Wellington, New Zealand – 8 February 2011 at 5:22pm
Kansas City, USA – February 7, 2011 at 10:22pm
Kansas City, USA – February 7, 2011 at 10:22pm
I’ve fallen in love…
With New Zealand.
I will be in New Zealand for a total of 28 days…I think I should have made the reservation for longer. A local Australian travel agent assisted me in booking a ten day trip to get the most out of what New Zealand has to offer and then I’ll be traveling on my own for the remainder of the adventure. Last night I boarded an 11:40pm flight from Melbourne to Auckland and then it continued on to Wellington...where I am now.
The flight is only three hours and there is a two hour time difference so needless to say I got about an hour and a half worth of sleep. I made it through customs and immigration but the “security dog” took my breakfast, an apple that I had purchased in Australia. No fruit can be brought into New Zealand since they are an island so don’t try it if you come here. I had about a two hour and forty minute layover and I needed almost every minute of it. The airport in Auckland has two separate buildings for domestic and international fligths and a shuttle bus that stops by every 15 minutes to take passengers to the other terminal…I chose to walk the 10 minutes and watch the sunrise instead of waiting for the bus…it was gorgeous!
The flight is only three hours and there is a two hour time difference so needless to say I got about an hour and a half worth of sleep. I made it through customs and immigration but the “security dog” took my breakfast, an apple that I had purchased in Australia. No fruit can be brought into New Zealand since they are an island so don’t try it if you come here. I had about a two hour and forty minute layover and I needed almost every minute of it. The airport in Auckland has two separate buildings for domestic and international fligths and a shuttle bus that stops by every 15 minutes to take passengers to the other terminal…I chose to walk the 10 minutes and watch the sunrise instead of waiting for the bus…it was gorgeous!
I boarded my next one hour and thirty minute flight to Wellington. Typically, I select an aisle seat as close to the front of the plane as possible…I’m usually one of the last one’s to board and one of the first ones off…I’m not a fan of standing in line so I wait my turn in the seats provided after everyone boards...I would rather wait in the airport than in the capsule of a plane. Since I wasn’t able to get a boarding pass in Australia for this flight I had to get a boarding pass at the gate. Luckily I was able to get one of the two of my preferences. I ended up with a window seat in row two. If you are flying from Auckland to Wellington I recommend the window seat…the view of the coastline was magnificent (see photo above). The only other time I have been so in awe of a view out the window of a plane was flying over the Swiss Alps.
I arrived safely at the Wellington Airport, got my bags and made my way to the prearranged shuttle waiting for me outside. The weather was perfect, the people were perfect…everything was perfect...I could live here.
Roger, the shuttle driver, dropped me off at Nomads Capital, the hostel I’m staying in for the night. The woman who greeted me was very nice but come to find out check-in wasn’t until 2pm and it was only 9:45am and I’ve only had 1.5 hours of sleep. She was nice enough to let me sleep in the lobby on a couch, ha! I was so tired I would have slept on a street corner. Backpackers were everywhere. From the looks of it this hostel draws a much younger crowd than the Olembia. I slept about three hours and woke up with some guy sitting right next to my head (literally he could have used my face as an arm rest) watching Old School on TV…his extremely loud laughing is what woke me up…weird experience to say the least.
Once 2pm rolled around I was able to get the key to my room which is REALLY nice for a hostel. It’s a dorm room (two bunk beds) with a private bathroom and as of now, I’m the only one in there…I’ll find out if I’m sleeping with strangers again when I return later this evening.
I dropped my stuff off, brushed my teeth and headed out the door to find a McDonald's (not to eat but b/c they have free wi-fi) to send my parents (the little worry warts that they are) a note to let them know I arrived safely. I posted on my Facebook account that I was in Wellington and immediately a girl from the KSU Rugby team responded. Jennifer (another friend I haven’t seen in 12 or 13 years) lived in Wellington when she was doing her Masters. We instant messaged for a minute and she recommended a fantastic place for lunch and a café for a little dessert (gelato). I was walking around and ask a couple locals for specific directions and they confirmed her recommendations. For a late lunch I had a Turkish Kabab from Abrakebabra (ha) and a coffee and gelato at Kaffee Eis (pronounced: Café Ice). Along the way, I stopped to get a couple post cards to mail to my family and filled them out and the café. I’m working on this blog while enjoying the beautiful city of Wellington and all its inhabitants from a street side café. Life is good.
Tomorrow, my day begins early at 8am with start of the Top Deck Tour - Pure Adrenaline. For the next 10 days I’ll be traveling with a group of strangers and hopefully experiencing some extreme sports and amazing sites around the South Island of New Zealand while making new friends and lasting memories.
More to update later.
Roger, the shuttle driver, dropped me off at Nomads Capital, the hostel I’m staying in for the night. The woman who greeted me was very nice but come to find out check-in wasn’t until 2pm and it was only 9:45am and I’ve only had 1.5 hours of sleep. She was nice enough to let me sleep in the lobby on a couch, ha! I was so tired I would have slept on a street corner. Backpackers were everywhere. From the looks of it this hostel draws a much younger crowd than the Olembia. I slept about three hours and woke up with some guy sitting right next to my head (literally he could have used my face as an arm rest) watching Old School on TV…his extremely loud laughing is what woke me up…weird experience to say the least.
Once 2pm rolled around I was able to get the key to my room which is REALLY nice for a hostel. It’s a dorm room (two bunk beds) with a private bathroom and as of now, I’m the only one in there…I’ll find out if I’m sleeping with strangers again when I return later this evening.
I dropped my stuff off, brushed my teeth and headed out the door to find a McDonald's (not to eat but b/c they have free wi-fi) to send my parents (the little worry warts that they are) a note to let them know I arrived safely. I posted on my Facebook account that I was in Wellington and immediately a girl from the KSU Rugby team responded. Jennifer (another friend I haven’t seen in 12 or 13 years) lived in Wellington when she was doing her Masters. We instant messaged for a minute and she recommended a fantastic place for lunch and a café for a little dessert (gelato). I was walking around and ask a couple locals for specific directions and they confirmed her recommendations. For a late lunch I had a Turkish Kabab from Abrakebabra (ha) and a coffee and gelato at Kaffee Eis (pronounced: Café Ice). Along the way, I stopped to get a couple post cards to mail to my family and filled them out and the café. I’m working on this blog while enjoying the beautiful city of Wellington and all its inhabitants from a street side café. Life is good.Tomorrow, my day begins early at 8am with start of the Top Deck Tour - Pure Adrenaline. For the next 10 days I’ll be traveling with a group of strangers and hopefully experiencing some extreme sports and amazing sites around the South Island of New Zealand while making new friends and lasting memories.
More to update later.
My mom got busted with a rotten orange in the bottom of her purse going from Australia to NZ. She was fined $100!
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