It was hard to believe that I was finally stepping on a plane to make my way to New Zealand….I have been talking about this trip for some time now and finally the day came! I sure appreciated the cards and farewell wishes from all my family and friends….thanks! I even had quite the exit party at the airport with the Brentwood house hold…thanks guys!! And of course Aunty Dale to send me on my way… I was lucky to get on the plane with 2 very over weight and I am sure that my hockey bag was well over the size limit…..as well as my bike for only a $50 charge….I thought I was going to be charged a lot more!! So the trip started out great….My first trip was to Los Angeles and it was very ironic because I sat beside a gentleman from Foam Lake, SK. He was on his way to an international rig site in New Guinee! so we were sharing our excitement of our first over sea adventure. He bought me my first beer of the trip!
Once I arrived to LA I had a bit of a wait, and then I was on my way to Taipei….My first LONG airplane ride…..it was quite funny because I sat beside a lady who was from LA and it turned out we were the only blondes on the whole flight! Everyone thought that we were traveling together and that she was my mom. It was quite funny! So the airplane…. WOW lets just say that one does not get bored….even me!! There is so much too do…I didn’t even want to sleep. First they give you hot towels to wipe your face, and then they give you stylish purple socks with a toothbrush and paste!! Once your in the air….this is when the fun begins…..everyone gets their own channel changer and TV! Any movie you could dream of is playing at your finger tips, plus all the songs you want (you can create your own play lists and everything), video games where you can challenge different people on the plane, mind bogglers and trivia questions! (I really didn’t figure this all out until the end of the trip, I couldn’t get past all the movies) The plane food was great as well….did I mention that there is all the wine you can drink…MMMMM. Once we arrived in Taipei (14 hours later) we had about an hour delay where we could get off the plane and walk around the airport, so we did. Then it was back in the plane for another 4 hours to Singapore.
Once in Singapore I had a 9 hour delay in front of me, so the first thing I did was use the fun squatting pan in the bathrooms! HAHHA it was quite funny….people looked at me funny while I took pictures….they should be thankful I didn’t ask them to take pictures of me using it!!
I then decided to check out the free tour of Singapore….price was right so I decided this was a great idea! It was quite interesting they just took us around on a bus and then gave us a bit of boat ride in a really disgusting river! But the sites were cool and I met a few people as well. Palak, actually just graduated from Auckland University in New Zealand and he was heading back home to India. So we hung out together at the airport, he bought some beer and we played pool and toured around the airport. Needless to say 9 hours went by quite quick! I then jumped on an other plane to my final destination Christchurch, NZ….WOW this is really for real!
I was so exhausted I pretty much slept for most of this trip….but then the little TV and remote caught my attention and I was back to watching movies. I sat beside a very cute elderly lady from Ireland, she was adorable and had great expressions that always caught me off guard. We became buddies and now I have a place to stay in Ireland if I ever go there! The trip went fast and before I knew it 12 hours later we were in Christchurch, NZ my final destination!
I was the first to the immigration desk to find out that someone messed up on the computer when they were filling in my visa and had me there for only a month! So lucky I had all my paper work and passport visa to prove that I actually did have a year visa…little mix up but not that big of a deal. I was then off to customs to see if I could get into the country…which almost didn’t happen! Funny little story, you know how I said I was the first into immigration…well I was the last to leave customs!! Hahah…..my bike that I decided to take last minute, well it was still caked with mud from my last mountain biking trip and a note to others make sure your stuff is clean before going into another country! I spent over an hour cleaning my bike with an officer in the bio-hazard room. It was great….we were scrubbing and scrubbing till finally he said….that is good enough! (it still was kind of caked with mud…but I think he was tired of scrubbing!) we then went to where the rest of my stuff was and I said, well do you want to check the rest of my stuff…and he said NOPE just go…….enjoy our country!! I said I sure will!!! I walked out to meet my friend Steve….who was waiting patiently for me to walk through the doors! I MADE IT…..40 some hours later!!! (I guess this is the trip you get when you go for a cheap route….but hey I got my money’s worth!!)
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