Got up and checked out by 9 AM today, which is notable when we're ususally sleeping until noon. We slung our ever-increasingly heavy backpacks on and trudged over to the train. While we waited we were joined by a lot of dressed-up people who must have been headed to the Melbourne Cup horse races today. The men all wore suits, but it was the women who are worth mentioning. Every, and I mean every woman who was headed to the Cup wore nice clothing (ususally a dress of some sort) but the cherry on the cake was they all wore some sort of hat/hair accessory. Most were small round hats of a fancy nature, many were feathers, some a hybrid of the two. Quite odd to see dozens (and then later at the main train station, hundreds of women wearing funky headwear). I think it's hilarious that on the day of the "Race that Stops a Nation" and is a national holiday and one of the biggest sporting events of the Australian year, we're peacing out and heading to New Zealand. Anyways, from the main train station we took the Skybus airport shuttle and once there, headed for international departures.
Today was the longest I have ever experienced at an airport in order to get on my flight. The check-in with Air New Zealand took at least 30 minutes including the wait and the struggle of getting a boarding pass. I had to provide my Australian work visa and make the details of my return flight clear before the guy would give me my boarding pass. Then another line and customs/security, then another line and exit customs. Showed up 2 hours early and got to the gate just as our plane was boarding, what a struggle. My seat had been changed by useless airline employee also, so now I was in an emergency exit row and I got worried when I saw no TV since the flight includes movies (which was added to the ticket price), but there was a flip-up screen that quelled my concerns. The flight went swimmingly with a tasty meal of chicken pot pie, pasta salad, can of Coke and container of ice cream. I got to watch an odd film with John C Reilly and Jonah Hill called Cyrus, then Dinner for Schmucks, but there was about 30 minutes left in the movie when we landed, so I missed the dinner and the resolution of the conflict. Now I'm going to have to watch it illegally online. See what making me stop my movie during descent and landing does? Makes me have to resort to piracy. Wag of the finger goes out to Air New Zealand. Got off the plane and the legs felt great, due to the huge amount of leg room I had (could stretch my legs out fully the whole time!) but B wasn't as lucky, with a regular civilian seat (the horror!). Went through customs in the airport here (this is beginning to get old quickly) and then quarantine. They're awfully strict about outside fruit, plants, animals, etc being snuck into the country here and fine you heavily if they catch you doing it. So I did a once over of my bags to make sure I had no food that I had forgotten that would land me in jail or something here. All clean. Tossed the bags on the conveyer and waited on the other side and just as my 2nd bag is exiting the scanner the guy stops the conveyer. "Who's bag is this!?" Awwwwww man, what did I forget... Mine, sir. "Over here please, I'm going to open your bag and inspect it. Did you read this card and UNDERSTAND each point you signed off on?" Yes...um. I think so... So he rips open the bag and starts pulling stuff out until he gets to the skimball (squishy racquetball sized waterproof ball that bounces on water). He pulls it slowly out of the bag, squishes it hesistantly like a dog would squeeze a toy he shouldn't have, then drops it back into the bag. All clear, proceed along Mr. Turnbull (It was all I could do to not burst out laughing. At least he had only mistaken a ball for an orange or something instead of me having forgotten an apple in my bag and being fined $400 on the spot and not allowed into the country until I paid it. Outside the terminal (fresh air at last!) we took the shuttle bus to the city center, which equated to a 40 minute ride. It'd be nice if these cities (I'm talking to you Melbourne and Auckland!) built the airport in the city or remotely close to it, not like an hour away. Lucky for us, the shuttle had a stop about half a block away from the hostel we had booked. This was the easiest hostel to find in quite some time.
We checked in and got room keys, ditched the stuff in the room, and then headed out for supper. The fast food chains are just like Canada here (even Burger King instead of Hungry Jack's) and so we opted for Wendy's (God bless American fast food) with a terribly old, stale Dunkin Donut for dessert (they've got nothing on Krispy Kreme). After the trans-fattiest meal of the week, we walked to the mall that's nearby. Checked out cinema listings and were happy to see Jackass 3D opens on the 4th, but disappointed to see that despite promo posters for the movie Due Date saying it opened Nov. 4th as well, it got pushed back to the 25th or something. I guess we'll have to see that one in Christchurch (if the theatre is still standing there...too soon?). Movie prices are still steep ($16) but it's 16 NZD which works out to like $12.80 Canadian with the exchange we're getting here. So much better than the $20 AUD for the movie in Melbourne. Brennan wants to pick up a Lonely Planet book for New Zealand, but they were wicked pricey in Melbourne, so we stopped at a bookstore in the mall to check them out here. This bookstore was huge. We entered on the main floor from the mall, and there was one floor above that, and two floors below it, with a cafe built in. Prices were the same, but in NZD instead of AUD, so more affordable, however he didn't see the one he wanted, so we moved on back to the hostel for chilling/napping to get over the bit of jet lag we had going on. After awhile I was restless and B was passed out, so I went for a walk and checked ou the SkyTower all lit up in the night sky. The streets were so quiet here; barely anyone was outside on the streets. Granted, it was a Tuesday night, but this is the heart of downtown coming into the height of tourist season. Strangely quiet. Then I came back to the hostel and watched Land of the Lost (crappy Will Ferrell movie) on TV then retreated back to the room where everyone was already asleep. It's always tough coming back to a hostel room and finding your way to your bed in the darkness and climbing up onto the top bunk of a creaky bed without waking people up. I'm getting a lot of practice at it though, so it's becoming easier. Tomorrow we'll be booking our bus pass for the country and all of the activites for our month here. If we book it all at once, we can get the best deal. Also might check out the interior of the Skytower, which is the tallest observation deck in the Southern Hemisphere (and looks oddly similar to the CN Tower).
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