Finally in New Zealand

Finally. I left Virginia Beach at 5 o'clock in the morning on Friday, and arrived in Auckland, NZ around 6 in the morning on Sunday. I have no idea what time it is in the states but it is Monday afternoon here. On Sunday I met my parents in the airport (they were on a different flight). We collected my luggage which included my bike box. It arrived completely unscathed. The bike case ordeal went a whole lot smoother than I had expected it to. Nobody said a thing to me about it and was never given any problems or charged a dime. Completely free. Awesome.
So as I was saying on Sunday were were in Auckland; a big ass city on the northern part of the north island. It sucks. Just another big city with lots of rich people everywhere. I might be a little jaded because it rained the entire time I was there. Hell, for all I know it could be the coolest city I have ever been too. But for now, until I go back, it sucked. We ate at a Chinese restaurant last night, and I got spare ribs in Shanghai soy sauce. They were freezing cold and had almost no meat on them. They were covered, no smothered in a thick sauce that was so sweet it was disgusting. It was bad. My mom, or I shall say Mum as they do here, Ordered some sweet and sour chicken. They were nothing like sweet and sour chicken I have ever seen. They were crispy as hell and had a bunch of pineapples mixed in. Her meal was actually delicious although nothing as we expected. I ate a lot of it. I ate a lot of my dad's too. I am going to apologize now for going into so much detail about my meal. I tend to get very off topic sometime, but it does make for an interesting read I think. So to top off the bad stay in Auckland, we had to wake up this morning at 4:30 to have enough time to catch a plane to Christchurch. Christchurch is a city on the south island and it is b-e-a-u-tiful. It has a huge botanical gardens (57 acres) that is completely free. Lots of very interesting architecture and very good food. The town square has all sorts of street performers and the like and throngs of people. To add to the atmosphere it is wonderful outside. Bright and beautiful. I'm sitting in a Internet cafe right now overlooking the town center. I cant wait to come back here with Sarah on bikes. That's another thing, There are people on bikes everywhere you look. Its a flat city and there are bike lanes on most of the roads. I have seen countless people on loaded touring bikes since I have been here. I really cant wait to start that part of the trip.
Its going to be nice to be able to meet lots of new people and go at our own pace. Everyone we have come into contact with so far has been a pleasure to be around. Very accommodating people.
Tomorrow we meet our group and guides and start the hiking portion of my trip. I am curious to meet the people that I will be travelling with for the next three weeks. I hope they are nice and don't smell bad. Smelly people suck.
I forgot my SD card reader at the hotel so I am unable to share any pictures with you. I am going to try and talk the hotel people into letting use their computer to upload some photos when I get back there. Nothing fantastic but might give you a little idea what the real middle earth looks like. Cheers.


P.S. send me emails and comments so I can feel special when I log on next time. Thanks in advance.