Widefocus

Leaving NZ First time i have left New Zealand in about 10 Years. Last time i left it was with mum and dad on a 2 or 3 month tour of the world. So this was a big adventure for me to be leaving all by my self. I have always tried my hardest to be independent so getting this job and jumping on the plane wasn’t to much of a problem. I had a 9am flight out of Christchurch heading to Sydney. I bumped into an old work mate at the airport so those 2 or 3 hours sitting there waiting to board went a bit faster than i though it would. The trip to Sydney was great. Compared to when i last went overseas with not TV behind the seat in font of you. So this was a treat being able to watch any movie or TV show they had on demand. I spent about 2 or 3 hours in Sydney waiting for a flight to Hong Kong. I was waiting at gate 48, because thats what my Air New Zealand pass said on it. My boarding time was 1:10pm. I waited till 1:30pm till it started boarding and when it was my turn to scan my ticket it didn’t work. Turns out the number on my boarding pass was my seat NOT the gate number. There was no gate number. I now had to run to the other side of the airport to find the right gate. Those that have been to Sydney will know how far that really is. I didn’t miss it thank God, there was a line of 3 or 4 others in front of me. What a long flight to Hong Kong! Window Seat WIN! 9 hours flight time. I only slept about 1.5 hours during the whole flight and ran out of TV shows and movies to watch. Flying into Hong Kong has been the top highlight of the whole travel. All those city lights at night were AMAZING!!! Spent 2 hours in Hong Kong airport before i board my plane to my final destination, Vancouver, Canada. I made sure i had my gate and boarding time checked about 10 times before i went walking about. I wouldn’t recommend eating Mexican food the night before a 24+ hour worth of flying. I tried to get some pills from Hong Kong to Seattle my tummy. The guy didn’t speak much english but what he gave me seemed to work. By the time it was time board the final flight of the day i was starting to fall asleep. I managed to stay awake till i got into my seat and my self Seattle in. By the time we had even taxied i was fast asleep. I even stayed asleep for the whole take off and didn’t wake up till about 5 hours into the flight. I woke to see everyone finishing eating there dinner, not such a win! I then slept off and on till about 7 hours into the flight, this was my plan and it was working great. I stayed awake for the last 5 hours of the flight (12 hour flight) watching TV shows and movies. This work great and i would suggest it if you are even traveling like this. I bet jet lag! Whooop! Stay awake till your last flight then sleep for 5 – 6 hours at the start of your last flight. When i landed i didn’t feel like there had been a time change. The time was 9pm Vancouver time and thats what it felt like t o me. Customs almost didn’t let me in due to Cruise Ship workers are only allowed 48 hours on land to board there ship. I had to stay for 4 days for H&S training. Even after they read the letter from Disney they still didn’t believe me. He had to go away for about 15min and talk to someone else. He then asked what i had in my bad and i replied “Clothes!!”, he stamped my passport and let me on my way. Strange….