A Change of Scenery

After the van had officially departed Australia, we were free to make our own way there.  We booked a flight on Emirates (a fairly pleasant experience, by the way, with over 19 languages represented by crew on the flight) to Auckland.  An interesting and important note.  When visiting NZ you MUST have a return flight booked with the following exceptions; Your visa is a work or residency type, or lists “no onward travel required” in the endorsements.  Our visas are long-stay (9-months) visitor types, and we opted to provide proof of financial support instead of a onward travel ticket for the visa application, which was approved so we didn't think a ticket was required.  However, the visa officer did not list “no onward travel required”. So, we had a last-minute rush to book a refundable ticket (on top of being late because of traffic) before the check-in closed!  Those are amazingly expensive. 

We took an early morning flight, so we were up and out by 6am for the long drive to the airport (Melbourne has bad airport access).  By the afternoon we were working our way through NZ customs and biosecurity.  We packed a decent bit of food, taking care to avoid specifically prohibited items.  After an inspection, we made it through with nothing being seized. 

Airline food.  This is probably the most complex breakfast we have had in years. 
 

The international entryway is surrounded by intricate Maori carvings.  The Maori are the native people of NZ, and have lived here since about 1100AD.


An introduction to the strange NZ native plants.


The Britomart train station in Auckland Central is underground.  When walking above, we noticed these strange skylight light structures.  From below, they are inverted funnels with a reflective suspended orb.  They provide diffuse lighting for the entire station, and look really cool to boot.


We settled into our AirBnB room on Auckland’s North Shore, and started the long wait.