The last few days have been spent with a fair amount of time either in the air or waiting to be in the air :). We flew from Vancouver to San Francisco to "stage" ourselves before our long flight to New Zealand. On this trip we have tried to minimize direct connections to help reduce chances of missing a flight - it adds some time but it makes traveling much more relaxing. So, we spent a day in SF near the airport running some errands and chilling before the long flight.
Craig was able to experience two of his happy places while we were there - one at In 'n Out Burger
and the other looking out over the bay near the airport. Even though it was 'summer' - it was cold(!) and windy - but still beautiful.
Our flight to New Zealand first went to Sydney Australia and then on to Auckland New Zealand. The first leg was ~14 hours and the second ~4 hours. We flew on Qantas and had a nice surprise when they provided us with some PJs for sleeping on the plane. A 'lovely' grey :) - but actually super comfy. The first picture is before we left SF, the second is before we left Sydney - definitely can tell we had been traveling for a bit!
The flight attendants on the Qantas flight were awesome. We had two who were helping us - Max and Jim - I wish I had taken a picture of them. Their flight seats were right in front of ours so we were able to chat with them when they were seated for takeoff and landing. Really great guys who have been working for Qantas for over 30 years. They had some stories to tell! One of them was on a flight years ago that was diverted due to conflict in the Middle East. They landed in a territory that at the time was part of the Soviet Union. They sat on the tarmac for hours as their pilot negotiated for gas to fuel the plane. The government wanted a significant sum of US $$ - and finally was satisfied with the pilot signing a typed IOU. Since that incident the airlines have adjusted to ensure there are easier mechanisms for paying in those types of extreme situations.
As I'm typing this it's 8:18am on Monday, August 5th but back home it's 4:18pm on Sunday, August 4th. The combination of getting some sleep on the flight plus gradually changing time zones as we went from home to Alaska has helped us adjust not too bad. That said, it's still a bit odd that we "lost a day" as we flew over the Pacific. Here are a few pictures from the plane as we were landing in Auckland.
Auckland is a cool city. We have had a chance to explore a bit - it's very walkable. Here's a few pictures from our walks.
Yesterday we did a Craft Beer Walking tour that was hosted by Chris. He's lived in Auckland for over 20 years since we was 13 - originally born in Sydney. It was just Craig and I with Chris - we had a wonderful time. He took us to 3 different local places and we tried a LOT of tasty NZ craft beer - most from the Auckland area. We knew NZ was known for wine but had no idea the beer would be so tasty. We spent the afternoon enjoying the beer, learning about NZ and sharing stories. One quick joke from Chris. He said American beer (pre-craft influence) is like making love in a canoe - it's f***ing a little too close to water :). What a great way to get introduced to the city.
Shortly we are leaving for a day trip to the West Coast of NZ. Hopefully we'll be able to share pictures of this beautiful country with our next post. Until then - hope you are having a wonderful day - and always remember...
Enjoy the Ride!
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