I am officially in NZ!

 

Hello all! Writing from inside the Auckland airport! My flight landed about 2 and a half hours ago, and since then I’ve been running around through the airport claiming baggage, going through customs, changing currency, etc. I then realized I was extraordinarily dehydrated, probably due to the fact that I’ve been sweating like a fiend since L.A., so I snagged 2 of the largest water bottles you’ve ever seen.

 

After my L.A. blog post last night, I walked outside around FOUR terminals to get to Air New Zealand. Of course ANZ also had to be the very last one in terminal 2. If you’ve ever been to LAX, you know how ridiculously large those terminals are. It was gorgeous outside though, so it was nice to go for a little jaunt (aside from the fact that I was lugging 40-50 pounds of bags, hence causing the beginning of the sweat issue).

 

I did have a slight hiccup while checking in at ANZ. Apparently, they recently changed the rules about how many carry-ons you could have: from 2 to 1. I was able to avoid a $50 checked bag fee by taking some sneaky advice that the check-in lady gave me, but I had to do some rearranging with my carry-ons in case the checked one didn’t arrive on time. (FYI though- all bags made it to Auckland.)

 

By the time I boarded the plane to Auckland, I was exhausted, hungry, mildly irritated, and in a generally unfriendly mood. The plane was SO nice though! You could not be angry on that plane. The seats were huge and super comfortable. I watched the entire first season of Modern Family (arguably the funniest show on TV right now). The 13-hr accidental fast + McD did not go over so well, so unfortunately I did not enjoy any free drinks :( In fact, I didn’t eat or sleep a whole lot because my stomach was not happy with my poor food choices. But I think when I get to Dunedin (arriving at 4 pm; hoping to be at my destination between 5-6), I will crash until about 10 am tomorrow.

 

Not much else going on right now. I’m currently in the Arrivals area of the airport, so I’m about to head over to the Domestic Transfers terminal. Oh and by the way, just to make you all jealous, it’s about 70 degrees outside right now. When I picked up my bags in Auckland (you have to pick up your bags at your port of entry and then re-check them if you’re taking another domestic flight), I changed into shorts for THIS outside walk. My legs were so happy. They were sweating, yes, but also I spilled about half a coke on my jeans during the flight. And water. And then when I got into Auckland airport, I spilled a fruit cup all over the floor. And my one of my bags flew off my bag-pushing cart. So it’s been pretty much a complete fail since I’ve left the U.S. But I’m pretty sure I've been entertaining all the kiwis with my bumbling antics, so at least that’s something.

 

Ok well like I said, when I get to Dunedin, I’m hoping to just immediately pass out and sleep for 12+ hours. So I’ll probably have another update ready tomorrow when my travels are temporarily over. Hope all is still well in the U.S.!