Chapter 1 - Arriving in New Zealand

Kia ora! (Hi!)

Wellll.. I thought this would be the easiest way to tell everyone a bit about my journey to New Zealand! So.. let's go!

Despite traveling about 30 hours, including all layovers and stops, the flights over here weren't too bad. I got a little sick of sitting down all the time though. Luckily, I got some sleep on the long 14 hour flight from Los Angeles to Australia, so that was nice. They even served us dinner and breakfast on the flight - the food was alright. I watched 3 movies and a couple TV episodes and that really made the time fly by.



(view from plane over South Island of New Zealand)

Once I made it to Christchurch, I had to fill out a card that would get me through Customs in the airport. I had both a Tent and a Wet Suit that had to be checked before they would allow it through. My tent had a LOT of small dirt and other brush on it. Fortunately, they just ushered me into a Biosecurity room and we vacuumed the whole thing. The wet suit was also just fine.

After getting out of the airport, me and Nathan (my flying partner) took a taxi to a hostel in Christchurch that we paid about $23 a piece for. After putting all our gear in our rooms, we met a British guy named Sam who was sleeping because of jet lag and we all went out to find food. Fish and Chips was 3.50 there! For a decent size meal! It was delicious.

The next morning we woke up at 6:45 to catch a bus at 7:30 where we met a Dunedin local named Neil.
Neil turned out to be the best Dunedin local on earth we could have run into. He knows everything and anything about Dunedin AND just about all the locals who live in it. We had a good time talkin it up on the bus ride from Christchurch to Dunedin.

The bus arrived in Dunedin - but not at our final destination. It was at THAT time that I realized one of the wheels on my big red suitcase was broken! I had to drag that, along with all my other crap, probably three quarters of a mile before we stopped at the place to get our keys. It was cold - but I was sweating 'heaps' (a New Zealand expression that basically means 'a lot').

It turned out that it wasn't ACTUALLY the place to get our keys, but the campus security guard lady was nice enough to walk us over to the place where we get our keys, showed us our flats, and THEN drove our luggage to us! Talk about some good ole New Zealand hospitality!



Our flats are FREEZING. There's no central heating and the little space heaters or heat radiators that we're given use wayyy too much electricity. Not to mention there's no INSULATION for our flats, meaning that it is literally COLDER inside than it is outside. When I wake up and get breakfast, I can almost always see my breath. Hahaha.

There are advantages to this lack of heating though. One, I'm beginning to develop the cold tolerance of a polar bear. Two, we don't have to use a refrigerator because it's always under 42 degrees (not really). And, three, it forces me to go out much more often! On top of all that, my appreciation for heated houses has grown immensely.

E noho ra! (Goodbye!)

- Jake