This is Tui, our daughter and grandson’s cat. She is named for the black and white tui bird, indigenous to New Zealand, and  she’s the first one to greet me every morning. I still wake early here in New Zealand, just as I do at home in California. I’m at the computer, enjoying my morning coffee, just like home. It’s interesting how we have our habits no matter where we travel.

 I’ve been here almost a week and have settled into the routine nicely. I’m in the Mount Maunganui area on the North Island. We are a block from the beach and I feel like I’m in San Clemente, California. The other day we saw two people riding a can-am Spyder like mine. Watching surfers cross the road, surfboards tucked under their arms, makes me feel as if I never left Southern California. I do not drive here, because vehicles and people walk and drive on the opposite side of the road. I am not brave enough to try. This area has few traffic lights, but many round-abouts, and that too is a challenge for me.  Thanks to my I-phone I can instantly be in touch with family at home. I do have to remember that we are currently 19 hours ahead of California — but I find it easier to think of it as five hours behind, and one day ahead.

I highly recommend Air New Zealand, the airline that brought me here. Los Angeles to Auckland flights usually leave in the evening. Air NZ serves a wonderful dinner, and every passenger has their own movie screen for watching the latest movies. I usually get several hours of sleep before Air NZ serves a tasty breakfast. We arrive very early NZ time, 5:30 a.m, and if I stay awake until local bed time, I find I’ve adjusted nicely. It really is a very easy trip. Honestly! The flight is 12 hours, but not a difficult one.

The people here are wonderful, and very friendly, but I will leave that for another posting.  I have not posted in several days, and would like to get this one out. Today we are going to tour Comvita, a  company that produces and exports honey. I’ll take photos and report on it tomorrow. Bye for now, from New Zealand.