Day 14: A destined meeting, a fateful flight
We woke up ridiculously early today to drop off our rental car, grab a cab, and make it to the airport for our 7am flight to Melbourne. After buying some cheesy souvenirs from the airport gift shop (yes, we actually forgot to go into any stores while in NZ – but we just couldn’t get enough of the mountains), we sat by our gate waiting for our flight to board.
That’s when it happened.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama walked by us.
He walked through the gate, and onto… you guessed it… OUR FLIGHT.
At first, we didn’t know if he was on our flight or not, but as soon as we approached our aircraft, we saw him sitting there, in the front seat (in economy class!), surrounded by his entourage of other monks and many personal security guards. We were awestruck, dumbfounded, elated! People wait their whole lives to meet him, and of all the flights in all the world, he walked onto OURS!
As we entered the plane, we caught his eye, smiled at him (and he smiled back!) and we both bowed our heads with our hands clasped in front of us in respect.
Talk about a safe flight! We actually flew with the Dalai Lama as the orange glow of the sun rose above the clouds outside our window! We felt so blessed to have “met” him, and were in awe pretty much the rest of the day.
During our entire trip throughout NZ, we couldn’t help but feel that we must have done something pretty amazing in our life to deserve all that we have had the opportunity to experience. But that was the kicker. What a perfect end to our trip through New Zealand, and what a perfect beginning to the next leg of our trip.
This blog entry could/should end there, but that was actually only the beginning of our day! We arrived in Melbourne, took the shuttle to the city, and had to find a place to stay (last-minute, remember)! So we managed to find some internet, booked a hotel, and went to drop off our stuff and grab a much-needed meal. We napped (we haven’t slept much over the last few days), walked around the city a bit, had some dinner (the food here is so much better than NZ – and so much more reasonably priced!), and then explored the area. Melbourne seems to be a city full of hidden gems down tiny alleyways, and we found some pretty cool places tucked around corners!
On our way home, we happened to walk into a bar where break dancers were battling and rappers were free-styling! The breakers and the DJ were amazing. I (Gaurav) had to go with the flow and show the kids some old-school flavor and, for a short period of time, be part of the underground breakin/hip-hop culture in Melbourne. I soon realized my body has changed and I am not as fit as the younguns, but it could have just been the hiking and trekking in the last couple of weeks (as Rachna laughs at me in the background)!
We went back to the hotel and bought some internet time to book some stuff. No plan for tomorrow yet, but we know the things we want to see, so hopefully it will all work out!
We woke up ridiculously early today to drop off our rental car, grab a cab, and make it to the airport for our 7am flight to Melbourne. After buying some cheesy souvenirs from the airport gift shop (yes, we actually forgot to go into any stores while in NZ – but we just couldn’t get enough of the mountains), we sat by our gate waiting for our flight to board.
That’s when it happened.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama walked by us.
He walked through the gate, and onto… you guessed it… OUR FLIGHT.
At first, we didn’t know if he was on our flight or not, but as soon as we approached our aircraft, we saw him sitting there, in the front seat (in economy class!), surrounded by his entourage of other monks and many personal security guards. We were awestruck, dumbfounded, elated! People wait their whole lives to meet him, and of all the flights in all the world, he walked onto OURS!
As we entered the plane, we caught his eye, smiled at him (and he smiled back!) and we both bowed our heads with our hands clasped in front of us in respect.
Talk about a safe flight! We actually flew with the Dalai Lama as the orange glow of the sun rose above the clouds outside our window! We felt so blessed to have “met” him, and were in awe pretty much the rest of the day.
During our entire trip throughout NZ, we couldn’t help but feel that we must have done something pretty amazing in our life to deserve all that we have had the opportunity to experience. But that was the kicker. What a perfect end to our trip through New Zealand, and what a perfect beginning to the next leg of our trip.
This blog entry could/should end there, but that was actually only the beginning of our day! We arrived in Melbourne, took the shuttle to the city, and had to find a place to stay (last-minute, remember)! So we managed to find some internet, booked a hotel, and went to drop off our stuff and grab a much-needed meal. We napped (we haven’t slept much over the last few days), walked around the city a bit, had some dinner (the food here is so much better than NZ – and so much more reasonably priced!), and then explored the area. Melbourne seems to be a city full of hidden gems down tiny alleyways, and we found some pretty cool places tucked around corners!
On our way home, we happened to walk into a bar where break dancers were battling and rappers were free-styling! The breakers and the DJ were amazing. I (Gaurav) had to go with the flow and show the kids some old-school flavor and, for a short period of time, be part of the underground breakin/hip-hop culture in Melbourne. I soon realized my body has changed and I am not as fit as the younguns, but it could have just been the hiking and trekking in the last couple of weeks (as Rachna laughs at me in the background)!
We went back to the hotel and bought some internet time to book some stuff. No plan for tomorrow yet, but we know the things we want to see, so hopefully it will all work out!
Watching the sunrise with His Holiness
Graffiti art that pulled us into an alley to a hidden bar
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