After a few hours of sleep, I woke up again and spent the rest of the flight (4-5 hours) reading, surfing the free internet, watching movies and listening to music. The Air New Zealand cabin crew came by many, many times to offer me food - I took some a few times but focused on trying to finish the snacks I’d brought so I wouldn’t have to declare any food when I got off the aircraft. The sun first became visible just before 0530 but I was sitting in the middle of the plane and couldn’t see anything but clouds. A bit later (0600), the crew served an excellent breakfast (omelet, tomato, home fries, sausage, natural yogurt, banana bread, fruit cup) and juice, After eating my fill, I completed my customs declaration form and listened to more music. We landed in Auckland a bit late (0740 local), in a rainstorm, and then took another 20 minutes to park. At that point, it appeared that I was going to have a tough time making my connecting flight to Christchurch - and that was before I learned that I needed to retrieve my checked bag, clear customs and then transit (20 minutes) from the International Terminal to the Domestic Terminal... Oh, and our plane was nowhere near the baggage claim area. To start the process of entering the country, I had to pass through some SmartGates and, once through, find the baggage carousel. At the latter location, I heard other people talking about how they had the exact same dilemma as me. I even talked to several of them, trying to figure out what their plan was, and we all nervously waited for bags to appear. Almost 45 minutes after landing, everyone else had gotten their bags and I was informed that there were no more coming. This presented a new challenge, since I now had to file a claim with the airline before I could proceed to customs. Even an email from Air New Zealand about how they had delayed my next flight’s departure to 0920 didn’t look like it would help me. As fast as we could, the desk agent and I finished filing the lost bag paperwork and I then headed over to Immigration. Since New Zealand cares a LOT about bio-contamination threats and has serious fines for not declaring that you have brought used hiking gear, I’d filled out the customs declaration accordingly. This decision meant that I had to go in a HUGE line, along with dozens of other people who had just gotten off a flight from Singapore. Needless to say, I didn’t have a snowball's chance in Hell to make my scheduled flight... I ended up waiting nearly 45 more minutes to reach a counter where an agent could review my forms. On the way there, I spent 30 of it on the phone with Air New Zealand, unsuccessfully trying to resolve my missed flight situation (I never even got to speak to anyone). One nice thing: I was relieved (again) about the seamless transition to my AT&T International Day Pass - at least I had phone service to call the airline at all! After finally getting to talk to the Customs Agent, it took less than five minutes to get out of the International Terminal. Fortunately, it was no longer raining, so I walked the half mile to the Domestic Terminal and then attempted to figure out what I needed to do next. One of the Air New Zealand staff put me in a big line so I could be rescheduled to a new flight and, 30 more more minutes later, I finally was assigned a departure time of 1800 (!!!) for my Christchurch leg. During this additional delay, I learned later that several flights had already been delayed, canceled or turned back after takeoff (all of this due to a wet weather scenario they called an “atmospheric river”). Not knowing this at the time, however, I had to accept all of my troubles without knowing a reason. It was at this point that the full impact of my lost bag hit me - I was SOOOO relieved that I'd fought with the gate agent in Boston about retaining my backpack! Inside was all the personal property that I had for my trip. Luckily, I'd been wearing my hiking boots and wearing my winter coat on the plane - the change of clothes and toiletries was enough to put my mind at ease - somewhat, at least... By this time, I’d been on the ground for almost three hours and still had seven hours left to go in Auckland - I was VERY frustrated but it was likely due to exhaustion. Deciding I needed a change of scenery, I found a money changing station and converted $100 USD to NZD. The nice lady there told me about some busses that used a “SmartCard” (i.e., cashless) that was sold outside the terminal. Without too much difficulty, I located the kiosk and got my own card. By 1045, I boarded the first bus that passed by the stop. Even though I didn’t really know where I was going, it felt good to be headed away from the airport! Along the way, we passed several cemeteries with large NZ flags that seemed to indicate some sort of honorary festival for ANZAC veterans - I wanted to get out to visit them but didn't dare explore that much (at least beyond the train route) with the limited time I had. The bus soon reached the Puhinui Station (built in 2021) and I made my way to the train platform. I didn’t have long to wait before a clean, new-looking train picked me up for the ride into the Auckland Central Business District (CBD). Once onboard, I enjoyed the ride towards Britomart. All the announcements were bilingual (English and Maori). Lots of nice Kiwis helped me along the way and, overall, I found the train system to be quite user-friendly. There was one moment of concern: at one point on the map, a sign reported that we might have to switch to buses. When I asked a lady nearby about this, she said the commuters learn their fate on a daily basis. We didn’t ultimately need to get off the train and I talked to my new Kiwi friend (a mom of the kids who worked at the University). She told me about Auckland and her travels around the country. For what was certainly not the last time, I outlined my itinerary and got some honest feedback on things I could tweak. After we arriving at the Downtown Station, I came out of the building to find myself in a city square that was located only a few blocks from the hotel I’ve reserved for this Friday evening. Along with checking out walking distances for several places (The Strand, the hotel), I grabbed a bite to eat at the Yard Bar, a little restaurant in the Adina Apartments, and sampled a tall glass of local beer (Tuatara Hazy Pale Ale). The food/drink was good but the waiter made a mistake on my order, charging me too much for what should have been a lunch special (pizza). The manager helped me get a credit, fortunately. Another good thing: all the prices appeared to be a third more than my international transaction ended up being in reality (i.e., NZD = 2/3 of USD). At 1300, I went back to the Britomart Station and took the train back to Puhinui. From there, I was able to quickly board a bus that took me back to the Domestic Terminal (arrived at 1400). I still had to kill another hour before I could get another boarding pass so I found a place where I could sit and tried to stay awake. At 1500, I got my new boarding pass from a nice lady at the Air New Zealand counter (there was no line at all) and made my way to the Security Checkpoint, The line wasn’t bad and I was sitting in the boarding area for my flight to Christchurch by 1515, After that, I rested, read, fidgeted and forced myself to stay focused. My mental capacity was strained by about 1545 and, since I was hearing boarding announcements for an earlier Christchurch bound ANZ flight, I decided to roll the dice as a standby passenger. On my first try, I managed to get the last seat on Flight 555 (an Airbus 321 with a scheduled departure of 1625). Along the way, I actually saw some good views of mountains, valleys, rivers and lakes on the South Island. This was my second flight with the black hard candy given out by the ANZ crew but I'm still not sure why they do it. We landed at Christchurch (finally!) at 1730. On the ground, I called my hotel, requesting a shuttle pickup, and checked with the rental car counter about how to return a vehicle at the end of the trip. At around 1810, the shuttle arrived and the driver (Keith) took me to the Airport Gateway Motel. The desk clerk (Ben) told me he’d upgraded my room and helped me figure out the best mode of transportation for the next day. Ultimately, we settled on a taxi cab at 0630 because the simple, cheap buses didn’t start running until 0700. Together, Ben and Keith gave me many helpful tips about how to maximize my bus, ferry and train plan as I headed north. By this point (1845), I was tired and asked the helpful Kiwis to let me go check on my room and get settled. A I was leaving, they gave me a pint of milk (“for your tea”). When I got to my room, I saw that I had enough beds in the room for 6+ people (!). After getting a bit organized, I went back down to the Lobby area and sat at the bar. I ordered two beers (Speight’s Old Dark and Mid Ale) but found out later they were extremely low in alcoholic content. Oh well - I didn't need more sleep-inducing techniques. I remained at the bar for over an hour and talked to the bartender lady (Jen) and some locals who were eating dinner. As I’d already experienced throughout the day, everyone had some great ideas for making my trip a success. Growing more and more tired, I thanked them all and then went to my room to shower and figure out what I had in the way of clothes, etc. Fortunately, I think I have enough to tide me over for a week or so - hope they find my bag eventually, though. Before bed, I texted with Nancy & Rick’s son, Benji, about my future visit (almost a week away) to Auckland. By 2145, I was ready to go to sleep - the first I've really had in days. Overall, my transit from home to New Zealand was a huge adventure! Despite the obstacles and set-backs, I still squeezed in a great Recce trip today that should make my next (intentional) visit to Auckland go more smoothly.
