Graham and I boarded an early flight from Austin to Los Angeles on the morning of November 1.  The flight was on time - good news for the most part, but bad news in that we had longer to wait around at LAX.  To make our long layover even worse, after exiting thru security (which we had to do to pick up our checked backpacks), we discovered that there is no food at the airport (nor lockers to ditch our bags) other than thru security.

Thankfully we didn’t have to wait long, as Air New Zeland allowed us to check in as soon as they opened at 1pm.  And so, we checked our bags, grabbed a cab, and headed to Hermosa Beach.  Graham surprised me with an AMAZING vegetarian meal, and then we walked along “The Strand” (the walkway running parallel to the beach there) and then took a bus back to LAX.

Our flight to Auckland was actually much better than expected - it turned out to be only 12.5 hours, and we had some great movies to keep us entertained (I watched 500 days of Summer, Up and Julie & Julia - all of which were excellent).  Our layover was quick (especially compared to the previous one) and before long it was November 3 (having entirely missed the 2nd) and we were on our flight to Christchurch.

We were a bit concerned to hear the temperature in CHCH and started to worry that we hadn’t packed enough.  We changed into our closed toe shoes (from the flip flops we wore on the plane) and made our way through customs (tips for NZ travelers - clean your boots thoroughly with a toothbrush before packing them and try not to take any equipment camping 30 days or less before your trip).  Then we boarded the shuttle bus and headed to our hostel.

Our first of two days in Christchurch was nice but relatively uneventful.  We wandered into and around the city, ran some errands and ate incredible Thai Food at Ann’s which was recommended to us.  It was chilly and windy but not as bad as we feared.  Our goal was to stay up until 7 or 8 to try and acclimate to the new time zone, but we passed out around 3pm.  Thankfully we slept thru the night and felt rested when we woke at 6am.

This morning we went for run into the city, enjoyed a wonderful breakfast at Drexel’s, spent most of the day strolling through the Botanical Gardens, the park and the Arts Centre (for pictures, check out my flickr page), and then returned “home” to do laundry, play cards, and drink a bottle of wine we purchased the day before.  The weather was gorgeous - sunny and in the high 20s (celsius, of course :))  For dinner, Graham ate a $10 steak and now we are off to listen to jazz.

Tomorrow: the Tranz Alpine train to Greymouth…

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