Our flight left from LAX at 10pm on Wednesday July 25th (we may or may not have anxiously arrived at the airport 3 hours before we needed to). We landed in Auckland at 6am on Friday July 27th. It was ridiculous adjusting to the time change! Our flight was 13 hours, so with the 18 hour time difference our internal clocks were thrown off pretty bad. The flight wasn't too bad though with two meals served and tons of movies to choose from.
We both got at least a couple hours of sleep on the plane, so when we landed in Auckland Friday morning we did our best to trick our bodies into believing that it actually was morning. Danny's wonderful Aunty Wan picked us up from the airport and let us use her house as a home base while we were there. New Zealand was everything it was talked up to be. Seriously the most beautiful places I've ever seen I saw just driving down the road there (which by the way is so freaky on the left side!). It was so great to meet all of the family down there and to meet some of the people from Danny's mission that I've heard so much about. Here goes an attempted summary of our two weeks in that beautiful country!
One Tree Hill and Mount Eden in Auckland
Coromandel Peninsula - Boulder Bay and Cathedral Cove
Hamilton: Temple and a visit to Grandpa Barney's grave
The Shire!
Dargaville with the Midgleys. Beautiful home with 600 acres of rolling green hills right down to the beach. Amazing. Danny's Aunty Lynette passed just a few weeks after we left, and I am so grateful we had the opportunity to spend some time with them while we were there. My first farm experience, and first time driving on the beach!
Piha Beach, Fairy Falls, Kitekite Falls, Whangarei, and Tarawera Falls
Skytower in Auckland
Yummy kiwi fruit and NZ candies from Aunty Wan!
Thames. Literally saw a rainbow every day we were there.
Otara Market
Warriors game
We were sad to leave, but excited to get back to the convenience of America. Never appreciated it so much before! Basically, everything in New Zealand is smaller, simpler, and prettier. We're excited for our next trip back (definitely in the summer next time)!
