The Flight

First 747s are HUGE. How do those birds get up in the air? It obviously happens (every day) but I just don't see how. Our plane seats 400 passengers. Thats a lot of people. Speaking of people, I love people watching and found myself well entertained. Turns out a lot of the people heading to NZ on our flight were all headed to someone's wedding. Now that must have been a big wedding.


We celebrated our departure with some nachos at SFO's Mexican Restaurant - figured we wouln't be getting Mexican for a bit in NZ.



We lucked out and got an exit row. Yay legroom. Poor Dad though was 'monkey in the middle' between me and Chuck, a pro basketball player coming to NZ to play for the Bayhawks. Talk about broad shoulders.

Something like 16 hours later we arrive in Aukland. While going through the customs line, Dad runs into an old aquaintance from Truckee, Shirley T. Her husband worked with Dad at N.Tahoe High. Small world.

There were amazing views from my window seat as we flew from Aukland (North Island) down to Christchurch (South Island). All I could see were huge mountains and alps. All I could think was 'uh-oh... what have I gotten us into'. Luckily, green pasture lands and rolling hills came into view as we approached our landing, so I started to feel a bit better.



We arrived in Christchurch around 8am and spent the day getting ourselves ready to ride. We checked in to a very quaint hotel and ran errands. Putting our bikes together was straight forward. We visited a few bike shops to check in on ideas for our bike route. It was a busy first day in NZ.

Riding on the left side of the road is harder than I thought. After years of looking over my left shoulder for traffic, I now must change my ways and look over my right. And be on the far left side of the road. In the states, making a right turn off of a busy road was a breeze. Here, making a right turn off a busy road is a nightmare. We are getting it though. Good thing we are wearing out bright orange vests. Lookout Kiwis! A crazy father and daughter are coming your way! ;)

Now it is Tuesday morning and today we start riding... We are heading North up the Eastern coast up. This is an area known for its coastal upwelling and we are hoping to see a lot of marine life. Whales, seals and dolphins await us!