A few pictures

We don't look so hotsy in any of these, but here are a few shots from the airport and Auckland.

Travelling is Fun!

We're here at the Westin Auckland and it's beautiful, although it's wasted on us a bit since we're so tired and cranky (some of us more than others).

Yesterday kinda sucked. We got in at 6:00am, were held up in the customs line at the airport because we had fishing and camping gear and cat treats. Then they confiscated Iain's tent, so we had to wait a half hour to get it back. Then we couldn't find our rental car place and had to call and have one of their reps meet us. We tried to buy a cell phone but it was Sunday and the 2 Vodaphone stores we passed were closed. So we bought phone cards to call my family but the two payphones we tried weren't working correctly and kept rejecting the cards, even after we tried two different kinds. We ended up resorting to the $5/minute "Hiwe'reherebutIcan'ttalkbecausethisiscostingafortunebye!"

After breakfast at a neat café in the neighborhood of Ponsonby, we drove off to visit the cats in quarantine. When we arrived at the Pussycat Lodge we were informed that the owner was "at the hot rod show" and wouldn't be back until 5pm. We'd told the guy were coming, but he must've forgotten. This was agonizing - we were looking right at the building where all of the cats were, but couldn't get in - we even tried to go around the back and catch a glimpse, but it was impossible (although we got an idea what the cages look like, and they're nice and big, like the size of a large bathroom.) We had no recourse but to turn around and drive back to town.

The good news is that the hotel upgraded us to a corner suite, and it's beautiful (although the hotel doesn't let you use phone cards, so we still couldn't make any calls).

What should've been a celebratory day in beautiful Auckland was blemished by annoyances like "Hey Sas, I just called the cattery again and the guy's still not back, so we can't see the cats until tomorrow." and "Hey Iain - I just checked my cell phone usage and I'm over by 500 minutes."

In spite of things,we had a few good meals and walked around the harbor a bit. It was gorgeous outside. That evening, we realized we were too tired to wander around again looking for a place for dinner, so we went to our room and decided to get room service. It never happened: we fell asleep as soon as we got into bed.

Today we're flying to Dunedin to see Iain's family for a week, so we're really looking forward to that.

NZ Flight 001

Well, it's been a very emotional evening of phone calls with friends and family. I have to say, it's really tough to have heartfelt last goodbyes in an airport restaurant called "LA Roadhouse Route 66" surrounded by people eating chicken fingers and waffle fries.

Our flight boards in about 30 minutes, and we've already received a voicemail from our pet transport people letting us know that the kitties are safe and ready to go. Of course, I kept looking outside at the tarmac as if we'd see them board the plane... and ok, I finally realized I was looking at the wrong plane --- ours isn't even visible from the waiting area.

We are looking forward to dinner and a drink on the plane! More to come when we land...

Time to Kill

As a nice distraction from the cats (who we had to leave at a "kitty condo" all day) we hired a car service to take us on the standard tour of LA. Highlights included Britney Spears' house, and the hand and footprints in front of the Chinese Theatre.

About 3/4 of the way through the tour, we had to ask our very nice but VERY chatty driver to cut the tour short and just take us to the airport. We were absolutely exhausted! (the cats spent their last night kicking around in the litter box, meowing, racing around the hotel room, leaping on the bed, and knocking things off tables. It was as if they KNEW what was going to happen today, and were intent on punishing us.)

Final Vet Visit - thank god!!

This morning we drove to the vets for a final check-up for the boys. Our vet studied at Penn -- a good omen, I thought. She asked if Tama was "a Philly cat", then picked him up and said, "What up?"

After the visit they left with Louis - a super nice rep from our crappy pet transport company who made Iain and me feel a thousand times more comfortable than the other people we've dealt with.

Kristie Weston!

After another awesome dinner at the Olive Garden (I know....), we met Kristie for a few drinks at our hotel room. It was awesome to see her! Please excuse the blurry picture -- my camera kinda stinks.

The Cats are Ready!

This is encouraging!

Packing Skills

As the trip has progressed, my suitcase seems to have expanded, even though I haven't made any purchases. Fed up with seeing me shove jeans next to socks next to toiletries next to bathing suits, Iain finally begged me for the chance to re-pack my suitcase "the right way". I must say, I was very impressed, as was he. Hence the picture.

The End of the USA Roadtrip!

Well, we fly out tomorrow evening around 7:45pm Pacific time. We spent yesterday trying to relax while still dealing with the horrific pet transport people. I don't doubt that Blue and Tama will arrive safely and happily in Auckland, but the guy we've been dealing with (who I think is the owner) is an idiot. Our vet gave us some kitty Valium that I've been eyeing for myself.

We went for a nice long walk today along Manhattan Beach and had lunch outside. We've spent the rest of the day doing laundry, throwing stuff out, and packing. It's nice to finally be able to streamline, but a few items will be tough to leave behind, namely this awesome Tupperware lettuce bin that I've had for about 10 years which RULES. Iain assures me that they have Tupperware in New Zealand but I said, "But do they have THIS???" I tried to pack it, which was a joke. I finally admitted defeat. I hope someone from the Residence Inn housekeeping staff gets as much use out of it that I have.

When Iain moved from England to New Zealand as a kid, he had a small wooden elephant with him on the plane. It was one of the only toys he was able to bring. In keeping with this, we're taking Tama's favorite toy with us, so he has something to play with (besides Blue) when he gets to Auckland.

We may be offline tomorrow, unless LAX has WiFi (which I'm sure it does). Either way, we'll write when we land in Auckland and begin the second part of our roadtrip, sans kitties!

Hotel in San Diego

The cats are now totally unfazed by all of the moving around. Blue starts eating as soon as we shut the gate, and Tama just curls up and goes to sleep.

Liz, Justin, and Jack

We had an awesome time with Liz and Justin, although we indulged in a little too much bubbly! Here's some pictures.

Jeez!

California

We endured a long, six hour drive from Phoenix to San Diego - who knew there was so much sand? (see pictures) It's a good thing we're at the end of the trip because I am officially sick of loading and unloading the car every day!

The day wasn't so hotsy. The motel we were supposed to check into said that their "pet friendly" policy only extends to dogs, so we had to find another hotel. When we got there, they couldn't find our reservation, but were able to check us in anyway.

Then we had two hours of hell with our moronic pet transport people, who don't return our phone calls (or they do, but it's a vague email that you don't receive until later because you're in the car all day) and screw up dates -- just what you want when you're moving to another country in 2 days.

But, the evening was a blast: we saw Liz and Justin Ebert (and Jack!) and had a really great time.

Thank you, Jamie!!

We celebrated our last night in Scottsdale with a drink and appetizer at The Capital Grill, courtesy of our good friend Jamie who gave us a gift certificate (see picture). We each had a drink and a bite to eat, then we drove home at sunset.

We stopped along the way at Whole Foods, where we got a bottle of wine, some vegetables, fruit and a few chicken breasts for $102. Yea organic!!

Our hike up Camelback Mountain

I admit it -- we've been eating a lot. And we certainly enjoy our cocktails, so it's important to try to stay on top of it so we don't end up 20 lbs overweight by the time we get to New Zealand. Iain is much better at encouraging us to exercise than I am, so I reluctantly agreed that a morning hike up a mountain was the perfect way to help work off our recent indulgences.

The thing is, the hike was pretty intense, and it was not made easier by the athletes running by us in their cool hiking gear, all lithe and super attractive, while I wheezed my way behind Iain in my dorky shorts from The Limited that I bought like 6 years ago for Erik's Manayunk Bike Race Party (remember, Kate?) and a goofball tshirt from a bar in Philly. At least my sneakers are cool. Of course, Iain totally looked the part, with his swanky breathable running shirt and hip R.E.I. shorts.










The worst part of all is that we got 1 mile up and decided to turn around -- we didn't know how long it was to the top and we still had a full day ahead of us and wanted to get home. When we got back to the bottom we saw a sign that read that the summit is reached in 1.2 miles. We were so pissed.