It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything – a combination of little of interest to talk about and a migration toward the use of Twitter for many of my thoughts (not that it is really a good alternative). I’ve also been focusing more of my free time on my interest in photography.

I did recently take part in something worthy of mention, however. After years of talking about it, Glenna and I decided to make our goal of visiting New Zealand a reality. In the following several posts, I will share some highlights from the trip.

Planning

The first thing we’d need to do is get passports. While we had spent some time out of the country in the past (Canada, pre-9/11), we hadn’t ever needed passports in the past. Contrary to the horror stories we’d both heard about the approval process, it took just a little over three weeks.

Naturally, being the sort that I am, I opted to pick up a few books. The ones I ultimately chose were from the Lonely Planet and Rough Guide series’, as well as a particularly excellent Insight Guide (which included nothing in the way of recommendations of specific restaurants/hotels – which we would mostly ignore – but plenty about the culture and history of the island nation).

With a timeframe in mind and some idea of what the country had to offer, the plan began to shape up. We would pick a few things to see and do in the north island (making reservations, etc), spending about a week there. We would then take the ferry across Cook Strait and spend another two weeks on the south island. Our time there would be a bit less regimented, though there were some things – Milford Sound, for example – that could not be missed.

Unfortunately, we would have only about 3 weeks to explore the country. While I had recently quit my job, Glenna couldn’t spend much time away from hers. I really wish we could have spent more time there (one could easily spend 3 weeks on each island), but ultimately my early concerns over feeling overly rushed were assuaged. Despite what you may have heard, with proper planning you can get a great taste of the country in 3 weeks.

Getting There

Like just about anyone else entering the country from the United States, our flight would arrive in Auckland – New Zealand’s largest city of about 1.3 million people (making it roughly comparable to San Diego, which it resembles).

Unfortunately, our initial foray into the country would be marred in a handful of ways.

First off, it all originated from the horrible, poorly-run airport known as Los Angeles International. Security theater is all well and good, but the TSA really should make a better effort to keep the lines moving.

The flight itself would last 12 hours, arriving a little after 4 AM. Tired (having been too excited for much sleep) and sore (having barely moved), we still had to go through Customs. Thankfully, that wasn’t too bad.

Arrival

Once we landed and took care of the essentials, we had to get a vehicle. I felt some dread in this; in New Zealand, you drive from the right side of the car, on the left side of the road.

Would I crash and burn only minutes after leaving the airport? Would I leave my wife and I squished upon the pavement, undoubtedly next to one of the country’s famed possums? Was starting our journey in the most populated cities a good idea? With some trepidation I took the keys and took to the road.

Thankfully, it wasn’t all that bad. Tired or not, having my initial foray on New Zealand’s roads take place before sunrise on a Sunday morning was a good idea. The lanes were mostly empty and whatever stupidity I would commence in – mostly running the windsheld wipers when I intended to signal (yes, those are opposite as well) – would go mostly unnoticed.

Within a day or so I managed to get the hang of driving (though the windshield wiper thing continued for about a week).

Around 6 AM, we checked into our hotel in downtown Auckland, took our bags to the 20th floor and promptly crashed. Kia Ora, New Zealand!