February 22, 2023

My flight from Singapore landed in Auckland at 9:46 a.m. I had a tight window to collect my bag, go through customs, recheck my bag, and get to my gate for my 11:30 a.m. flight to Queenstown. Everything went smoothly except for customs which required me to declare my hiking boots. The customs officer decided they needed to be sanitized before I could bring them into the country. 

By the time I was through customs it was already after 11:30. Minutes later I found out that I did miss my flight. They rebooked me on a flight at 2:30 p.m. and I got to Queenstown around 4:30 p.m. I picked up the rental car and drove to the hotel where I met up with Theresa and Josh.

It was really nice to see both of them again, although everything felt a little out of whack. Cold and rainy weather (30° colder than Thailand), driving a car, no scooters or stray dogs or cats, and everything else in New Zealand threw me off in my jetlagged state.

We walked into town to Fat Badgers Pizza and enjoyed two pies while we caught up. Pizza, hamburgers, peanut butter, and cheese were foods that I craved in Thailand. The pizza did not disappoint.

We walked back to our hotel and all crashed early.