Have Dialysis, Will Travel (Anyway)

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…

Thursday, October 12.2023 Kia Ora is welcome, hello, or be healthy in the Maori language. (The Maori are the largest indigenous group in New Zealand.) We are in Auckland, New Zealand, about 1500 miles east of Sydney, across the Tasman Sea. We arrived late yesterday, and today is our first opportunity to get a taste…

Tuesday, October 10 Today we spend our last day in Sydney. Tomorrow is a travel day as we fly to Auckland, New Zealand. Since today is a treatment day, we limited our walk to the general neighborhood of the hotel.  We walked over to Hyde Park, which we last visited on arrival day almost a…

Monday, October 9 There’s so much to do in Sydney, but so little time left. Sometimes you just have to slow down. Today is such a day. We took a walk through the Darling Harbor entertainment district. There is much to do during the day if you are traveling with children. During the evenings, the…

Sunday, October 8 Today we did the thing that most of my friends, young and old wanted us to do. We went to wine country (the Hunter Valley) via a wildlife refuge. Gerri and were joined by two young American couples celebrating their honeymoons. Did I feel old! After all, our trip was a delayed…

Saturday October 7 With dialysis scheduled for this afternoon, our activities are limited to the morning. Time has to be reserved for lunch and train time. Fortunately, today’s activity is a mere two blocks from the hotel. We are heading to the tallest structure in town, the Sydney Tower.  View from hotel room window From…

Friday October 6 If the Sydney Opera House is the most iconic symbol of Sydney, then the Sydney Harbor Bridge (affectionally called The Coat Hanger by the locals) is a close runner-up. Bridges fascinate people all over the world, regardless of size and span. In New York, the Brooklyn Bridge leads the way.  In San…

Day 4, Thursday October 5 Writing an action blog is difficult, not because of a lack of material to write about, but because time seems to pick up speed. Before you know it a day goes by in a whirl, and you get too tired to fight through it.  Today was such a day. There…

Today was a bit hectic, as we had to change planes in Auckland, and then get into the city from Sydney airport, (after getting through customs, of course.)  Sunrise over Auckland To cut to the chase, we arrived in Auckland at 7:30 AM local time. After a one+ hour layover, we took off for Sydney,…

(and 2)  New York to Sydney via Auckland Gerri and I have checked in with Air New Zealand at JFK, and I’m now reporting from the business class lounge that ANZ shares with Lufthansa. I will probably not be able to post from the plane after we take off, so I will save all new entries…