Leaving NZ

"What?!?! You are leaving already? Why are you leaving in June? Weren't you planning on sticking around until August? What is with the change in plan?" Well, the weather was getting to us. My mother has a saying about winter, "If it's not snowing, blowing, or negative [temperatures], it's good!" And, while I agree with that statement, we (especially Jen) were really just not enjoying ourselves much with the constant rain, especially since our daily routine often takes us to the outdoors. Apparently we weren't just being wimps, the weather was actually much more rainy and cloudy than normal.

The final, but definitely not the simplest task, was shipping the van.  This time around, we would be loading the van ourselves.  Previously, our service has done the loading, as we were sharing a container.  First up was installing the shipping wheels.  Our factory jack finally died during this process.  It could have been worse, being NZ, it could have been pouring rain!


Loading with the steel shipping wheels is tough.  They have very little traction.  Of course, our service had gotten a single door container, so we couldn’t just pull it through. 


We eventually got it loaded though.  It is a tight fit! 


Our part done, we changed clothes, caught an Uber to the airport, and started the long trip home flying out on the 19th of June. 

Our first layover was half a day in Honolulu. A bit warm, but otherwise a nice stop (minus the jet lag).  After weeks languishing in our wardrobe, we got to wear some shorts again!  With a few hours to burn, we visited the Pearl Harbor Museum, got some lunch, and generally tried to avoid falling asleep. 
















From here it was another full day flying, and two flights. No delays and catching the first flight out every time, and we arrived in Missouri in the late morning.  Only 36 hours after we left Auckland. 

Our plans were to pick up the van in LA in 5 weeks, and spend some time on the west of North America.