Greetings from Middle Earth! I've made it to New Zealand and have now had my first full day here. But to get here, I learned a few things. The first is that the New Zealanders are natural herders whether of sheep or people, it doesn't matter. At LAX I had trouble finding my ticket counter and I was helped along by the line agent to make sure I found my place. Then I went to the International Lounge where the lady was very helpful in making sure I understood exactly what would go on. Once the boarding process started, that same lady came out amongst us and made sure that we were all in the right place. On the plane it was the same way. There was a way that things were done and there changes from the passengers were frowned upon. But, they got us here well fed and rested. Upon arrival it sort of fell apart because customs totally lagged and it took almost 30 minutes to get through stage one. But once I got outside the airport, I was met by my cab and herded off to the B&B.
So here I am. I arrived to rain but I was prepared for that. The B&B is great and I'm glad I chose well. I relaxed for a few minutes this morning and then at 9:30 am I was off! First stop, the Auckland Museum. Now I'm not really one to spend a lot of time at museums but it was raining and this is a really good museum. There is an incredible amount of space dedicated to the early arrival of the Maori from Polynesia and recreations of homes, ships, icons, etc... The second level is more for kids with Dinosaurs and creatures of nature. I stopped to chat with the eels but then moved on to the 3rd floor which is NZ at war. It was a tribute to the people who served in all wars throughout the years.
Then you knew it had to happen but even I didn't think it would happen 5 hours within landing. Yes, there is a brewery close by and the tour was starting just in time for me to join in. Lion Brewing Company, a division of New Zealand Brewing has a great tour. I highly recommend it even if you don't drink beer. It's like if Disney had a brewery, it's what the tour would be like. We had holograms and statues talking to us, movies, interaction with the bar and we even were allowed to see the bottlling process and got to watch them control a jam with the paper cartons for 12 packs. We also got to see a few reject beers go off the line. Great quality control here! We had two beers to try today. One was Lions Red which is more of an amber lager type beer (Red is for the label color) and Steinlager. I did have a request to drink a Steinlager for someone so that request has been fullfilled.
Onward ho to the Sky Tower. Even though it was still cloudy I went to the top and stood on the glass plates and looked down. Later I'll post the picture of my foot on the glass. I hope it turns out. After wandering downtown for a bit I went to Starbucks for dinner and had quiche, cheesecake and a mango frap. Which reminds me about lunch. I was clueless about what I was doing. For being in an English speaking country, the lady at the bakery and I had no idea what the other was talking about. I wanted a plain coffee but that's not how you order it. I still don't know how to order it. They gave me three choices, Flat, Cap, or Mocha. Flat seemed like a safe bet but what I got was some sort of espresso with steamed milk and cinnamon. It was good but I'm confused. Then I didn't realize the food was self serve. Hey, I'm jet lagged and it was behind a counter. I'm sitting there drinking my Flat trying to figure out why I didn't have food. Then I saw other people just open the door and grab the food. I went back over and got my Thai Chicken Curry Savorie (chicken pot pie) and looked for a fork. Non-existent. I started eating out of the bag with my hands hoping no one would kick me out for being rude. It turns out that eating the savorie out of the bag with your hands is the proper way to eat it. It was good,
So now I'm back at the B&B and I just need to stay awake for 75 more minutes. I also saw one of the shops that did costume/cloak wool weaving for Lord of the Rings and they had one of the cloaks on display. Very cool. That's all for tonight.
So here I am. I arrived to rain but I was prepared for that. The B&B is great and I'm glad I chose well. I relaxed for a few minutes this morning and then at 9:30 am I was off! First stop, the Auckland Museum. Now I'm not really one to spend a lot of time at museums but it was raining and this is a really good museum. There is an incredible amount of space dedicated to the early arrival of the Maori from Polynesia and recreations of homes, ships, icons, etc... The second level is more for kids with Dinosaurs and creatures of nature. I stopped to chat with the eels but then moved on to the 3rd floor which is NZ at war. It was a tribute to the people who served in all wars throughout the years.
Then you knew it had to happen but even I didn't think it would happen 5 hours within landing. Yes, there is a brewery close by and the tour was starting just in time for me to join in. Lion Brewing Company, a division of New Zealand Brewing has a great tour. I highly recommend it even if you don't drink beer. It's like if Disney had a brewery, it's what the tour would be like. We had holograms and statues talking to us, movies, interaction with the bar and we even were allowed to see the bottlling process and got to watch them control a jam with the paper cartons for 12 packs. We also got to see a few reject beers go off the line. Great quality control here! We had two beers to try today. One was Lions Red which is more of an amber lager type beer (Red is for the label color) and Steinlager. I did have a request to drink a Steinlager for someone so that request has been fullfilled.
Onward ho to the Sky Tower. Even though it was still cloudy I went to the top and stood on the glass plates and looked down. Later I'll post the picture of my foot on the glass. I hope it turns out. After wandering downtown for a bit I went to Starbucks for dinner and had quiche, cheesecake and a mango frap. Which reminds me about lunch. I was clueless about what I was doing. For being in an English speaking country, the lady at the bakery and I had no idea what the other was talking about. I wanted a plain coffee but that's not how you order it. I still don't know how to order it. They gave me three choices, Flat, Cap, or Mocha. Flat seemed like a safe bet but what I got was some sort of espresso with steamed milk and cinnamon. It was good but I'm confused. Then I didn't realize the food was self serve. Hey, I'm jet lagged and it was behind a counter. I'm sitting there drinking my Flat trying to figure out why I didn't have food. Then I saw other people just open the door and grab the food. I went back over and got my Thai Chicken Curry Savorie (chicken pot pie) and looked for a fork. Non-existent. I started eating out of the bag with my hands hoping no one would kick me out for being rude. It turns out that eating the savorie out of the bag with your hands is the proper way to eat it. It was good,
So now I'm back at the B&B and I just need to stay awake for 75 more minutes. I also saw one of the shops that did costume/cloak wool weaving for Lord of the Rings and they had one of the cloaks on display. Very cool. That's all for tonight.
Wow, beer in just 5 hours! Are all the locals as short as Hobbits?
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