5:15 a.m. New Zealand time

Thursday, February 11, 2010

WE ARE HERE! We just arrived in Auckland. It is 9:15 a.m. on Wednesday in Colorado. Yes, we just lost a day. We flew Air New Zealand. The plane ride was a bit bumpy; not in a nauseous kind of way but a side-to-side lulling kind of way. The seats were extra wide and I had enough leg room to stretch completely out. I’m not a fan of sitting up to sleep and I didn’t sleep much but I rested well. I think of my entire extended air plane traveling experiences, this is the best. We could watch any number of films. I watching one last night (Michael Jackson’s This is it) and a few short travel films on Christchurch this morning. They fed us a nice dinner a couple of hours into the flight and woke us up with a nice breakfast this morning. The flight was 12 hours almost exactly. Since it was dark when we left and dark when we landed I never had to look out the window at water…just a little anxiety issue. As we got off the plane, the humidity was immediately felt. We had to go through security again but our big suitcases were checked through to Christchurch. Security is always interesting with the “bionic man” I travel with (i.e. heart and hip) but the people here were extremely kind. We are now waiting for our next flight which will take us from Auckland to Christchurch. I think it leaves at 7:00 a.m. We are sitting in some comfortable chairs in the middle of shops in a very nice, clean airport. On my right is a Burger King but along the left are bookstores, New Zealand shops, etc. So far I feel comfortable and not tired, but keep in mind that to my body it is 9:00 in the morning. This is the usually time I finally wake up even though I have been up for hours. I’m sure Jack and I will be going to bed early tonight.