After at least 37 hours of flights and layovers we have arrived in Auckland, New Zealand for our next great adventure. The original flight path from Austinà LAXà Fijià Auckland all changed while we were enduring the 8 hour layover in LA (which I must ad is the most confusing and awful airport I have flown through). We now had to fly from LAà Sydneyà Auckland, which added 5 extra hours of travel time, but put us on a much nicer and brand new double-decker plane that flew non stop for 15 hours. However we got here in one piece, and miraculously with our 6 checked bags that included Tony’s cooler (aka “chilly box” in Kiwi lingo). Tony has a very special way of packing that maximizes the use of duct tape. The cooler was full of shoes and camping gear, with at least a ¼ roll of duct tape covering the lid and sides to prevent it from opening (which actually worked). His other lovely piece of luggage was his camping backpack with a PVC pipe filled with fishing rods strapped to side of it, a loose tent, and a towel covering all the items, all tucked into a rip stop bag my mom made, once again covered in duct tape. The wonderful thing about this is that due to his recent appendectomy, he cannot lift over 20 lbs until Jan. 1st, leaving me to haul this glorious luggage around, but at least he can wheel the cooler on his own. Last night we stayed at BASE Auckland, which is a lively youth hostel in the middle of downtown. Everyone is young, but very friendly, and one of the girls that shares our room worked in Gardiner MT this summer. This is where Tony worked and 5 miles from my job, what are the odds of finding someone all the way around the world that worked in the same small town as we did?
As for today, Tony is in orientation for his work program, and I will be heading to the immigration office shortly. We have been true American so far, eating a $5 Dominos pizza for our first dinner and I am currently at a Starbucks. But the “holiday favorites” are slightly different and you actually have to purchase something and have a ½ hour time limit to use the internet. Onward to our weekend of errands and settling in to this new and exciting country!
