Departure+and+Arrival+in+Noumea

===We left Nelson on a cold but clear morning to arrive in Auckland where it was raining and cool. All the luggage arrived despite the chaos at Nelson airport! Walked to international as shuttle bus was already full. It was good to get a bit of fresh air and we looked like a long crocodile snaking along the blue line. Not too much bother to get everyone one checked in. Rebecca was greeted by her uncle and two cousins who she had not seen for ages- nice reunion:) ===

3 hours seemed to pass quite quickly only Rochelle suffered a little from travel sickness- we will buy the pills for our return journey.
=== By 5.20pm NZ time ( 4.20 pm local time) we had touched down at Noumea International only to be greeted with sunny skies and 24 degrees- puffer jackets, scarfs and hats were dispensed with pretty quickly. Through customs and bio security no problems though Raymond from Tapawera got a free shoe clean for his farm shoes. ===

=== Then it was on to the bus for the 40 minute drive to Anse Vata where our hotel is. Students were impressed by the marble entrance and interior and pleased to accept the free fruit cocktail on our arrival. The only disappointment was the hotel policy did not allow swimming after 5pm! Everyone was sent off to find their rooms with their plastic keys only bit of congestion in the lifts and a misunderstanding about how to activate them prevented them getting there quickly. The adventurous few braved the stairs (3 or 4 flights). ===

=== Not long to settle in as dinner was booked for 7.30pm at a nearby restaurant. By this stage everyone was starting to fade. Unfortunately after finally taking 36 different orders our food took a while to arrive but was generally edible and at least the restaurant manager charged us less which was good considering the exhorbitant prices (yes this small island is expensive) Everyone was happy to head to their rooms and bed. ===