Kia Ora!

Have you ever noticed that the best travel posts are those wrought with turmoil, turbulence, and airline treachery? Those that know me well are well aware of my travel curse. I have expanded normally 12 hour journeys to 56 hour sojourns; I have endured endless amounts of lost baggage and the bursting of salsa amongst my unmentionables; I have sat on Floridian runways for hours on end amid flash floods and presidential impromptu appearances...all with my beloved family eternally waiting on the other end for my exhausted carcase to arrive in baggage claim. It is for these reasons and SO many more, that Adam and I can't be more pleased to warn you that the following blogpost may make better insomia-relief material than the beginnings of a best-selling travel novel. Our postings are likely to be a joint effort...please excuse inconsistencies between the "Callie and I" and "Adam and I" - quite frankly I'd rather spend more time out in this beautiful city than editing :)

Callie and I arrived in Wellington, safe and sound. We managed to arrive with all our luggage (all 260 pounds captured in 4 check-in and 4 carry-on bags) until our shuttle transfer from the Wellington airport to our hotel. Apparently it would be wise counsel to be sure that all of your luggage is in the van before they take away the trolley and rush you into the van. Thankfully. that bag was located and waiting for us when we returned back to our room after wandering out for lunch. For our innaugural meal we kept the palate close to home and ate at a place called Burger Fuel, which features such interesting burgers as the "Combustion Vege" made of Sunflower Seeds, Chickpeas, Cumin and Coriander pattie.......I had the beef burger. The fries were particularly delicious. Callie and I have both agreed that reducing our (and particularly my) Diet Coke consumption to the occasional treat will both be a healthy move for us, and at ~4.50NZ a pop an easy financial savings.

Our flights were nice and smooth; meals served on New Zealand Air were tasty and we had our free choice of 78 movies to select from during the flight. Adam made it through about 4 and half feature films, while Callie wimped out in the middle of her third. Immigration in Aukland was a breeze, and customs wasn't at all interested in my hiking boots. The best part of customs was watching the illegal fruits and veggie sniffing Beagle wander around everyone's luggage. He was only mildly interested in Callie's snack-bag...apparently a poor encounter with a large pickle earlier in the weekend had made a lasting impression in the fabric. Having convinced Air New Zealand that our 11 and 15 kilo roller carry-on bags would be better suited for beneath the airplane and that we shouldn't need to pay for them since we'd carried them this far...we opted to walk from the international terminal to the domestic terminal. We spent our first few hours in New Zealand in the domestic terminal watching a steady stream of travelers enjoy McDonalds breakfast. Taking a walk through the two gift shops was inspiring just in the sheer number of tourist-items that have been inscribed with either a kiwi, a fern, or a sheep. We managed to restrain ourselves, most likely because it was the airport, but I foresee us owning at least one NZ stuffed Kiwi and Sheep. I think I have to do a bit of work before I start sporting the All Blacks jersey any time soon.

Our evening gratefully sped by thanks to a very hot shower and a beautiful walk to the Wellington waterfront. We ate at an unusual restaurant/pub where we experimented with peanut dukkah (ick! Thank you, if I wanted to eat Sage flavored sand I'd go out to the sandbox!) and a delicious smoked chicken, brie, and cranberry pizza. The dark walk home found us briskly rushing along the busy Cuba Street nightlife wishing we had already resigned ourselves to the fact that it is in fact winter here...and we should dress appropriately!

Thanks to all who have helped us get here, we cannot thank you all enough. Know that we miss you all and will be doing our best to update as a means to stay in touch.

Love to you all!

Adam and Callie