Kia Ora from New Zealand!

The Hagens have landed in New Zealand! Sadly, there are no interesting stories to report about our flight, so I’ll fast forward to our landing, where, of course, a new chapter unfolded. Upon resuming a standing position after a 13-hour flight in a semi-fetal version of babies in the womb (if you know a better way to try and sleep in an economy seat–even if it is a premium economy seat–please send tips my way.), we shuffled off the plane and into the border patrol area.

Most border patrol areas are rather non-descript and this one was no different…until we reached the end. A kiosk with a computer screen blocked our exit to the free world beyond. Uh-oh, one last hoop to jump through. Along with a month-long respiratory “thing” that we hoped antibiotics would finally knock out and physical strain from all the packing, Herman was loopy from the plane “birthing.” He tapped the screen and began answering the questions. To be fair, the first two questions elicited “yes” responses, so naturally, he assumed the third would result in the same response. You know what they say about assuming, well, “yes” was not the wisest response to the question, “Have you been convicted of any crime within the last 10 years?” The nearby attendant was able to resolve the issue, but I can’t help wondering if we might have a police car tailing us for the next six months. Herman does have that Clint Eastwood squinty eyes look about him, you know.

Of course, we rented a car from the only company that appears to have just one shuttle, so we were delighted when we called to find out that he was right outside of door 11 and was waiting for us. When we finally located door 11, we walked out to see our shuttle disappearing into the distance. It took at least another 30 minutes for him to come back by and pick us up. Most of his conversation was about the weather and how hot and muggy it was. Finally, we arrived at the car rental location. The friendly, efficient customer service lady processed our paperwork quickly and went out to drive our car around to the front. I should have known it was all too easy. She walked back to where we were waiting and with an apologetic tone informed us that the car needed alignment, so she recommended that we go have breakfast at this great café nearby, the car rental company’s treat. Who are we to say no, besides, we had no choice. A different person drove us to the restaurant, saying someone would return in about an hour.

Admittedly, we weren’t all that hungry because Air New Zealand feeds you really tasty food, and breakfast before we landed was quite filling, but we did our best to eat again (we had the best pancakes, ever). At this point, we’re getting really tired and beginning to worry how much energy we had left to drive the hour and a half to Hamilton, the location of our first hotel. An hour passed, but no driver arrived. Finally, we called and begged them to send someone to pick us up. A few minutes later, the airport shuttle arrived with the same driver that picked us up at the airport. Talk about déjà vu!

Instead of taking us to the car rental place, he proceeded back to the airport, rotating from the international to the domestic terminals and repeating the same weather comments each time he picked up a new passenger. The only saving grace came when his shuttle was full and he headed for the car rental place. Oh, but there was one more adventure to come. A shuttle bus towing a small enclosed cart behind it for luggage took a sharp right turn, and all the luggage in the little cart came barreling out into the street. Our driver tried to notify the other shuttle driver by beeping but to no avail. The next thing we knew, he’s heading back to the airport again! Fortunately, he didn’t make another round and we finally got off the shuttle and into our rental car. When we got to Hamilton, we basically dropped the luggage and collapsed.