Departure, Arrival and First Day
Trip Start
Jun 07, 2008
1
13
Trip End
Jun 28, 2008
Auckland,
North Island,
New Zealand
Monday, June 9, 2008
On the plane, we were in row 71 and my mom and sister were in row 34. Amy and I had the whole middle section to our selves (4 seats). There was a crying baby, but he only cried during takeoff and then I think they slipped him whiskey or something because he calmed right down
Like any other city.
. They served us dinner and we tried to sleep but I didn't get more than 2 or 3 hours. We had movies on demand, so I watched P.S. I Love You - which was a super dumb move because it made me miss Adam even more and I cried through the whole damn thing. I also watched 2 episodes of House and half of Intolerable Cruelty before I fell asleep again. I didn't read one page of my book on the plane, but I did read 2 magazines. They served breakfast and soon after that, we arrived. So, we landed around 5 and went through customs and the biosecurity check. Amy tried to go through a faster line than the rest of us and she ended up getting an evil agent who gave her a hard time for not having contact info on her visa when none of us did because we're going to so many places. I helped her escape and then we waited for a million years to get the car and the sim cards for our phones. Finally we got into the car and Amy drove around the parking lot (or carpark) 20 times while I set up our vodafone accounts and figured out the GPS. Our hotel doesn't have an address, just an intersection and it caused a problem on the GPS until Larissa figured out how to get to the menu and select intersection. So there we are: exhausted, smelly, cranky and Amy is the angel who is driving us around in the dark, in the rain, on the wrong side of the road.
We made it to the hotel and it was sunrise, we settled in and started trying to hook up the internet and figure out the phones so that we could call Dad and all of our assorted boyfriends
Rush Hour
. That took a long time. Finally, we figured it out and we were able to call Dad and say we were here safely and I got to Skype with Adam, possibly the best part of my day so far :) Amy and I showered and we went to munch on our continental breakfast. It was about 9 am. We tried vegemite, almost threw up, had great croissants and pastries. And lovely blackberry yogurt. During breakfast, we read the guidebook and decided that we were going to take a drive to Coromandel Peninsula. So, off we went. We headed towards Thames first, and sadly never got any farther, as our lack of sleep caught up with us right about then. But we did have a lovely time exploring and we got to see real New Zealand farms and tons of sheep and lambs and cows and even a goat. In Thames, we walked down the main drag, got sandwiches, looked at scary pastries, went to a mall which consisted of a food court connected to a Pak 'N Save (like its near namesake in the US) on one end and The Wherehouse (like a Home Depot aesthetic with a Kmart inventory). Amy describes it as Costco's bastard relative that nobody acknowledges. We got toothpaste and shampoo and other such goodies there, including some souvenirs.
At this point, it was around 1 pm on Monday and none of us had slept for more than 4 hours since Friday night. So, we headed back, and once at the hotel, we all split up. Larissa and my mom relaxed in their room, Larissa emailed her boyfriend. I napped and Amy went to the pool and sauna. Dad called and we chatted for longer than we had this morning, and then I began to upload the photos from today. I talked to Sarah online for a little while and Amy and I just ordered room service - Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli with Tomato & Basil Sauce and a green salad to share (with lots of extra tomatoes). It's not here yet and Amy just opened a box of cereal to munch on, and spilled it all over the bed. I love Amy and I'm so glad she's here. Pictures of the room to come tomorrow, once the maid comes and it's not all towel-y and crumb-y and lived in :)
