Arriving to New Zealand

Hi guys,

As promised, after Japan, I started a blog about New Zealand. My trip from Tokyo to Auckland must have been one of the easiest in my entire life, even though it might have been the longest. My flight was leaving at around 20h30 from Narita to first land at around 6h30 in Australia (Gold Coast), so after boarding the plane, and eating the dinner I bought in the airport, I closed my eyes and listened to music. I never completely fell asleep, but I managed to rest enough to be ok when we arrived in Australia. I enjoyed the beautiful sunrise from the plane right before landing:

Sorry, the quality is not very good, but it gives you an idea of what I'm talking about.

After having quickly passed the security I had breakfast in the airport, bought Europe to New Zealand adaptors and got ready to board the plane to New Zealand. That flight only lasted 3 hours and passed by really quickly as well. I tried to rest again, because even if I was ok, I was getting a little tired and I was worried about the NZ customs because they are famous for being quite strict. After landing in New Zealand I was probably one of the first non NZ or AU to pass through the security check so it went fast and without any problems. They checked my visa and passport and then let me through. My luggage was already waiting for me when I got to the luggage collection so I picked it up, went through customs in a flash and that was that. I was free to enter the country :-) After buying a NZ phonecard I bought my shuttle ticket to go to Auckland and called the friend I was going to stay with to let him know I was on my way. The apartment was only at a 10 minutes walk from where the shuttle dropped me off. We dropped my luggages, I took a shower and rested for a little bit and the we met with another friend, Grant, who took us on a small ride along the coast to show me around. Herewith some pictures:

After the ride, the three of us went to have dinner:fish and chips, by the port. It was delicious! We went for another short ride of Auckland by night before heading back to the apartment where I was happy to go to bed.

So yes, that was my first half day in Auckland, New Zealand.

I'll try to post more stuff soon, since I've already been here for almost 3 weeks now.

Bye