Photo: Dr Warren Sutton at Auckland airport
May 17, 1978 The Pan Am flight to Auckland left San Francisco at midnight. Luckily the plane was only about 1/3 full and I had 3 window seats to sleep on. But I got little sleep and the 13 hour flight seemed very long.
When we arrived in Auckland it was the morning of the 19th. For being late fall the New Zealand hills were incredibly green. I met briefly with Dr Sutton, an old math professor from the SD School of Mines. He drove me to the lookout on One Tree Hill. Everyone drove on the wrong side of the road.
The Air New Zealand flight to Melbourne left about noon. The meal was the best I’ve ever had on a plane. Customs in Melbourne was easy. Paul and Robin were waiting for me outside the customs area.
Robin gave me a quick tour of downtown Melbourne delivered in a fast Aussie accent that I couldn’t understand. Then we drove back through town to a vegetarian restaurant and on the way Robin quizzed me on everything we had just seen. I failed miserably.
The drive to Pauls house near Nichelson was somewhat tricky as it had been raining all day and the Princes Highway was flooded in spots.
Photo: Fall colors
May 20, 1978 We rose very late. The weather was quite rainy and windy. Paul hates running in rain but we ran a few miles anyway.
In the late afternoon we drove to Lakes Entrance where Paul has his vegetarian Mexican restaurant, Tres Amigos. Mike & Karen Raney, his fellow owners and coworkers, had both taught physical education at Bairnsdale. Also helping in the kitchen and playing guitar was Fred, a teacher from Melbourne. Tres Amigos is a combination takeaway and restaurant. Solid wood tables and chairs set in booths framed around the tile floor. The service/customer relationship was very close.
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