We said our goodbyes and left Louisville for our long journey to Kiwi country. First stop was San Francisco where we scheduled a 24 hour layover to break up the long flight. With packs on we completed a nice training hike through Chinatown. That evening we boarded our Air New Zealand 747. Being my first long flight, I came prepared with a blanket, head phones, snacks, and a movie on my iPhone. I was shocked to see that economy class had all of that and you own tv! This is a long way from SouthWest flights I'm use to. The food was decent and included free NZ wine. We descended in Auckland as our first Southern Hemisphere sun rose. Our beef jerky was confiscated in customs and our tent had to be inspected for USA bugs.
I feel like such a traitor for only watching the first Lord of the Rings movie...please don't kill me. The Kiwis have fully embraced the trilogy. Our safety briefing on the plane used characters from the movie. The Auckland airport was decorated with Rings stuff too. The shops and food at the airport was similar. The McDonalds had a BBQ Bandit sandwich Shadow wanted to try and a Dunkin Donuts. The trash cans were labels Rubbish which I thought was cute.
Our plane to Christchurch was an Airbus painted black representing the All Blacks NZ Rugby team and the onboard entertainment was Rings trivia. Once we left for Invercargill the weather cleared and we had a great view of the land and beautiful Tasman Sea.
Our Plane
Auckland Airport
The Tasman Sea
Country Mouse and Shadow
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