Goodbye New Zealand, Hello Australia

On Saturday I said my goodbyes to my roommate and dear friend Gabrielle, boarded a bus and headed for the Auckland Airport. I arrived 3 hours early to make sure that I wouldn't miss my flight to Sydney. I have been known to have airport travel drama so I wanted to allow extra time.

With me was my backpack, big suitcase and little suitcase. I went to check into my flight and the woman informed me that my bags were overweight. The weight limit was 20 kilograms. I had 13.5 K in one bag and 34 K in another. So I went to the scale and proceeded to repack them to balance them better. I figured I would just throw a couple items away and repack the remaining items. The fee per extra kilogram is $18.60 and I was willing to pay a little extra. I went back to the woman and now my bags were 16.5 K and 24.5 K. I thought it would alright but was shocked when she informed me that I was only allowed one 20 K bag. That meant I would have to pay over $350 extra!!! I explained to her that I had travelled internationally from the USA and was allowed to bring 2 bags at 20 kilograms each. She asked if I had proof and luckily I had kept my ticket from my previous flight. I went to the customer service desk and talked to the manager there. After 10 minutes of using my Midwest charm and batting my eyes, he agreed to waive the fees for me.

After checking in my bags, I proceeded to pay my $25 NZ tax and then got into the security line. Let me point out that during my repacking of bags, I had layered as many clothes on as possible to cut down on weight in my suitcases. By this time I had added two sweatshirts, a hat and a belt (keep this in mind because the belt shows up later in my story). At security I put all of my bags on the conveyor belt, took my hat off and the guy asked for me to take off my belt. I tried to get it off but it was stuck. Then he asked for me to step aside and a woman security agent would need to take a look. Well, silly old me hadn't even considered that wearing a belt that has bullet shell cases and a gun on it probably isn't the smartest idea at an international airport. The woman just took a look and nicely asked me not to wear the belt during my trip. I took the belt off and put it in my bag. I will post a picture once I have access to my computer. Duh!

I arrived at my gate with 25 minutes left to board. The flight was quick and at 5:50 PM I arrived in Sydney. I took a taxi to the Holiday Inn Potts Point and enjoyed a nice evening walking around and relaxing.

Today I went down to see the famous Sydney Opera House and Sydney Cove. The city is clean and there is great shopping and food. Unfortunately I am at capacity on my luggage so I will have to make a trip back just for shopping. Tuesday I fly to Albury and my friend, Nathan, who also worked for Oyster Bay is picking me up. Wednesday we move into our new house in Mount Beauty. I begin work for Annapurna Estate sometime next week or weekend.

As they say in Australia, no worries.

Last Day at Oyster Bay

Christchurch SBS Marathon, Half Marathon and 10k Run

Today was my final day of work at Oyster Bay. Just like running a race, it feels great to finish. Now it is time to begin the Holiday part of my Working Holiday Visa. I have the next two days to pack, sell my bicycle and arrange the rest of my travel plans.

Saturday morning Andries, Gabby, Christian and I begin our 9 day roadtrip. It is going to be a fast and furious roadtrip of the South Island. Highlights include a quick stop in Dunedin for a brewery tour of Speight's, a visit to Central Otaga for some winetasting, skiing or some other adrenaline activity in Queenstown, hiking in Milford Sounds, and a tour of Fox Glaciers.

Last weekend I had a three day weekend thanks to the Queen's birthday. Saturday morning Andries, Chris, Matthew and I headed to Christchurch for the weekend. Along the way we stopped at a couple wineries and did some winetasting. Saturday night Andries, Chris and I attended the Rugby final--Crusaders vs. Wartahs. It was fun to see, but I am still a hockey fan! Check out the video clips I posted.

On Sunday Andries and I ran in the SBS Race (pictures above). I ran a half marathon and he ran a 10k. Overall, I did pretty good considering I haven't been able to train with my crazy work schedule. Now I am back on track and have officially started my training for this year's Chicago Marathon.

I drove for the first time in over 3 months! Not to mention on the other side of the road. It was awesome!!! I have received two thumbs up from Andries and am allowed to be the relief driver for our roadtrip. Stay tuned for more pictures...