Helpful hints for new travellers...

As the plane engines purred to a stop in Nadi, Fiji, I congratulated myself on successfully travelling to the other side of the world by myself. Yup, I felt more independent than ever before. Never mind my clutching to the arm rests for a solid three hours as my plane took off over the Pacific, bumping along through the most dreadful turbulence I have ever encountered.

Speaking of terrible airplane rides, I want to throw out a word or two of advice for new travellers...

Spend the extra money on a decent plane ticket. While shopping around, I simply found the cheapest ticket possible, didn't think of the actual plane I'd be on for 11 hours, and hit the "buy now" button. When I found my seat on this historic vessel, I noticed it had ashtrays conveniently located in the arm rests which have not been in legal use for the duration of my entire life. At that point, I knew I was doomed.

Despite my panic, I made it to Nadi. The people were extraordinarily nice in Fiji...and I have a theory as to why that is. Perhaps people are nice in Fiji, and other places suffering from insanely hot temperatures around the world, because it is simply so hot, if they were to get angry, their body temperature might raise a fraction of a degree and they would simply drop dead of heat stroke...of course I'm joking, but seriously, it was in the seventies with ninety percent humidity at 6AM!!! Although this kind of weather doesn't particularly appeal to me, I'm looking forward to spending a day in Fiji at the end of my trip!

Second word of advice for new travellers...always check with actual people when making detailed (and very important) travel plans.

With five hours of sleep under my belt, I exited Auckland International to look for a shuttle to my hotel. I waited and waited until I realized that I might need to actually call the hotel for a pick up. I proceeded to the pay phone only to realize I had no coins and no clue how to make a phone call. So, I became desperate and took a very expensive cab ride for just under one mile to the hotel.

Feeling less confident with my survival skills, I thought it best to check with the desk clerk at the hotel on my travel plans for the next day. He informed me that instead of catching a bus just down the street that would take me straight to my host home, I had made reservations to catch a bus about 25 km away. Now I don't really know how far that is, but judging from the smirk on the desk clerks face, I became pretty sure that it was not just down the street. And, to top it all off, the reservations were written in stone and there was just nothing I could do to change them.

So, tomorrow morning, I will be woken up at 6:30am, which will give me enough time to get ready and eat my complimentary breakfast (per the recommendation of the nice lady at the hotel), I will take a shuttle back to the airport, catch a bus to downtown Auckland where I will then catch a bus which will pass right back by my hotel and take me to my host family.

Let me just review the helpful hints...spend the extra money and pay close attention to detail!!!
(Despite the seemingly pessimistic attitude, New Zealand is amazing and I'm really looking forward to settling in and getting to work...and playing a bit too...) Okay, so that's it for now. Travelling long distances is rough, but it feels good to be sleeping in an actual bed tonight...