dorkumentary

shot from the dallas airport

Okay, so I’ve been unable to blog for various reasons, the largest of which were exhaustion, jet lag, and general feeling-sick. I spent the majority of yesterday – er, well, yesterday was quite long for me, actually. Technically days ended and began, and sleep was involved, but it’s all kind of hazy and hard-to-define. So let’s begin with my time in LAX.

Due to my canceled flight causing major delays, I was unable to see Caitlin at all. It was bummy, but I was so grumpy anyway that I doubt I’d have been much fun, and it would have been so much driving in traffic for her that it wasn’t worth it for the hourish we could have spent together. I did meet a friend, though, a girl from Massachusetts who lives in Sydney. We kept running into each other in the airport (she was going to Sydney, and I to Auckland), and eventually actually introduced ourselves and got some dinner together. We had a lovely chat, and it was a great way to spend some time. We exchanged contact info, and I’m really hoping we can hang out at some point when I’m in Sydney.

I was also lucky enough to meet a very friendly woman and her family, who live in LA but are originally from Christchurch. We talked for ages while waiting for the Auckland flight (which departed at midnight, local time, aka 2am body-clock time), and she was quite charming with her nice Kiwi accent, and her family was sweet too. Finally, we boarded the plane.

I had been dreading this flight for ages. 13-14 hours is a long time, even when you haven’t been in airports or on flights for the 18

my pre-boarding parfait!

hours prior. I’d brought my laptop with 7 seasons of QI, The Lord of the Rings anthology in book form, along with my iPod and knitting and numerous other pasttimes. My Sydney friend was kind enough to offer me some of the sleeping aid pills she’d bought, so I had those as well.

I’d turn out to barely need any of those. I had a window seat, and the seat beside me was empty (edge rows are two seats only). That meant I got two pillows, two blankets, and plenty of extra space for my legs. I was in heaven. The in-flight entertainment was fairly comprehensive (I watched a bit of the Nutcracker before I got mad at it for not being Barischnikov’s). Takeoff was smooth, as was the flight itself. I was right in front of the bathroom, so I didn’t have to go far if I had to pee. They gave out eye masks and toothbrushes! I was absolutely tickled.

I was having difficulty deciding on my dinner (honey-mustard chicken or BBQ salmon), and the rather charming Maori flight attendant gave me BOTH. “Can you do that?” “Of course I can! I’m the chef!” He also offered me extra marshmallows in the after-dinner hot chocolate, which I politely declined.

I then slept like a baby until there were only four hours left until arrival. It was heaven. I spent the remaining four hours intermittently sleeping, reading, and eating a delightful breakfast. All in all, the only thing I can complain about at all was the fact that my arms were killing me. Dragging my luggage about so much (especially in LAX – I got SO lost) had overextended the nerves in my arms, as well as taking a toll on my muscles. That was part of the reason I didn’t update at all yesterday – I could barely type.

rachel in her new thinkgeek shirt

Eventually, I arrived in Auckland. After making it through customs and having my bags x-rayed, I came out and met Rachel! We chatted while waiting for the shuttle back to the hotel she’d stayed at the night before (my flight came in at 7:45am, and she lives 4 hours from the airport), and what for all appearances seemed to be a band of Maori musicians chortled heartily and took photos of my cleavage from afar.

We shuttled back to the hotel, driven by a man who called us “youse” and who was quite friendly and helpful, and I took the loveliest shower ever. We then packed up immediately and shuttled back to Domestics to catch out grabaseat flights to Christchurch.

Why yes, I HAVE had enough of airplanes for a while, how did you guess? XD The flight to CC had trivia for the inflight video, though, which was such a clever idea, and Rachel and I had a ball answering them (and getting them right, for the most part – I was particularly proud of guessing/knowing that your semicircular canals control balance). We also got the business card of a woman who owns a homemade yarn business!

The taxi we got from the Christchurch airport to the hotel we’d booked was horribly overpriced (by at least $10), but it got us there,

bartleby the hotel cat

and Rachel’s mom was kind enough to give us money for taxis anyway. We pulled into the parking lot of our charming motel – Argyle on the Park – and were immediately greeted by a loud, fussy “Meooooow.” We looked down, and espied a black and white tomcat, who looked at us and meowed again. I leapt out of the taxi (“KITTY!”) and he was all too happy to be petted, he was quite nuzzly and affectionate. It was definitely the best greeter I’ve ever experienced. Once we got our bags out of the car, he walked back towards the check-in office like he was leading us there.

The manager/proprietor/probably owner of the motel is a very friendly, grey-haired Aussie, who sympathised with our taxi plight, and gave us free milk and a charming welcome basket filled with coupons for local restaurants and attractions, some cookies, some press coffee, and various teas. He led us to our studio suite, showed us around, and bade us goodbye. The room is nice! It’s got enough space despite being quite cozy, has a nice shower, mini fridge, microwave, and a king-sized bed that Rachel and I are sharing. The bed has an electric blanket under the fitted sheets, in addition to the wall heater in the room. There’s also a TV/DVD player, but we haven’t really done much with those. We opted to pay the $10/day for wifi, and it’s quite a good connection, unlimited bandwidth as well, it seems. All this for less than $60 a night, to boot. The motel is also right next to Hagley park, and very close to both downtown CC and the botanical gardens! Highly recommend it.

I was about ready to fall asleep, though it was only 5pm, so we decided to walk downtown and get dinner at Blue Fish Sushi Train. I brought my camera, whose battery died in the first 10 minutes of the walk (I’d neglected to bring my second battery, and the first

i got this before the battery died

hadn’t been charged in a while). We got to see a lot of the downtown area, which is full of interesting shops (which were mostly closed at that time of night) and has lovely architecture. I say we got to see a lot of it because we ended up being quite lost. We were following walking directions from Google maps. It disclaims that walking directions are in beta stage…but yeah, it told us to turn on a street that didn’t exist. We did eventually find our way to the restaurant. I’d mentioned to Rachel earlier, though, that I felt intimidated going into places if I was one of the only people in there, because I don’t like to be the focus of attention, etc. Well, the restaurant was nearly empty, and it was getting late, and we were exhausted, so we ended up deciding to just taxi back

i didn't photograph the pizza, have some trees instead

to the room and order delivery.

We did, and it was fantastic. I got a pizza that had pulled chicken, cream cheese, corn, and herbs on it…it. is. delicious. Rachel and I each ordered a pizza for ourselves, and I am SO glad I don’t have to share the rest of mine. XD Then, finally, at about 8pm (or nearly 3am according to my body clock), I called it a night, and fell asleep.