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October 7, 2009 - Auckland to Rotorua, New Zealand
We arrived in New Zealand today. It was so nice that we didn't have to get up until 5:30...way better than 2 a.m. We arrived at the airport at 7:30 and then the going to another country ordeal - customs out of Australia, we were in lines for over an hour, then we had a hike to the gate, then we had about 30 minutes to find a place to eat. By the time we found a place, stood in line and got our food, we had 10 minutes to eat before going to the gate. Then the plane ended up boarding 20 minutes late! That will teach us to rush!
The plane was very plush! We had complimentary headsets, comfortable eats, had our own monitor and we could choose from movies, music, games, tv and learning about NZ. I watched 3 episodes of Boston Legal. The legal part is a bit of a stretch from what little I know, but I enjoyed watching William Shatner.
We were served lunch (with chocolate ice cream). there were pillows and a candy was handed out when we landed. Cupholders were on the seat in front of us next to the monitor, which made it way easier to hold onto your drink and not spill it. The only down side was the older gent sitting next to me who kept his elbow in my side pretty much the whole trip.
So we landed at the Auckland aiport at about 2:30:
We then spent 90 minutes in lines. First we had to get approved by the customs guy. He verified that we were who our passports said we were. Then we had to get past another lady who asked us questions about our customs forms. Then we had to go through quarantine as Jack and Daniel had freeze dried food with them for hiking and Daniel had hiking boots with him and Katrina had collected a few shells in Australia. We were inspected and cleared, then our bags had to be x-rayed. Finally, we got the rental car. It took us a while to get out of Auckland though because of rush hour traffic and construction.
We grabbed food from Subway (I had a lamb sub sandwich) and from McDonald's, then we headed to Rotura. The countryside is a lot like home. There are rolling hills, cows, sheep, pastures, lakes and everything here is green. It is more beautiful than home though - more untouched and
'natural'. Other things we noticed on our drive were that the yucca plants here are huge! They are 5-6 feet tall and wider than I am with my arms outstretched. We also noticed a hich concentration of livestock per acre. At home you would see maybe 20 cows in a spot where you would see 80 here. And there were huge piles of tires.
Here is one photo that I took on the drive to Rotorua.
We found Sudima Hotel around 8 p.m. After we got checked in, Katrina and I headed to the heated pool. It was naturally heated and the temperature range was 88-97. It was in a building, but the roof overhead was a partial one so that we could look out into the sky. When Katrina and I arrived, there was a boy of about 12 in the pool. We talked with him for a bit, then a father and 2 sons came in.
We struck up a conversation and it was almost 2 hours before I was able to get away. He gave me lots of information (information overload), but I know his goal was to help people enjoy his country.
