My Trip
Hey all! Hello from the better part of the world down under. *g*
I'll be posting pictures as soon as I can get them uploaded into my deviant art account. I've got some real beautiful things and Kammie is providing some tutoring and Orla's dad is going to provide a bit more since I am sure he, as an artist, might have some more clues about composition that I should hear. I really need help with that - though at least I'm offsetting things and not centering EVERYTHING as I would have. Anyway, when that is ready, I shall post a link to the account. It just depends on how willing I am to deal with Orla's dialup. After cable, it's hard to work at a crawl....
Now on to the journaling -
The flights were generally uneventful. I managed to get to the airport on time with help from my Mum. Originally it was meant to be my brother, but that just didn't pan out as he was going to be in Duluth at the time when I was supposed to be taking off for the airport. Very entertaining at the airport though. I had some lunch in Minneapolis, napped on the plane to LA, spent the time in LA going through security and then sitting around hoping for time to pass. Quite boring. LA has the worlds dullest airport. Seriously. There is nothing to look at and no place to wander and enough construction for any idiot to build tons and tons of things.
We left LA late due to some idiot who wasn't supposed to be allowed to fly trying to board the plane. Why this wasn't caught before I have no bloody clue. I ended up sitting next to a Mom and her young daughter. I was a bit worried but before the plane had even taken off, the little girl had passed out cold. I followed shortly after two dramaine and two tylonel pm. It wasn't until about 7 (more like 8) hours later that I finally truly came to. I was flying United operated by NZ air so we had some really nice tv to watch - all of our own choosing. I wanted some CSI, hand some breakfast and before I knew it, we were in Auckland.
Arriving in Auckland was kind of a non-event. Probably because it was quite early in the morning - 6am. I went through customs were his only comment was 'have a good time' which I thought was rather a nonevent. I got my bags and went through the final customs were they were rather curious about the thick soled Docs I had in my case. An odd thing to be interested in, but they wanted to make sure I hadn't tracked in anything with them. Since I hadn't worn them since April - they were as clean as could be. After getting through there then I had a chance to have a quick shower before zooming over to the domestic terminal and meeting up with Orla.
We then took a crazy bus ride (the driver seemed to be some relation to kamikazi pilots of japan) to our hotel. We dropped off our bags and then made a dash across part of Auckland to meet up with Orla's friend Zeb. She was quite nice and took us to an excellent place for a bit of lunch. We then wandered about Auckland, having a look in some shops. Then Zeb had to head out for her home and Orla and I took in a movie. We went and saw the Nancy Drew movie in order to indulge our inner little girl. It was quite good. You have to kind of ignore the first 30 minutes in order to get into something like the original books.
By the time that was over, we were both shattered and ended up collecting some food for take away and heading back to the hotel. After dinner, showers and relaxing, we slept! Yay for horizontal sleeping. *g*
We got up early and had a bit of breakfast and headed around the city for a bit. It was a bit cold and rainy, but we enjoyed our small additional tour of Auckland. Then at lunch time we caught the bus for Rotorua. The bus was boring for the most part though the driver also a bit crazy. I'm sensing you have to be a bit nutso in order to drive a bus in New Zealand. *g*
Rotorua smelled like rotten eggs. All because of the hot springs and their sulfur that they give off. It was cool and rainy there. We enjoyed the hotel - once we figured out how to get the bloody heat on. We had a nice wallow in the hot springs which was lovely. I had a good time in the hot water. Then we had some dinner and quietly passed out. The next morning we went and walked through the pouring rain to the museum. The museum was rather interesting, but even though we were there for well over an hour and a half, we hadn't quite managed to dry off. Then we walked back for some lunch before heading off to the airport to fly to Wellington.
We’ve not done all the much in Wellington. Before it started pouring rain this afternoon, we went out to the shops for a bit. It was a nice walk and rather relaxing. I enjoyed myself and then we came back and spent the afternoon with the TV. Quiet and enjoyable. I wonder where my next nap is....
Anyway, I have enjoyed my trip so far. It's been quiet and relaxing and that is exactly what I have wanted. I've been doing a lot of reading and that has been the best part. I'm just going to take it all in. And practice using the camera a lot. On Tuesday we head to Nelson. I'm not sure what else we'll be doing before then, but hopefully nothing all that stressful. I'll keep checking in. See you!
I'll be posting pictures as soon as I can get them uploaded into my deviant art account. I've got some real beautiful things and Kammie is providing some tutoring and Orla's dad is going to provide a bit more since I am sure he, as an artist, might have some more clues about composition that I should hear. I really need help with that - though at least I'm offsetting things and not centering EVERYTHING as I would have. Anyway, when that is ready, I shall post a link to the account. It just depends on how willing I am to deal with Orla's dialup. After cable, it's hard to work at a crawl....
Now on to the journaling -
The flights were generally uneventful. I managed to get to the airport on time with help from my Mum. Originally it was meant to be my brother, but that just didn't pan out as he was going to be in Duluth at the time when I was supposed to be taking off for the airport. Very entertaining at the airport though. I had some lunch in Minneapolis, napped on the plane to LA, spent the time in LA going through security and then sitting around hoping for time to pass. Quite boring. LA has the worlds dullest airport. Seriously. There is nothing to look at and no place to wander and enough construction for any idiot to build tons and tons of things.
We left LA late due to some idiot who wasn't supposed to be allowed to fly trying to board the plane. Why this wasn't caught before I have no bloody clue. I ended up sitting next to a Mom and her young daughter. I was a bit worried but before the plane had even taken off, the little girl had passed out cold. I followed shortly after two dramaine and two tylonel pm. It wasn't until about 7 (more like 8) hours later that I finally truly came to. I was flying United operated by NZ air so we had some really nice tv to watch - all of our own choosing. I wanted some CSI, hand some breakfast and before I knew it, we were in Auckland.
Arriving in Auckland was kind of a non-event. Probably because it was quite early in the morning - 6am. I went through customs were his only comment was 'have a good time' which I thought was rather a nonevent. I got my bags and went through the final customs were they were rather curious about the thick soled Docs I had in my case. An odd thing to be interested in, but they wanted to make sure I hadn't tracked in anything with them. Since I hadn't worn them since April - they were as clean as could be. After getting through there then I had a chance to have a quick shower before zooming over to the domestic terminal and meeting up with Orla.
We then took a crazy bus ride (the driver seemed to be some relation to kamikazi pilots of japan) to our hotel. We dropped off our bags and then made a dash across part of Auckland to meet up with Orla's friend Zeb. She was quite nice and took us to an excellent place for a bit of lunch. We then wandered about Auckland, having a look in some shops. Then Zeb had to head out for her home and Orla and I took in a movie. We went and saw the Nancy Drew movie in order to indulge our inner little girl. It was quite good. You have to kind of ignore the first 30 minutes in order to get into something like the original books.
By the time that was over, we were both shattered and ended up collecting some food for take away and heading back to the hotel. After dinner, showers and relaxing, we slept! Yay for horizontal sleeping. *g*
We got up early and had a bit of breakfast and headed around the city for a bit. It was a bit cold and rainy, but we enjoyed our small additional tour of Auckland. Then at lunch time we caught the bus for Rotorua. The bus was boring for the most part though the driver also a bit crazy. I'm sensing you have to be a bit nutso in order to drive a bus in New Zealand. *g*
Rotorua smelled like rotten eggs. All because of the hot springs and their sulfur that they give off. It was cool and rainy there. We enjoyed the hotel - once we figured out how to get the bloody heat on. We had a nice wallow in the hot springs which was lovely. I had a good time in the hot water. Then we had some dinner and quietly passed out. The next morning we went and walked through the pouring rain to the museum. The museum was rather interesting, but even though we were there for well over an hour and a half, we hadn't quite managed to dry off. Then we walked back for some lunch before heading off to the airport to fly to Wellington.
We’ve not done all the much in Wellington. Before it started pouring rain this afternoon, we went out to the shops for a bit. It was a nice walk and rather relaxing. I enjoyed myself and then we came back and spent the afternoon with the TV. Quiet and enjoyable. I wonder where my next nap is....
Anyway, I have enjoyed my trip so far. It's been quiet and relaxing and that is exactly what I have wanted. I've been doing a lot of reading and that has been the best part. I'm just going to take it all in. And practice using the camera a lot. On Tuesday we head to Nelson. I'm not sure what else we'll be doing before then, but hopefully nothing all that stressful. I'll keep checking in. See you!