By the time I was getting ready to board the plane to San Francisco, I was feeling mildly nauseated. This was probably the result of dehydration from not drinking enough, too little food (I hadn’t eaten anything substantive all day), stress, and fatigue. But this first flight leg, about 340 miles, with a flight time of an hour and fifteen minutes, went off smoothly.
The next flight leg was the long one: San Francisco to Sydney, Australia – about 7,460 miles and fifteen hours enroute. We departed on-time, at 10:50 Wednesday night. I was able to sleep for at least half of the flight, but I still wasn’t feeling refreshed. I was also drinking water and Sprite at every opportunity, but was still somewhat thirsty and had no appetite. At least I have enough, uh, “stored calories” that I wasn’t too worried.
We landed at Sydney at 7:00 a.m. local time on Friday morning. I had to pass through Australian customs for incoming visitors, which took about 20 minutes. I met my duffle bag (woo-hoo!) at baggage claim, and set off to check-in for my Air New Zealand flight.
Air New Zealand (ANZ) is quite busy right now, as that are the only air carrier (that I know) operating between Australia and New Zealand. Qantas and Virgin have suspended operations due to the ash cloud from the volcano in Chile, but ANZ continues to operate at flying at 17,000 feet (below the ash cloud) instead of their traditional 30,000+ feet operations. It costs them more in fuel, and the flights can be a bit bumpier, but they’re still operating.
You’re only allowed one carry-on, so I chose to keep my helmet bag and check my backpack. At first, I thought this was another way for ANZ to make a few more dollars – but when it later came time to board my flight, the boarding went SO smoothly and quickly, because you don’t have passengers trying to wrestle elephantine suitcases into overhead bins – I came away wishing U.S. carriers had a similar policy.
I then passed through outgoing Australian customs (them: “How long have you been in our country?”; me: “About two hours.”; more questions ensued as a result.) and made it to my gate by 9:00 for a 9:30 flight. We didn’t board until 10:15, but we were under taxi by 10:30. Add three hours for the flight and a two hour time change, and I arrived in Auckland at 3:30 p.m.!
Off to New Zealand customs, where they actually seemed concerned about who might be bringing what into their country. I declared my food products (three bags of Quaker instant oatmeal, no problem) and my tent. I had to go to a special line, and give my “used” tent to New Zealand Bio-security Operations, who handled it with latex gloves and took it to a back room for inspection. They said they would check it for dirt, vegetable matter that could be injurious for native plants, etc., and if all was well, I’d get it back in 5 to 10 minutes. All I know is that I got my tent back, repacked, after 15 minutes.
But now it was about 4:15 p.m., and I was supposed to be on the north side of Auckland by 5:00 to collect the bike. I was met at the airport by “Dutchee”, whom I had met via the KiwiBiker.net forum, when I asked some questions about traveling in NZ. She pointed me toward an ATM while she called the rental company to be sure they’d wait. They would – phew!
With her excellent navigational and driving skills, we made it to the rental company in Takapuna around 5:15 p.m. Dutchee had a dinner engagement, so she dropped me off (along with some maps, travel guides, and 2 liters of Coleman fuel) and left without even letting me pay for the fuel, airport parking, or petrol – I’m not used to such generosity from strangers.
John, one of the owners of the rental agency, fitted a connection for my electric vest to the bike while I packed the bags and a light rain began to fall. By 6:30, I was ready to leave.
I chose to head for Orewa Beach, about 25 km northeast of Auckland – about as close to the city as I wanted to stay. My sense of caution was set to “high”, as I was about 10,000 miles from home, riding a rented bike on the “wrong” side of the road, in the rain, to a city where I didn’t have a reservation. And I knew I was tired: first, I couldn’t get the starter to engage (John had parked the bike in gear). Then once I got the bike started, it stalled as soon as I put it in gear (sidestand down).
But I made it to the motorway, and the Beachcomber Lodge, by 7:30 p.m. A hike to McDonalds (local cuisine J), back to the hotel, and I’m ready for bed. Next up: (1) find a wi-fi connection so I can send this, and (2) head north!
Motorcycle mileage: 27 km.
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