We arrived in Auckland around 6:30am on June 18th. Groggy and jet lagged, we exited the plane and headed to Customs. I felt like I was in a daze for most of the morning. My body felt weak. Being on our flight that was over 12 hours long, my whole body felt asleep. As we approached Customs, I fumbled with my passport and working holiday visa papers. I presented the items to the Customs Officer and she looked me and my information up and down. It's so easy going in NZ. With a big smile and a head nod, I thought for sure I was well on my way. BUT, as there is always a but, my working holiday visa had a little bit of an issue - as apparently my birth date was wrong on in the system, which cancels down the application. Thankfully, me being in one of the most friendly and easy going countries I have ever travelled to - they were able to wave off the mistake and honer my visa. phew.
Baggage claim is always stressful - it's always a gamble if your luggage is going to show or not. Our bags came out pretty fast and we only waited about 10 extra minutes for my ski bag. Once we had our belongings, we headed to the security check and had our bags scanned and checked again. Questions like 'are your hiking boots clean and are you carrying a tent' were the most important. New Zealand does it's best to keep out foreign flora and fauna. We were in the clear, and dropped out baggage at the check in station. Good to go.
We had a connecting flight at 10:30am, to Queenstown / Frankton. Waiting in the Domestic Terminal, I ate sushi for breakfast and drank loads of water. Feeling a little woozy and jet-lagged, we went through another security check point and headed to our gate to wait for our final flight.
The flight from Auckland to Frankton (Queenstown) was easy. Ben and I sat apart (as our seats were assigned without our planning) and I chatted up a UK guy, who had lived in NZ for 7 years now. The flight was only 1 hour and 45mins. Most of the flight was cloudy below, but as we approached our destination, the clouds parted and I could see the snow covered peaks of the mountains in the South Island. It was a beautiful sight for my tired eyes. Reminded me of flying over the Rockies in Canada. I had a quick thought: holy CRAP. It's winter. What was I thinking?? The anxiety passed once we landed and I saw (and remembered) how beautiful it was here. I was excited to get settled and explore.
Liz greeted us at the airport with a big smile and a loving hug. I hadn't seen her since Japan in 2012, and it was nice to see her smiling face again. The first thing she said to me was: holy crap your tanned! I mentioned that it would be very short lived, as the tan will fade with out proper sunshine.. ha! Thomas was working, and we would be able to see him later that evening. After waiting for our luggage, and jammed all our stuff into their truck, we were off to the grocery store to buy a bit of food to tie us over 'till tomorrow. I was hungry. I had a carrot salad to tie me over. The plan was to shower, unpack, explore, get a phone and meet up with friends for a steak dinner around 6pm. We wandered the streets of Queenstown in the rain (what a shock to the system) and met up with Ben's friends. He was so excited to see everyone. It had been three years since he was last here, and seeing his good friends again made him feel great. So far, I've met many great people from the UK, USA and NZ. I am sure it will continue...
Ben and I were trying with all our might to stay awake until a reasonable time. By the time we had two drinks and a full steak dinner in us, we were ready to pack it in. I think we feel asleep by 8pm. It was a long day, and it was most definitely time to rest out travelling bodies. Tomorrow, we working getting myself a bank account, a car and start searching for jobs. It's going to be a busy couple days here.
R&B
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