Down Under

Well, I am officially "down under."

-The flight was bad, but not terrible. Just 45 hours in a row of airport/airplane purgatory. On the trans-Pacific flight, I was seated for all but about three minutes of a 12.5 hour flight. No bathroom breaks. There in confinement, my knees, ankles, back, and neck just ached. Then they showed some promo videos of the business premier class just to torture us poor people. They have fully reclining beds, steak dinners, wine, large screen TVs, etc.

-I watched a BBC TV show called Extras on the plane. Very edgy, funny, but it was a guilty sort of did-I-just-laugh-at-that comedy. Stuff about Nazis, a character with cerebral palsy, jokes about Catholic priests, Kate Winslet talking dirty on the telephone, etc. They only had one show on demand, though, otherwise I would have watched more.

-The meals on the plane were great. I wasn't expecting much, but was impressed. I ate a lot better on the plane than I do at home. A hot meal with meat, potatoes, veggies, salad, dessert, and cheese and crackers.

-Got to New Zealand and had a 9 hour layover that turned into 12. We left the airport, took a $22 bus into downtown Auckland, and walked around the city, checking out the streets and parks. We walked through two parks, Albert Park and the Auckland Domain, both unlike any city parks I've seen in the US, but then again I haven't seen a big city park before in the US. Some things stood out: The place was beautiful, but even though there were trashcans everywhere, there was still trash all over. Also, there is a lot of bird chatter in the southern hemisphere. I like it. The trees are noticably different. Shorter, fatter, and with much bigger root systems that come up out of the ground.

-Bought some New Zealand drink and candy. Jaffas, a malt chocolate orange-coated candy, were supposed to be great, but they were mediocre. The drink was a blackcurrant juice called Ribena. Well worth the $2.50.

-The Auckland needle, much like Seattle's space needle at the center of the town. There is a casino inside, which now has $5 of my money (only $3.50 American!). People skydive off of everything down here, and there is a company that offers base jumping off of the needle for $195!. You jump straight down onto a platform below and some side ropes slow you down, I suppose. I'd like to see it done, and then maybe do it myself!

-The ride to Australia was the worst. Already aching and having to wait another 2 hours for mechanical problems, the ride seemed to last forever. The movies were Pirates 2 and D wears P. Nothing too exciting, I didn't even put on the headphones. Right before take-off, I noticed that Air New Zealand, with it's mechanical difficulties, could be said Err New Zealand. I kept imagining an engine shutting down or falling off and then we plummet six miles into the Pacific ocean. Well, it didn't happen.

-I was studying Psalms in my Bible on the flight over and came across Psalm 93. Very pertinant to flying over the ocean, if I remembered the number. I think it was 93. Flying over such a vast ocean gave me an appreciation for just how large it is. Think 600mph for 12 hours over nothing but ocean. Then I read Psalm 93 and I realized that the Pacific Ocean ain't that great.

Later. Off to go rent a car, see King's Park, Heirrson Island, kangaroos, and go on a walkabout.