New Zealand bound

After the last few days in Colorado of scrambling about like a head with my chicken cut off I finally made it to the airport and onto my flight towards the Ice. Thanks Cassie, you're the best!
The flight from Denver to LA was uneventful and relatively quick. Nice considering the four hour layover in LA and the impending 12.5 hour flight to come. Then on to Auckland, NZ where we were for a couple of hours prior to the flight down to Christchurch, NZ. The flong LA to Auckland flight was long and cramped, even in the 747. Thankfully it was a night flight and I was able to get a little napping in after the movie and dinner. Woke up for breakfast and then tried to pass the remainder of the time with sitcoms, music, happing and chatting. All in all I think it took us about 24 hours to get here.
Once we arrived in Christchurch (CHCH- pronounced Cheech) and passed through customs we were whisked off to pick up our paperwork, cash for our stay, and then to the CDC (Central distribution center) at the International Antarctica Terminal for our first or many briefings and to try on and make sure all of our ECW (extreme cold weather) gear fit properly.


We also had to drop off our laptops for screening prior to reaching the Ice. Although they said it should only take about half an hour, they ended up having then overnight. Once all that was cleared we finally were released to catch a shuttle to our respective places to stay (I wouldn't exactly call it a hotel). After a shower and clothes change we headed off for a walk around the town to stretch the legs and then met up for dinner, drinks and a bit of chillin' out.

It's good to finally be in one place, even if only for a couple of days.
The weather here isn't what I expected. I thought it'd be warm and tropical (balmy at least) but it's been overcast and chilly with brief bits of misty rain. It did get sunny for a few hours this afternoon and evening which was nice for the roaming around town and sitting on the patio at the Dux de Lux. All in all, from the little bit that I've seen so far of New Zealand it is a beautiful country, very safe (the police don't carry guns other than the airport police), and the people are so very friendly and kind.
It all still seems so surreal that I'm doing this, but I suppose it's too late now to turn back!