An Intro to Kiwi Land

It's pretty amazing how an entire month can fly by when you are traveling and enjoying life! Wow...sorry for the lengthy delay on our blog. There is so much to tell you all since we left Bangkok back on February 20th. Let's jump right in!

We endured the flight to Sydney, Australia and had a few hours layover until our connecting flight to Christchurch, New Zealand. When attempting to receive our boarding pass, the attendant asked us for our "outbound flight out of New Zealand."

"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh, excuse me, a WHAT?"

As most of you know, we decided way back when to purchase one way flights as we went instead of going with around-the-world type tickets. Well, this approach - while seemingly flexible and perfect in thought - is unrealistic in today's world. You now need to show your ticket OUT of New Zealand before they will let you INTO the country. Keeping all the minor details out, we basically had to purchase a ticket within a few minutes before we could board the plane to Christchurch and start our New Zealand travels. For a second they actually took us off the flight list (important note) and then later added us back on when we finalized our ticket. Back and forth we went with Emirates Airlines to agree on a destination priced within our budget (and a place that would allow us in without a visa) on a date we hadn't really thought about yet. Knowing we wanted to head to Europe after New Zealand, we finally settled on Rome and picked June 1st with the ability to change the date - for a "small fee" (HA! --- like that exists anymore) - if we want to extend our Kiwi adventure later on. Doing all of this early in the morning when are bodies wanted to be sleeping was a chore. But we are used to these hurdles by now and dealt with it in stride. On board we enjoyed a very nice and comfortable 3 hour flight. Emirates is a classy airline out of the Middle East. Wow...they aim to please!

By the way, for those of you that may not know...the term "Kiwi" is actually derived from the native nocturnal bird. They are oddly shaped and have a unusually long beak in comparison to the rest of their bodies. Kiwi is also synonomously used to describe the small green fury fruit that we all know as well as anyone native to this country.

Arriving into Christchurch International Airport we were greeted by friendly Kiwis - speaking their own version of the English language - ready to greet first time travelers to their gorgeous country with lots of cheer. Next stop for the Prancers: baggage claim. Did I mention we were taken off the "flight list" back in Sydney? Well, we were, but then added back later. Our packs, however, never made it back on the infamous "list." Unable to clear customs with our bags by our side, we had to list out every item (believe me...you want to do this in New Zealand --- very strict immigration) on a piece of paper, trying not to leave anything out. Having not slept soundly in roughly 30 hours, this was just one more thing to irritate our foggy minds. Debating whether or not we should list our decorative opium pipes we bought in Cambodia on the list, we finally left the airport and headed to our hostel for some sleep.

We had 4 days to regain our minds and acquiant ourselves with the city before our first visitors arrived. The day was rather blurry ("are we in Bangkok again???") trying to shake off the jetlag. But the cooler temps (celebratory trumpets blarred in Tom's ears!!! chattered teeth in Jill's mouth!!!), the astounding good cheer from the locals and the beauty of Christchurch woke us up quickly as we started realizing where we were and where we weren't anymore. New Zealanders enjoy a shockingly high quality of life and at it seems as if everyone is hearty, active and full of life.

A few notes about New Zealand: There are just shy of 4 million people in the entire country and 3 million of those live on the north island (with most of them in Auckland). At any point in the country, one is no more than 70 miles from the sea. Think of that for a second...no matter where you are, a short drive and you'll be at sea. The country is about the size of Colorado and the geography is absolutely awe-inspiring. The south island specifically (Christchurch is the largest city on the south island with roughly 350,000 living there) is known for having - aside from incredible wine and farmland - relatively untouched scenery that will inspire the mind and make you ask yourself how a place like this exists. There is no wonder the film industry is thriving here with Peter Jackson's "Rings" trilogy and "King Kong" leading the way. Others include "Whale Rider" and "The Last Samurai." "Lord of the Rings" is everywhere and from what we've seen already...there is no wondering why Jackson turned his native land into Tolkien's "Middle Earth."

Our first week was great learning about the country and talking with locals about their favorite activities in the country. Our list of places to visit started growing and growing and growing... Then in just 4 quick days we were finally greeted by some familiar faces!!! Hugs around, scotch glasses raised in toast, stories flying around...The Prancers were reunited with family!