Well it’s been a rather hairy few days. We have moved into our next house sit, a nice house, spacious,
with a good pool, and in a secluded area in a cul-de-sac, so no traffic noise
really.
We have a black cat to care for, a fluffy black moggie
who is, as cats, are, the owner of the house and land, and thinks we are at his
beck and call. But he is well behaved and doesn’t cause any trouble. We have to
bring him in at night and keep him inside. Many people here keep their cats
inside at night to protect any wildlife around.
My mum has been admitted to hospital. She is 93 years old
and has been frail for sometime, with dementia quite a problem now. But it
seems she may not have long left, so my sister and I are off to New Zealand
tomorrow to see her, and probably arrange a funeral for her.
We are going to a small town called Paraparaumu, an hour north of Wellington. You can see it on this map.
You know, when you want an air fare at the last minute,
and especially at this time of the year with school holidays here, it can be a problem
getting a flight. I have to say, that I find the Flight Centre to be really
good. They have people online most of the time. I rang the local number, got a
girl called Lana, who was so helpful and found flights for my sister and I at
prices we could afford. She made the bookings and sorted out some passport
issues we had and did everything with a minimum of fuss. At stressful times
like this, such help is priceless.
The other thing we found out is that Air New Zealand
offers compassionate fares. I rang them at
1800 737 747, and spoke to someone there. So this might be useful information
for my family, some of whom will try and come over for the funeral. The costs
vary, but as long as the passenger can give official documentation that their
relative is sick or having a funeral they will do the best they can to give a
reduced fare. You can also apply retrospectively.
I thought that was pretty good.
So tomorrow we head off for the shaky isles, and I sure
hope there are no big earthquakes to greet us!
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