When I woke up on Wednesday morning, April 18, I couldn't believe how quick the past two and a half weeks had gone by. After a shower, I began packing my luggage, during which Jay came in to say goodbye and to wish me a safe trip home. When I finished all of my packing, I had breakfast in the kitchen, with Mia as usual running around, staring up at me occasionally. Mandy then drove me to Melbourne Airport where I would be on my way home after a great trip Down Under. Mandy and I said our goodbyes as she dropped me off at the terminal.

The fun part of the vacation was over, but there was still the 23 hours or so until I would set foot again in Toronto, as the long time in the air is as much part of the vacation as anything. I checked in for my Air New Zealand flight 124 back to Auckland, and also received my boarding passes for my connecting Air New Zealand flight 2 back to Los Angeles and my Air Canada flight 796 back to Toronto.

As if on cue, as our Boeing 737-300 was getting its push back, rain started to fall. We were delayed as we went back to the gate and a sensor had to be replaced. The replacement was successful and we were off back to Auckland. The flight out of Auckland International Airport was delayed for about an hour as the Boeing 747-400 we were to fly out on was late in arriving from Brisbane. It was dark outside by the time we departed. I was not so lucky this time to have an empty seat beside me for an overseas flight, so my streak would end at three. In fact, there didn't appear to be an empty seat in Pacific Class. After dinner was served and the first movie was shown, I was quickly asleep. I couldn't believe that I got in nearly six hours of sleep during the 12 hour flight back to Los Angeles. I was positive the excellent seats contributed to my ability to sleep so long for so well. I woke up, saw the last movie as brunch was served. It was a slight adventure in itself at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Due to the time zone change back a day from crossing the International Dateline, we landed at LAX in the afternoon, the same day as I left Melbourne. However, due to our leaving Auckland late, we subsequently arrived in Los Angeles late. Unlike when I was flying to Auckland, all arriving passengers had to clear United States customs. So I had to line up for half an hour, all the while staring at my watch, noticing that I didn't have a whole lot of time to catch my connecting Air Canada flight back to Toronto. After finally clearing customs, I retrieved my baggage from the carousel and re-checked it back in at the Connecting Baggage desk before exiting Terminal 2 and going upstairs to the Departures level of the same terminal. As I entered, I heard the final boarding call for Air Canada flight 796 to Toronto. So I ran through the terminal to the gate where the flight was boarding. I even heard my name among several others being paged to proceed to the gate immediately for boarding. I handed my boarding pass to the attendant and boarded the Airbus A320. Luckily both Air New Zealand and Air Canada arrive and depart from the same terminal in the nine terminal LAX Airport, or else I wouldn't have made it onto airplane for the flight back to Toronto. For the first time during my trip, the airplane was only about half full. I had both seats between myself and the aisle empty, so I was able to stretch out across all three seats for the whole flight. I took one of the complimentary newspapers from the flight attendant so I could read up on any news that happened while I was away. It was at this point that I finally accepted the fact that the vacation was done, finished, over. About 15 minutes after I boarded, we took off, flying over the Pacific Ocean and then turned around and headed east. It was a very quiet and relaxing flight back home. A major contributing factor was that the airplane was only about half full, and there were no screaming babies or children on board. We arrived earlier than scheduled at Lester B. Pearson International Airport in Toronto, shortly after 10:30PM. The terminal was fairly empty as we walked through and for the first time, I did not have to line up to clear customs. As I was probably one of the last ones on board and had my luggage loaded just before take off, it was the very first piece to come down the chute onto the carousel. I picked it up, walked out to find my brother there who would take me home. I instantly noticed how much colder it was than any day during my two and a half weeks Down Under. In less than 10 hours, I would be back at work. Now I really knew the vacation was over!

It was a vacation definitely worth taking, if nothing for the fact that New Zealand and Australia are so far away from home, and I can now say that I have been there. The adventure activities were definitely the best part of the trip, despite none of them are included in the original cost of the tour (you have to pay extra for them). They were worth everything I paid for them. It also didn't hurt that $1.00CAN was worth about $1.55NZ and $1.25AUS at the time ... now I know how U.S. citizens feel when they come to Canada! And as usual, the social factor is a big advantage of taking a Contiki tour because everyone is between the age of 18 and 35 and meeting and hanging out with people of your own age group is at least half the fun. I have no regrets about the tour through New Zealand (except for maybe that first night in Christchurch...). We really only had one day of bad day of weather during the tour (and that was actually for just the morning in Fox Glacier), the rest was excellent. My only regret, outside of the actual tour part, was not spending more time in Melbourne, but with the limited vacation time we get in North America, I couldn't do too much about that. But now I am more determined than ever in going back to Australia sometime in the next few years and seeing much more of it!

I hope you enjoyed reading about my travels Down Under. For those who have yet to travel Down Under, I highly recommend it, and I hope this gives you a good taste of what to expect. The people are friendly, the scenery is beautiful, and it is the premier place for adventure activities. For any or my travel mates and anyone else who has travelled to New Zealand, I hope this brings back some fond memories.

Thanks for reading, and please don't forget to Sign the Guestbook!

Why not continue reading about my other travels?

Taste of Europe
June 7 - 18, 1999

Spain & Portugal
August 28 - September 9, 2000

Best Hotel Room Decoration
Mick and Ranny
Runner-up: Colleen

Best Regurgitation
Colleen
Runner-up: James

Famous Wine Connoisseur
Stuart

Most Colourful Teeth
Claire and Eric

Largest Shooting Device
Fred

Smallest Shooting Device
James

Most Shooting from a Single Device
Michael

Uncontrollable Shooting Device
Matan

Likes it U.K. Style
Vicky

License Revoked
April

Full Lunar Eclipse
Colleen

Celebrated a Birthday
Bernardine

Celebrated a Birthday that Wasn't His
Stuart

Best Strings
Michael

Best Laundry Service
Christine

Longest Nickname
Ranny
(2nd Generation Filipino Educated in Hawaii)

Shortest Nickname
Ranny
(2G)

Most Nicknames
Indrani
(Calgary, Grandma, Ann, Mario ...)

Same Name For More Than One
Michael/Mike/Mick (3)
Leanne (2)
Tessa (2)
Glenn (2)

Same Last Name, No Relation
Julie and James

Lost Luggage (but found)
Indrani and Chad

Lost Wheels (still missing)
Matt

Smoothest Operator
Chad

Most Heart
Extreme Colleen the Machine
(Rock 'n Ropes, tandem skydiving, tandem hand gliding, Triple Challenge: Shotover Jet - Helicopter Line - Shotover Rafting, Bungee Thrillogy: Kawarau Bungy - The Ledge Bungy - Nevis Highwire Bungy)

The wing of the Air Canada A320, on the way home from Los Angeles to Toronto