And so the trip begins! Check-in was super friendly and security was easy... although they didn't like all the snaps on my hiking pants and I had to get the "extra special" search. That's ok. I'm usually singled out for it anyway. I think it must be my terrorist appearance.
Loaded up and ready to go
The flight was extremely full, with every single seat filled... with, of course, a baby in one of them but fortunately not "too" nearby. Takeoff was extremely rough due to high winds. I had a window seat and was hoping to get some good mountain shots, but it didn't matter too much for we were in low clouds within minutes. Eventually they cleared as we crossed the mountain range. We then passed over some gorgeous red canyonlands.
The "backside" of the mountains
After the bumpy 1 hr 40 minute flight, we arrived in Phoenix, Arizona. I was at the very back of the plane and got to watch my luggage get off before I did.
It looks like he's handling my backpack gently... but this was just mere moments before he violently chucked it onto the cart.
It wasn't too long of a wait before I was on the plane to San Francisco. Do all planes have screaming babies as stock equipment now? I gathered my luggage (since this wasn't a checked-through flight) and walked out to the international terminal. I went up to the United counter to check-in... and was told that my name was wrong on the ticket and I wasn't going to be allowed to board the plane. Uh, what? Apparently my middle and last names had been switched somehow. The man called a supervisor but basically they told me their hands were tied and that I had to talk to my travel agent. So I called Yahoo but they told me that only the airlines could change it. Aaah... the ping-pong ball effect. Lovely. After badgering the guys at the United counter again for a while, they eventually sent me to the domestic ticketing counter. This guy was able to change my name on the part of the ticket that gets me to Sydney, but couldn't officially change the Sydney-Wellington ticket. So I was going to have to check in with Quantas when I got there to see if they would let me on the plane. So, at the very least, I went from potentially being stranded in SFO to potentially being stranded Down Under. My luggage, however, gets to go Waltzing Matilda through the entire way.
It is apparently a public holiday in New Zealand on the day I arrive... something called Waitangi Day (which apparently honors New Zealand's founding document from 1840). So lots of people have the day off. Regan, a guy I contacted through couchsurfing, is going to pick me up at the airport (assuming I can get on the plane from Sydney).
I still had another 2 1/2 hours to kill before my flight next flight left at 10:30 pm. It's been a long day already and I haven't even started the longest part of the journey!
So now it's only a few minutes before they are supposed to start boarding. Suddenly I hear my name called over the speaker. I go to the gate desk and they ask to see my visa for Australia since they can't find it in their system. Uh, that's because I don't have one because I'm not going to Australia but rather just passing through Sydney on my way to New Zealand. Apparently, since that part of the ticket wasn't confirmed, they don't have a record of it. According the them, I'm going to Australia and hence need a visa. They start trying to figure it all out but nothing seems to be working. In the meantime, people are starting to board. They simply can't seem to fix the second leg of the ticket so they begin to issue me a last-minute visa. I'm not sure how this is all going to play out, but they at least finally let me on the plane.
They ended up changing my seat, which I at first thought was a bad thing because it was completely over the wing (so no view of Down Under when it's down under). But it worked out well. The two people sitting next to me moved to the next row over and I had three seats to myself to stretch out and try to sleep. While I wouldn't say I was hugely successful, I did snooze enough to finally lose the headache that had been hounding me for hours.
SYDNEY/WELLINGTON (Day 3)
At some point during the night, I lost a day. In theory I will find it again on the flight back. After 13 1/2 hours, I arrived in Sydney. We actually got in 40 minutes early. We flew directly over the heart of the city and in theory I would have gotten a great view... if not for the giant wing in the way!
I still had to deal with the final leg of the ticket but it was fairly easy. The woman at the counter said if it had been Air New Zealand instead of Qantas that it would have been a BIG problem. Walking around the airport to my next gate was fun because everyone sounded like Crocodile Dundee.
I didn't have to wait very long until the flight boarded. It was a very full flight without much leg room. But you could select your own movie to watch from a personal touch screen on the seat back in front of you. Very nice.
The 3 hour flight to Wellington offered some amazing views.
Marlborough Sound (South Island)
Northern coast of the South Island
The North Island. The hills were dotted with tiny white specks (sheep).
A great view passing directly in front of downtown Wellington
Security was quite rigid, with several counters and inspections. At the final inspection, the man even asked me to show him the bottoms of my hiking shoes... just in case I was tracking in some Boulder soil. They are very worried about bringing in invasive stuff to this delicate environment.
Regan wasn't there when I finally got out of the luggage/customs area but walked up a minute later. He was parked in the nearby lot so we walked out to the car. I didn't realize it was a left-drive country so I tried to get into the wrong side of the car. I was allowed to claim jetlag as an excuse.
We drove down to a small cafe on Lyall Bay and had some milkshakes on the patio. It was a somewhat chilly wind but a beautiful day. The water was filed with surfers and kite surfers. Apparently everyone was out in droves because this was the first good day after several days of rain.
The surf was filled with activity.
We then headed out to Regional Wine & Sprits where they have rows of beer on tap that you can get free samples of. Most of them were too hoppy for my tastes, but it was a good, fun assortment.
The blurry picture is NOT an indication of having sampled too much!
Greg (another couchsurfing host) joined us, along with Laura (a German traveller) and Tessa (Dutch). I then went with them. We picked up some pizzas and had dinner on the beach.
Greg, Tessa and Laura
We drove up to the Mt. Victoria lookout. It offered stellar views of the city and the area. The drive up (and down) was filed with very tight curves on a narrow road lined with parked cars. Greg (even though we liked to tease him about almost hitting other cars several times) was an amazing driver.
A view of downtown Wellington
A Maori (pronounced Mah-ree) statue
We came home, rested a bit, then Greg and I went to pick up his two nieces, Rachel and Katie (oh, and Pixie the dog). We met Laura and Tessa at Khandallah Park and began a very steep hike up Mt. Kaukau. The goal was to get to the top at sunset, but we didn't quite make it. It was still a sensational view. Of course, watching a sunset on the top of a mountain means hiking back down the mountain in the dark. Fortunately we had a couple flashlights along.
Katie, Rachel and Greg soak up the view.
Downtown Wellington begins to glow as evening sets.
Upon returning home, we continued socializing until 1 am.
