Auckland Delay

Ok well I'm in New Zealand. But I'm not in Queenstown. Or even Te Anau, for that matter. I'm in Auckland...and let me tell you why.

I was on the flight from LA that came in super late. Well not even super late, just that annoyingly "just on time" sort of late that makes me miss my flight by a mere 2 minutes. But my flight is rebooked and after a short emotional breakdown, a collect call home for more emotional breakdownage, and a large bottle of "Pump - pure New Zealand spring water", I'm sitting here waiting for my next flight to take off. I'm cooled down, not sweating anymore and feeling less dehydrated than before (as I was sweating and crying out most of the liquid in my body).

So here's the story of my flights:
I landed in LA late (our pilot didn't show up in Toronto) and wandered around, mostly looking for both a wireless signal AND an outlet to recharge the batteries. No such luck. So I opted to drain my batteries instead and talk on MSN. Any sort of "class" other than economy was full the whole way, so there was no luck of me getting upgraded. Which is ok, I still had the window to sleep against. But it made it very uncomfortable to get up and stretch, like Emma said it would be.

So I just kicked around LA for a while and finally boarded the plane to Auckland 45 minutes late (again) because the plane we were taking came in late. Then we sat there for what seemed like forever. And I felt sick coz it was so hot on the plane and this is the first time I've never had my own air conditioning thing above my head. I skipped dinner coz I felt like passing out. I slept for about 7 or 8 hours STRAIGHT and woke up with about 3 hours left on the flight. The girl beside me was about my age and heading back home (NZ) after living in Hawaii for 4 years. She was nice. But she was also only visiting for a month, and then gets to do that fun flight again! She taught me how to say Te Anau for sure (I was right, it seems) and I loved her accent. I love everyone's accents!

I went pee for my first time on an airplane. Those toilets scare the crap outta me!!! I only went once and it wasn't even that much. Apparently my body needed all the fluid it was consuming.

So anyways, I got here and while I was having my emotional breakdown the lady helped me to get all my stuff together and make sure I knew where I was going. Then she told me that I could call the Steffens' for free and let them know I'd be late. Of course did I pack the phone number? NOOOO! So I guessed. AND I WAS RIGHT! I couldn't believe it! Thank you CIBC for providing me with the skill to memorize numbers easily and subconciously! They were JUST about to leave and I told them to wait til noon. It was wonderful. Fiona sounds so cute! I LOVE ACCENTS!

And then when I went to get my water, a lady asked me if "everything worked out alright" for me. I guess she was sitting beside me while I was crying on my suitcases waiting for the lady to come back and tell me if I had a rebooked flight or not. She was really nice and started asking where I'm from, where I'm going and if I like it so far. She encouraged me a lot and made me feel really comfortable - comfortable enough to shed a few tears while I was telling her what happened.

And even the girl who I bought the water from gave me change for this internet terminal, even though they're probably not allowed. They have 50 cent pieces here - so great!

So anyways, I've started my time in New Zealand with tears, but I'm doing good now. Stupid girly time of the month lurking around the corner...grrr. Hehe, I'm sure you all wanted to know that!

Okay time to get through security, re apply deoderant, wash my face and brush my teeth. I'd brush my hair but I just realized that I left my brush in Ontario. Oh well...it was on its last bristles anyways.

Talk to ya later!

Weird things so far:
- a lady said "Yes Please" instead of "Next" when she was calling me from the line up
- Kraft Peanut butter is so weird - the packaging has a completely different bear on it! I'll see if I can snag a little individual one from the shop here

There have been others but I think the travel time and fatigue is getting to my brain. I'll see what I can remember.

Ok bye!