Despite what the title may say, our travels on this day actually only took place for us over one really long day. Once you start crossing date lines and time zones, things get rather confusing...
We checked out of Aloft hotel at around 4:45am in the morning, getting the 5am shuttle bus to the international terminal. We were the only ones flying from the international terminal, meaning that by the time the bus driver has stopped at all the other stops, we basically had our own private taxi!
Technically, our original flight had been cancelled, but we'd been put on a Hawaiian Airlines flight at the same time from the same place, meaning that it made little difference for us. The only difficulties came when we had to check-in manually at the desk, waiting almost an hour in that tiny queue before we dumped our bags at around 6am and headed through to security.
Security was no issue and before we knew it, we were sitting by the gates ready to jet off. Matt decided it was time for the classic airport combo meal: a coffee and a beer!
Absolutely classic.
Either way, we were on our flight and in the air at 7:15am, but this is where things start to get confusing.
San Francisco to Hawaii (our first flight) included 5 hours in the air, but we landed at around 11am local time; Hawaii is 2 hours different from California - but at this point it didn't really bother us, and it wasn't very noticeable.
Being in the airport was surreal as I'd always pictured Hawaii as a small island, or a collection of islands, but from the air it actually looks pretty sizeable!
In-aiport entertainment included people-watching (as always), as well as two gentlemen with ukeleles who played while a woman (with flowers in her hair!) danced the hula in the middle of the concourse!
Our flight (in Hawaiian time) was at 1pm, meaning that we didn't have long to enjoy views such as the one below, but we were happy to be up and travelling again.
The next leg from Hawaii to Auckland was 9 hours, but I think both of us managed to stave off plane-boredom (the dreaded disease) yet again. I really struggled sleeping on the flight, and definitely felt myself crashing (mentally, not physically) in the final couple of hours, but otherwise was just excited for what lay ahead.
However, I did get to watch Batman Begins and Elvis (the film, again!) during the flight, and I'd really recommend the latter to anyone who likes Elvis, or even those just interested in his history and early story.
We landed at around 9pm, but by this point we were a day ahead, meaning that although we'd set off on Monday morning, we'd actually landed on the Tuesday evening.
Getting through security has never been easier, and although I'd checked that I'd brought some food (snacks from the plane) and some medication, they let us off going through their uber-tech X-ray machines and let us walk past their little sniffer doggie instead.
We were in a taxi and well on our way to the hotel within an hour of touching down which is absolutely unheard of. Matt and I have a feeling that it was down to the fact that we were probably the last flight landing that night and therefore everyone just wanted to go home, but it meant that we were now in New Zealand, home and dry!
Word of caution, however, always pre-book airport taxis at Auckland as the one we chose (Cheap Cabs) gave us a quote of $90-$95NZD, but took a much longer route and was travelling consistently and significantly under the speed limit to make the whole trip longer.
The final charge was around $97NZD (basically 50 quid) when we worked out that it could have been far less. He was very resistant to the facts as well when we confronted him about it; most taxi drivers seem to forget that you can follow along with Google Maps as you go...
Either way, we were at Kiwi International Hotel at around 10:30pm, and after a quick trip to the local liquor store and convenience market, we were more than happy to collapse into bed, or should I say... beds? (we had to push two single beds together, and fought throughout the week to stop them rolling apart!).
Not a difficult journey, just long, and next time we'd definitely try to spend a little time in Hawaii as it seemed a little bit of a shame to stop for just a short layover (just need to save up some more money... while travelling?)
Only one more plane journey left now, so we're almost done dotting around the globe, but definitely looking forward to looking around Auckland and seeing how North Island compares to what we saw back in February of South Island.
Kia ora, New Zealand!
- Abi
Have your bodies caught up with the current time zone? I struggle when the clocks go back an hour in the UK...I vaguely remember flying to Boston and taking ages to get used to the 5/6 hours difference...but 13 hours ahead, not to mention passing through all those time zones on your way there...Also...Thank you for rotating all your pictures, so they are up the "right way" for all of us left in the Northern Hemisphere!
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