New Zealand: Day One

Well, back from New Zealand. What an awesome time it was! It is by far the most beautiful country that I have ever seen. It's really just like Lord of the Rings (not really, but kind of).

I'm going to break down each day of the trip in separate posts as to not confuse the 4 people who actually read this blog. Here goes:

I arrived in Auckland the night of the 5th and stayed overnight at a hostel in close proximity to the airport. It was a funny experience, as a big Pacific Island drove the shuttle bus to pick me up at night, and then another large Pacific Islander dropped me off. People from that part of the world come in two sizes: large, and extra large.

The next morning I was meeting Sarah back at the International terminal. Her flight was delayed a bit, but we were reunited at around 8 in the morning. With nothing to do for the next 3 hours except wait for our flight to Christchurch. It was a beautiful, sunny day in Auckland so we meandered towards the domestic terminal and sat on the benches alongside the walkway. Sarah was relieved to escape the rainy bog of Taiwan, and I was just happy to see her.

We boarded our flight to Christchurch which was uneventful, save for the view from our seats. We had a window seat that turned into a viewfinder once the South Island came into view. The mountains were everywhere! I was beyond excited by this point. Time to pretend like I was in Lord of the Rings!

After a smooth landing in Christchurch, we jumped in a shuttle to take us to our hostel. Unfortunately, the clerk had made a mistake with our booking and didn't have a spot for me in the hostel. D'oh! He rectified the situation by providing accommodation at another hostel called Thomas's Hotel a block over. We ditched our luggage and headed out for the rest of the day.

Having arrived mid-afternoon and being a bit travel weary, Sarah and I ventured around to find a cafe or restaurant to eat at. This proved to be expensive, but heck, it's vacation! After eating a quick meal, we explored the botanic gardens for the rest of the day. Here's a sample below:



By the time the day was done, we were both quite tired (or at least I was). Sarah dragged me out after dinner and we had a nice dinner at a pub across the street from our hostel and went outside for a nice stroll. It was a near perfect start to a grand adventure.