Fog last hurdle to meeting long-awaited grandchild

Yengaro Henry Snr meets his grandson Yengaro Henry Jr for the first time today in Whangarei. Photo / Supplied

This morning's fog wreaked havoc with flights and weekend plans, but it couldn't stop a pair of proud grandparents from completing a journey 15 years in the making.

Yengaro and Akarere Henry were due to arrive at Whangarei Airport just before 10am to meet their newly-born grandson, also called Yengaro, for the first time - but woke to see the weather had stopped flights from Auckland Airport.

For 15 years, their son Sonny Henry and his partner Chrissy Tana, had been wanting to have a child, but even then there was one more four-hour delay to contend with.

Finally arriving just before 2pm, after a replacement shuttle bus was laid on by Air New Zeland, the Henry's said they were ecstatic to finally make it.

"We were meant to arrive at Whangarei at 9.50am and we were told the flights couldn't take off due to the weather. But, we made it in the end," Akarere Henry said.

"Thankfully it all worked out OK, it's been a really, really cool day and we're very happy. Our grandson is beautiful."

Yengaro and Akarere, who have three other grandchildren, will spend five days with the latest addition to their family.

"We're absolutely ecstatic to meet him, it was a really special time for us when we finally arrived here."