>> and when we got level enough the new flight attendants served yet
>> another meal. Incredible food! The Fijian skycooks had not
>> expected a plane and didn't have sufficient meals prepared, and the
>> airline didn't want to wait, so we had non-airline food on
>> disposable plates covered in saran wrap.  Fresh, delicious, fragrant,
wonderful!!
>
>You were due some recompense....
>
I heard some people behind us say "this was almost worth it"

>> We finally got into Auckland at 4:30pm, instead of 4am. We only had
>> 11 days, and the first one was shot. We didn't see my sister's ex
husband,
>> we drove straight to my ex's sister and crashed there. We spent the next
>> day recovering, and then drove down to see my mother.
>
The drive from Auckland to Ohauiti is 200K which Richard assured me he could
do because he'd managed to get 4 hours good sleep on the way from Fiji to
Auckland.
>
Jeanette and Judy were thrilled to see us (being the remnants of the family
in New Zealand, they live very close to one another). Jeanie's husband,
Graeme, had come with Jeanie and their daughter on some visits over the
years, but Judy's husband, Ray had not come with Judy, so I haven't seen Ray
since April 1969. It was pure delight and joy to see him again.
>
When they heard the story of our flight, they were quite understanding that
we needed to crash right away. I had, in a dazed sort of fashion, noted the
palm trees and orange trees, but really couldn't tell where I was when we
first got there. Richard was in better shape. I now fully appreciate the
wisdom of not making this trip in November when I didn't feel I had
recovered enough. As depleted as I was when we arrived, if we'd made the
trip before I was fully well, I'm sure I would have been in hospital when we
got there.
>
Unfortunately, there was something in the room Jeanie had set aside for me
to sleep in that triggered some kind of allergy attack. Although I felt my
throat constrict and my eyes itch as I went in there, I was so beat I didn't
really notice, and went straight to sleep. When I woke up the next morning I
had as close to an asthma attack as I ever want to get. I've never had
asthma, but I assume that's what it feels like. I was wheezing and couldn't
catch my breath. It was as if my lungs were too full to allow any more air
in when I tried to breathe in. My eyes were red and one was swollen.
>
I spent as much time as I could at Judy's house, which is beautiful. It's
very tastefully, restfully funished, and spotlessly clean. It looks out over
a ravine lined with punga trees (giant ferns like palm trees), rimu (a red
wood tree), and kawhai (a smaller tree with lacy, fluttery leaves and yellow
flowers). At last, after all these years I heard tuis and bell birds again.
>
20 minutes out of Jeanie's house and I was breathing normally.

The drive to my mother's house is 419k, and we chose the route that avoids
Rotorua even though it adds more distance and time. We've both seen Rotorua
and neither of us wanted to cope with the smell of the geysers and boiling
mud (think rotten eggs). On the way we were held to a crawl going into Taupo
because of a traffic backup, which meant we took over an hour to cover 10
minutes driving, so we stopped in Taupo for lunch and phoned my mother and
told her we would be later than expected and not to wait dinner for us.
Then, crossing the desert, which we had expected to be a fast drive, we were
held up by road works, and it was a slow drive, taking hours longer than
expected.
Then, coming out of the desert, we went into a thunder storm. We couldn't
see any sign of the mountains (volcanos, Ruapehu, Tongariro, and Ngaruahoe)
because the clouds were right down to the ground. We couldn't see the road,
so we went at a crawl again.
We phoned my mother again to tell her we'd be even later, and not to wait up
for us.
We had dinner in Palmerston North where I went to school at one point.
Delicious seafood dinner, with a not too bad salad bar. They had a power
failure while we were there, but served us anyway. Pleasant and enjoyable. I
was able to show Richard the Square where I got into trouble as a school kid
by sucking lemons at an outdoor concert and ruining the wind instrument
player's "lip"
We arrived in Levin about 10pm, having planned to be there by 5, and
intended to put up in a hotel. Richard said, "Let's drive past her house. If
there are lights on, we'll stop. If it's dark we'll go to the hotel."
Every light in the place was on. We stopped. My mother had fallen asleep
watching TV and leaped up at the sound of us at the door (we could see her
shadow on the drapes). The look on her face to see me again after all these
years was almost worth it. She clearly never expected to see me again in
this life.
It was kind of funny, actually, because once her first excitement was over,
and she woke up properly, she was crestfallen that she'd intended to turn us
away for keeping her waiting so long, but in her excitement and being woken
up, she'd forgotten she was mad at us. She did her best to pull a guilt trip
over the dinner she'd prepared for us (roast chicken) but we just wrapped it
up to have the next day and she was never really able to get her scene
going. She told me she didn't care if she ever saw us after we'd left her
waiting and spoiled her dinner like that, but I just hugged her and told her
that I was glad to be there after all we'd gone through to get there. She
doesn't know what to do with hugs. She pushes you away and wriggles to get
free of you and glares thunderously that you dared to touch her. She used to
punish us, or ask suspiciously "what do you want?" "what are
you up to" and
go through our rooms to find out what we were hiding, or what we'd done -
she always assumed any show of affection meant we were sucking up because
we'd done something - but she couldn't accuse me of that this time and it
left her flustered not knowing what to do instead.
She'd had her home help make up two beds for us, and had thoughtfully had
electric blankets put in them, assuming, I imagine, that everyone feels the
cold as she does. Both of us turned the electric blankets off and kicked off
all of the covers until the beds were cool enough to sleep in, then added a
blanket or two, leaving the quilts off. In the morning we were each amused
to find the other'd had the same reaction.
>
In the morning it was clear to see how ill my mother is. No more leaping up
with excitement. She used to be a tiny little bird-like woman, very quick
and light on her feet, thin, wiry, bright eyes, endless nervous energy. Now
she's bloated by the water retention caused by heart disease, shuffling,
slow moving, and unable to do more than cross a room before she's out of
breath. One of the things that caught me unprepared is that you can hardly
see her eyes any more. She used to have huge brown eyes, piercing and
intimidating. Now you can't even tell what colour they are, they've sunken
so much. I wasn't ready for that. I'd told Richard that I was afraid if we
put this trip of any longer that we wouldn't be in time, and now I'm
convinced I was right.

More later

LJ

--- Rachel's Little NET2FIDO Gate v 0.9.9.8 Alpha