26 September -
Sharron ZL3AE
photo Flo KU7F and Sharron ZL3AE
Glenn ZL3GL (OM) Aaron ZL3UAR (son) and I flew to Auckland on Tuesday 24 to spend a couple of days north of Auckland. We used a rental car to travel up the west coast to the Kauri Forest (had never seen one before, was must impressed by the size and sheer number of them) and to the famous Hukianga Harbour, across to Paihia where we spent two nights, before travelling back to Auckland on Friday. Went up the Sky Tower and then headed toward Hamilton. Unfortunately the rain set in on the Southern Motorway and we next saw the sunshine when we landed back in Christchurch on Monday evening.

I have decided that the navigator is a very important chap, as by the time the map is turned every which way and oriented to the movement of the car, usually the road we wished to turn down, had disappeared behind us.

We found the way to East Hamilton by a fairly circuitous route and on to the Motel we had booked those months before, Margaret ZL3UD had arrived before us and she was attending the dinner at the Novotel Hotel with the DX. We decided to find our way to the Gardens (just down the road) and the Novotel Hotel where we would be going on the morrow. It is fun exploring in the rain but someone had turned all the street lighting off too and it was not quite so much fun. We found it at last and Bernard was ready to greet me, hand me my registration bag etc. Back to the Motel to settle in.

28 September - the Thursday before YL2000 Meet by Bev ZLlOS

My OM Graeme and I arrived at the Novotel Tainui Hotel in the heart of Hamilton just after midday on Thursday 28 September. We had only been there a short time when a bus with a large group of YLs and OMs from various countries arrived at the main doors of the hotel. Loads of luggage were unloaded, it was not too long before the foyer of the Novotel was transformed from a place of silence into a place of much talking in many different languages, plenty of hugging and