Friday, October 13 and Saturday, October 14

We finished the tourism part of our trip with a visit to the island of Waiheke, a wine area and home to a mix of longtime locals and wealthy Kiwi imports.

A few web sites even refer to Waiheke as “The Hamptons: of New Zealand”.  As far away as Suffolk County, NY is, it is amusing to find this comparison.

 Some pictures here show the beauty of the island. (All Vineyards)

The ferry back to town was made more enjoyable by a standard poodle who must have smelled my Daisy on me, and came for a snuggle.

As we are returning to New York tomorrow, we finish the day with dinner and a pack up.

Saturday morning is a mirror image of day one. I have my last, and only New Zealand dialysis session scheduled. We bring all the luggage with us to Dialysis, as we will leave directly to the airport as soon as the session is over.

We then commence the long journey home. While the flight is only [???] 16 hours back to New York, it is part of the time that reclaims the day lost when coming. The departure time is actually later than the arrival time in NewYork.  Thanks to the International Date Line, I figure that this particular Saturday will last about 44 hours overall!

Here are a few closing flight pictures.

Sunset over the Southern U.S.

Rain clouds while approaching NYC

You know you’re about home when these towns show up on the flight map.

If time and tiredness don’t get in the way, I may add some closing comments when I’m back home. In any case, within 48 hours of arriving home, I will return to my regular dialysis routine at St. Catherine. Some routines must be retained.