Welp, midterm testing’s are over with and I’m well on my way to New Zealand with Karen! It’s been a wack day. We’ve been all over the place. I guess it doesn’t help having two airheads together for a vacation that went to uni club the night before. HA, that being said, we “sort of” packed last night before we went to uni club. We wanted to say our goodbyes to everyone before heading off for lecture recess. We threw together various warm clothes and headed out. Haha, I guess we’re really adapted to the Australian mindset. I would’ve never done that at home. I usually have everything packed a couple days before and itinerary printed. However, neither of us had our itineraries printed out for our flight, or even knew where we’re staying the night once we arrive in Christchruch… Funny thing is, we’re on the plane right now and still don’t know where we’re staying. So, we have to wonder around tonight at midnight looking for accommodation. Hopefully there will be some sort of place open or we’re sleeping on the beach… Or this plane? I’m sure they wouldn’t mind anyway. Hey, at least we thought about it ten minutes before we boarded the plane and called about 5 places looking for any type of open beds! All the hostels are booked and hotels are as well which I thought was strange. Apparently, there’s a ton of damage in town from the earthquake so a lot of hotels and things have been knocked down, but still leaving many places to stay. We’ll figure it out. No worries.
So my day today consisted of running all around, throwing clothes in my bag in hopes that I have everything I need and mailing last minute things to friends/family. I woke up around eight to chat at my supportive, handsome boyfriend. We skyped for a few then I went to back to sleep til ten. I had to get up even though I was still so tired. Time was flying by and I had things to do before I left. I skyped with Ry again when I woke up as I was packing. I had lunch with Lauren & Liz in the midst of things, consisting of a few bites of fish and vegetables. After lunch, I mailed some things to the states and met Karen at her place to catch a cab to the airport. Well, the cab came… and went. Of course we were too busy chatting with Cammie to even notice. We saw a white car turn around, not even realizing it had a lit up taxi sign on the top of it. He was already well on his way back down the street. We rang the cab company again and he came back to pick us up! Whew. We’re in the cab on the way to the airport, finally. I looked at Karen and said, “ Yeah, so I’m pretty sure I have everything we’ll need”. She looked at me with such confidence and said, “I agree, I mean… as long as we have our passports that’s all that really matters”. OH SHIT! Karen, I’m sorry doll, but I don’t have my passport. Cab driver you’re going to have to whip this bad boy around. I’m a complete airhead!! She didn’t believe a word I said because I’m always joking with people. I was like no seriously, the most important thing I need, I forgot. Of course. I felt horrible, it was already 1:35p.m and our flight was at 2:30. I sprinted upstairs and got my passport and headed straight back down. Now we’re on the way! No, really. We get there with some time to spare. I forgot that security is like a walk in the park. You literally can just walk on through with your belt, shoes and all. Odd, right? I sent my backpack through the conveyor belt and forgot to take my lap top out. It came through and TSA told me I’ll have to take my lap top out “next time”. No worries, run along and catch your flight. Whoops, totally slipped my mind. Seems to be the ongoing lackadaisical attitude of the day. This usually happens when I don’t have coffee or Ryan to remind me of what’s really going on in the outside world. Earth to Jenny!! Ah well, we made it through customs and directly to our gate. We chilled for a bit then hopped on the plane to Brisbane. It’s only an hour flight or so. With only a short layover, we didn’t have too much time to spare. We went through International Security again and had to get all checked in. Karen and I walked up to the desk assuming everything would be quite fine without paperwork. The lady goes, “ Ello ladies, just checking in?”
“Well, yes ma’am”.
“Do you have your tickets/ itinerary and did you check any bags in this afternoon?”
“Yes, we have bags checked and no itinerary”.
“Do you have anything?”
“Haha, ummm no not really. We just know we’re flying Air New Zealand and our flight is… soon? Help?”
“So you don’t have baggage tickets?”
“Nope. The lady in Townsville never gave them to us because she said we didn’t need them and our bags would be directly transferred to the next plane”.
“WRONG”.
This went on for a solid fifteen minutes with the helpful lady checking us in. I guess we were only giving her information she asked for. Not really helping out too much to hurry up the process now that I think of it. Sorry lady, but just put me on that god damn plane. We’re just backpackers! No, we’re not taking your precious soil or goodies from Aussie to New Zealand. In the end, she was very helpful and informative towards us. We ended up with our itineraries and arrived at our gate. Our flight was pushed back about 30 minutes, but that’s alright! Everyone at the gate looks like a hobbit I thought to myself. Seriously. I found it quite comical. Once we got on the plane, we were shortly accompanied by a video of Richard Simmons on our personal T.V jazzersizing about safety on the plane. HAHA, google it. We would never have anything like that in the states. Everything has to have a strict regimen and serious, uptight outlook. Booooring. I slowly became more relaxed and de-stressed once I settled in. Thank you Gene Simmons. We made it! Woo!
Both, north and south Islands of New Zealand are the size of Colorado, meaning that theirs only a population of 4 million spread amongst the two. Just to put that into comparison, the state of New York has a population of 50 million. Mind blowing I tell ya. It will feel like no one is here. We will feel the comfort from mountains, snow caps and breathtaking views over the span of the next 18 days rather than people. I’m going from one beautiful country to the next. What more could a girl ask for? Tea and crumpets? Nope, we already had that along with chicken cordon bleu. Geez, classy little plane we’re on here! I could never complain about anything over here. I’ve only heard wonderful things about this country of absolute beauty. I can’t wait to explore. Tomorrow we have to take a train from Christchurch to Greymouth. It’s about a four hour train ride. I’ll probably be blogging some more about how our night goes. Not too worried about it though, someone will help us out. We only need a few hours rest until we’re off again anyway. Our train leaves at 8:15a.m so we’ll try to get there around 7:30-7:45a.m. That’s what we aim for. Hopefully we’re not too out of it in the morning like we were today. As long as we make it to the train station, we’ll be all set. Fingers crossed!
I’m seriously so excited for this trip. I never thought I’d be able to go to New Zealand. What thrilling experience I have ahead of me for the month of April. What a way to start my new year being 21. I have no regrets and I truly think this is going to be one of the best years of my life. I do get homesick here and there, but I keep telling myself that I’ll be back in two months to spend a long summer with Ryan. I can’t wait for that. We’re both really looking forward to it! As for now, I have a lot of the outside world to explore and it’s all just sitting in the palms of my hands. I look forward to waking up for early morning jogs around the windy mountains. I want to feel the pavement beneath my Nike’s as I gaze upon this bright green, healthy country. What a feeling. Wish me luck tonight, I’ll need it.
