Is this an April Fool’s joke?

March 31st – We just finished dinner after a big day of landscaping. Such a satisfying activity. I know, I’m weird that way. We also got the back deck sorted out as a soccer pitch and cleaned up around the gymnastics equipment. The Monkey was pumped. Soccer is definitely his favourite sport.

Gymnastics centre and soccer pitch. The monsters have a surprising amount of energy to burn off everyday.

The Kiwi and M had virtual cocktail hour with a group of friends that night. So, the hubby and I decided to sit out on the back deck, watching the waves roll in and the sun set. The kids had cleaned up after dinner and were already in bed. Sweet! It was a picture perfect night. Still warm and not a lick of wind. And you could see the stars. Always cool to see the southern hemisphere constellations.

Once the Kiwi and M wrapped up virtual cocktails, they came to join us for real, in the flesh cocktails out on the back deck. It was still so warm out. We sat outside until the wee hours chatting and just enjoying the perfect night. It doesn’t get any better than that.

Look at this wimpy Canadian wearing a jacket.

April 1st – We woke up the next day ready for a relaxing day in the sun. It was gorgeous out. We thought we would take the kids and go for a walk and then maybe hit the beach later. It was going to be another perfect day. We were really starting to settle in now.

Nope. We would not be doing any of that just yet. The hubby’s uncle sent him a note saying he saw that there was a flight leaving Auckland today for Vancouver.

Really? Is this some sort of April Fool’s joke? Don’t want to get our hopes up for nothing. But…. better call the travel agent just in case this is for real.

OMG… Yup. It is real. I mean really real. It was one of 2 flights leaving from Auckland that day. Rescue flights is what they were calling them. The other one was headed to Los Angeles. There was only 4 seats left on the flight to Vancouver. Do we want them?

Me: For real?

Travel Agent(TA): Yes. Do you want the seats?

Me: Are you sure?

TA: Yes. Do you want the seats?

Me: What are the chances this will be cancelled?

TA: Highly unlikely. Do you want the seats?

Me: Are we really going home?

TA: Yes. Do you want the seats?

Me: For real?

TA: Yes. DO YOU WANT THE SEATS!?

Yes! Book it! We are going home! Woohoo!

We had to pack and be at the airport within 6 hours. Not a lot of time but definitely enough. It was a very emotional 6 hours. There were more than a couple of tears shed. We were happy to be able to go home, but we were also really happy in NZ. Our friends are amazing. It is such a cool country. The people are really nice, warm and welcoming. The landscape is diverse and beautiful. Food and wine is top notch. Weather is awesome. Beaches everywhere and never crowded. Except for the roads, I was really going to miss NZ. A lot.

Packing was quick and easy. We got everything sorted and ready with an hour to spare. So what do you do with an hour to spare on a gorgeous, sunny, hot day in NZ? You go for one last dip in the ocean. And you bring a rugby ball too.

We loaded up the car and started to say some sad goodbyes. Not easy to say goodbye to everyone. Harder yet was trying to find a way to say thanks for everything. How do you say thanks for everything that they did for us. Still at a loss for words.

Cleary this was taken before the goodbye tears. I looked like I’d been punched in the face from all the crying by the time I got to the airport.

We headed to the airport with what we thought would be loads of time. Turns out, there wasn’t loads of time. We would get to the gate with less than 10mins to spare.

It was so weird being in the airport. We had to prove we had tickets for that day before we could even go into the building. We lined up for over 2.5 hours. Everything was being done manually and they only had 4 counters open to process 300 people – hence the running to the gate with less than 10mins.

The flight was full. I didn’t think they were allowed to have full flights but I guess rescue flights can be full. Not sure why we bothered with social distancing in the line up. There might have been room in front and behind us in line but definitely not on either side of us. And we would be sitting in a long metal petri dish for the next 13 hours with these 300+ people.

It was going to be a long haul home. We were direct from Auckland to Vancouver but then had a small layover before our flight to Calgary. However, we had nothing to complain about. The plane was mostly carrying Brits and Europeans. They still had some serious long flights to do. Felt bad for the couple sitting next to us. They were from Germany but to get home it would be another 24hrs and 3 more countries. Similar story for others around us too. Amazingly, people were in good moods and just rolling with the punches. But that could be due to all the wine on the flight. They served some beautiful NZ wines. I may have sampled some myself.

The flight was low turbulence. Only got sick once. New record! Next, Vancouver, to yet another very empty airport. Finally on Canadian soil!

Ok 1 leg done. One to go. We have some time to kill. Probably should let a few people know that we got a flight home and are actually back in Canada. We also needed to find some food. It was weird to see restaurants open. There was only a couple of places open but still. In NZ, nothing was open. I mean nothing and for some reason I kept thinking it would be the same in Canada.

Ok time to head to Calgary. This time, there was only a dozen or so people on the flight. And this flight was only an hour. Perfect. We are so close to being home now.

My sister, the rockstar that she is, got our car to the airport, filled our fridge with food and even made us a dinner for our first night back. She also sent us a gentle reminder about the Canadian quarantine act highlighted on the penalty part. Good to know.