After travelling for over 24 hours, we’ve finally arrived in New Zealand. The commute here was uneventful, with the exception of spotting Jamie Foxx in our 7 hr. layover in LAX.
We are now staying at a hostel in Auckland’s Ponsonby area, where we’ll rest for the day before hitting the roads. Tomorrow we will be heading up north to visit the Bay of Islands and then make our way back down south and visit Hobbiton from Lord of the Rings. Driving on the left side of the road is actually pretty straightforward in the city, there’s lots of signage and reminders – Dan’s doing a great job getting us where we need to go!
The flight staff were kind enough to relocate the loudest child aboard from the nether-regions of the plane to the row immediately preceding our own. From there the little one shrieked us to sleep at regular intervals, guaranteeing a restful flight. While I do feel a little petty to complain at the outset of an adventure, it was a feature I feel obliged to mention.
Just heard about your big adventure today… so very jealous and overwhelmingly happy for you!! To be young and free… oh my goodness. Have a great time, you two!
JS
Enjoying your posts! Its finally warming up here with above 0C temps!
If you haven’t already, watch the Japan earthquake videos on CNN. Its utter devastation. Perhaps you might consider including that on your itinerary? I heard Samaritan’s Purse is helping and will send a team.