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New post!  Ok. So we leave two weeks from tomorrow!  To Las Vegas.  And two weeks and five days until we are on a plane to Auckland.  I'll post pictures later of us packing up all our stuff.

       Its going to be an adventure in itself to get everything I want to take into this bag:

In the meantime, Chris' last shift was today and I only have 5 more shifts of getting asked if we take Starbucks gift cards (...) and blending up caramel frappuccinos.  Well, until a year from now when I come right back to it.
We haven't made any further plans yet. At the moment this is what we will be doing:
April 18 fly out of L.A., land in NZ April 20.  Buy a car shortly after, then head north of Auckland, and do some help exchange.  If you missed the last posts, help exchange is where we basically work at someone's home, farm, hostel, holiday park, etc. for a few hours a day in exchange for accommodation.  Another term for it is WWOOFing, stands for WorldWide Opportunities on Organic Farms, but we don't care to stick just to farms. I want to check out the accommodation business.
I have been emailing with a few different people (hosts) who have invited us to come stay.  One of our first locations may be a holiday park in the Bay of Islands, and we will work and stay there for at least three weeks.  There are so many places to choose from it may be hard to decide, but wherever we go I know we will meet awesome people and see all sorts of cool stuff.  Its pretty cool too because we potentially have accommodation for the first two months and it was super easy. After Northland, who knows.  We'll decide when the time comes.

So tonight I thought I'd write a bit about New Zealand.  A little history, basic facts, other super fun stuff.  I've gotten a lot of fun and interesting questions or comments that made me realize that not a lot of people know a whole lot about NZ or are as obsessed with this amazing land as me.  What?! Crazy.


Stuff about New Zealand

New Zealand is a small country in the south Pacific.  It's a 13 hour flight from Los Angeles to Auckland, the largest city.  

NZ is on the other side of the international date line, so they are about 19 hours ahead of NM time.

Right now, at 8:30pm on Sunday here, it is 3:30pm on Monday there.

NZ was first inhabited by the Maori people who came from other parts of the South Pacific around 1,000 years ago.  They fished, farmed, fought other tribes, the usual, until the Dutch explored the coast in 1640, and then the british came over starting in the 1770s.  By 1840 the British signed a treaty with the Maori tribes and made New Zealand a colony. The settlers to NZ came from Australia, European missionaries, and settlers sent by the British government to own land and start new lives. (click here for more history.)

Population 4.4 million, 69% European descent, 14.6% indigenous Maori, 9.2% Asian and 6.9% non Maori Pacific Islanders.

Area is about the size of Colorado, and the country is made up of two main islands.

Capitol: Wellington

Its is not Australia.  Never a penal colony, and they don't have Kangaroos in New Zealand, or platapus or crocs or dingos.

Language: English.  Accent and slang:  ummmmm.... kind of hard to explain without hearing it, so watch this video.  Also buy and watch both seasons of Flight of the Conchords because its awesome.


What else..... hmmmm.

They drive on the left side of the road.

National bird is the Kiwi, a flightless nocturnal bird that was nearly wiped out by possums.

Currency in the NZ Dollar, currently at 82 US cents to a NZ dollar.

You are never farther than 150 miles from the ocean.

As its in the southern hemisphere, the seasons are 'opposite' ours, so we will be heading into winter in May.

Climate: varies from warm subtropical in the far north to cool temperate climates in the far south, with severe alpine conditions in the mountainous areas.

The main industry besides tourism in NZ is agriculture.  Lots of farms, cattle, sheep, etc.  four million people to 40 million sheep, for example. 

A lot of the country is pretty rural, especially the south island.  Only a few 'major cities', which include Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin.

Wine!  NZ has ten major wine growing region, and export a lot of great wine, including well known Sauvignon Blanc from the Marlborough region. Try some.

NZ has a lot of great local artists, musicians, actors, filmmakers.  Peter Jackson and the Lord of The Rings, is well known.  Anna Paquin, Lucy Lawless and Sam Neill are just a few actors from there.  For music, look up Bic Runga, Crowded House, Ladyhawke, or just search for NZ music.  Lots of good stuff.

So there are a few things, hopefully you learned something today.

Two tickets to Auckland, please!

Trip officially booked!  

Last week, my newly renewed passport came in the mail- finally- and within an hour I had submitted our work/holiday Visa applications online.  It was really easy to apply, and free too.  I guess the fee is usually $140 but NZ and the US have a fee waiver agreement, as long as you are applying from outside New Zealand.  Its always nice to save a few hundred bucks especially when you're saving up for $1300 plane tickets.
Both of our visas came back approved within 48 hours.  I'm taking it as a good sign that everything's going smoothly so far.
Flights were the next step- I like flying Air NZ. There's no awesome way to fly for 13 hours straight in economy class, but the food's better with them and you get free wine.  They have awesome pre-flight safety videos too.  Last time we went they had this gem:

Of course, one of the first things people think of when they hear about NZ is Lord of the Rings.  The Hobbit just came out and is a big draw for the tourism industry, and so the new safety video is Hobbit-flavored.  When I found this one I was feeling a little 'homesick' and in the beginning stages of planning this trip. Got a little misty eyed over the drama.... of the safety video.

So it looks like April 18th is the big day.  Hitting the "Purchase Tickets" button for two non-refundable flights to the other side of the world is an exhilarating moment.  We were originally thinking about leaving the first week of April but decided to move it a couple weeks ahead to give Chris a chance to make some extra money before we go.  He can earn commission at the new call center job he got.  We also need some extra cash because we are going on a mini vacation before our vacation--

Sunny Las Vegas!  We figured why not start our epic journey with a bang! Turns out,a side trip to Vegas for a couple of days isn't that much more than just a flight straight from Abq to L.A. 

Vegas!

So over the next two months, we will just be working as much as possible and getting everything ready. Chris will stay busy working full time in the evenings and I'll definitely find my share of shifts at the seafood restaurant during Lent.  This week is both Mardi Gras and Valentine's day so this will be fun. 

Nine weeks to go.  Seems both really soon and far away.