RDM –> PDX –> LAX –> AUCK
3 planes went up and came down rather smoothly – the 24ish hours of travel were mitigated by the overall excitement and adrenaline of my inaugural trip to Oceania and completely across the Pacific. I’ve been to Israel (3 times), Europe (Ireland) and South America (Peru mainly), but a trip to the South Pacific roused my senses to say the least.
Arriving in Auckland was a bit of a shock to the system having left over 6 inches of snow in Redmond and arriving in full fledged Southern Hemisphere summer in less than a day. It wasn’t exactly the difference in temperature that was a challenge to accustom myself to, but the difference in length of daylight! Going from 9 hours of daylight to 15 hours of sun overnight is really strange for your brain to process. Alas, jetlag was not too bad because New Zealand is actually only 2 hours behind the US (but a day ahead, so really 22 hours ahead). After a full day of adventure on day 1 (I landed at 6:30am), I was bushed and ready for a great night of acclimating sleep.
I’ll tell more of my day 1 adventure in the next post, as my friend Ryan was kind enough to show off his homeland to me with unabashed hospitality. He picked me up from the airport, put me up in his beach apartment, showed me his local haunts and delicacies, showed me how to drive on the left side of the road, lent me his car, and so much more. New Zealand hospitality is off to a roaring start!
Cheers,
NK