Woke up to 21C and the ever-present wind!
For some time now we have been working on a way to burn up my Air Canada points before they all expire. We both wanted to go to New Zealand, so that was the initial goal. Well, if you’re going to New Zealand, you may as well stop off for a few days in the South Pacific, right? It’s a long way to New Zealand so you don’t really want to come back the same route do you?
The last part was our downfall. We explored return routes via Singapore, Beijing, Peking, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Johannesburg. There was always a problem with booking (did I mention a prerequisite to the trip was that we went in style … Business Class), only 1 seat available, only economy available,no seats available, the distance is too far etc etc.
Finally this morning I got on the phone hoping that a miracle might occur. It did, they picked up on the first ring! The guy seemed really friendly and helpful so we ran through a whole load of routings….. nothing! Tried another hopeful route and got cut off in the middle!
Luckily I managed to get hold of the same guy again, but that routing would’t fly (pun intended) either. At his suggestion we tried a routing I hadn’t even considered.. Bingo, it worked!
All this took 4 hours on the phone, but in the end it was worth it. We are now the proud owners of a trip that goes:
Ottawa, Toronto, Chicago, Los Angeles, Cook Islands, Auckland, Sydney, Seoul, Chicago, Ottawa
We’ll spend 5 days in the Cook Islands, a month in NZ and 4 days in Seoul.
After all that work my brain and cell phone need a rest!
OK, so now I need details. Whereabouts in the Cook Islands? They are fantastic!!! Are you campervanning around NZ, you have to do the south Island as well, so much nicer than the north!
In the Cook Is we’re going to Rarotonga. We plan to do both North and South Islands of NZ. Not sure whether we will compervan or rent a car yet. After yesterdays marathon booking session my decision making capacity has been reduced to zero.
Got a few checks for you to do in NZ, so look forward to your itinary. Sorry you are not going to make Johannesburg this time round! But quite an adventure to look forward to.
You’d best clear that with your little sister, she is the overland tour director. I just do the over water stuff.