coastline)

(Distant view of the Bay of Islands)

(Farmland outside of Auckland)

The flight was fairly uneventful and slightly more than three hours after takeoff, we began landing in Melbourne, Australia. Here are some of the photos I took as we approached the landing strip. We deplaned, went through Immigration, collected our luggage, went through Customs, then emerged into the international arrivals area. The driver we were expecting was not there, so we got our own taxi and made our way to the hotel, the Savoy on Little Collins Street.

(Aerial view of Melbourne Central Business District)

(Melbourne highway -- aerial view)

(Seen outside of Customs)

(On the highway into the city)

(View of Melbourne skyline)

(Lobby of the Savoy hotel)

(View of the Main railway staten across the street from the hotel).

We checked into our hotel room, confirmed our plans for tomorrow, ordered room service dinner, then watched Australian television. Not as many options as we have back home, but it entertained us, until we got ready for bed.

Tomorrow morning, we have the time free. We will likely take the downtown tram, which is free and has hop on/hop off service. In the afternoon, we are due to be picked up at 2pm, to go to Phillip Island to see the Penguin Parade. There is a colony of thousands of blue penguins – also known as “little penguins”, as they are the smallest of the 18 penguin species. This colony is on the rebound after almost having been wiped out. Their return track from their night feeding is so well established, that benches and other observations places have been set up for tourists to observe them without interfering with the penguins’ march to their nests. The adults are returning to their nests, to feed their chicks, typically one chick per nest. We are looking forward to seeing this natural phenomenon.

Goodday Mate!