I’m pretty sure my fitbit is lying to me. I think we walked more than six miles today. But, I could be wrong!

We started our day in Auckland. After passing out at 8 p.m. I was up and ready to start my day at 4:30 a.m. Since our shuttle wasn’t scheduled until 6:30, we had a few hours to burn. I texted my parents who replied, isn’t it really early there right now? We used the time to get ready for the day and get organized. We headed down to the shuttle around 6:15 a.m. The shuttle was packed on the way to the airport. It wasn’t until the shuttle took off that I realized I forgot to grab Jacob’s ice pack from the freezer. Oops.

When we arrived we followed the crowds to the Air New Zealand check-in area which contains hundreds of kiosks. You check-in on the kiosk and can check your bags too. The machine prints out your tags and then you have to put your own bag tags on your bags and you know what, it is not as easy as it looks. I somehow managed to rip mine. Luckily, my bag was just filled with our dirty clothes so we figured if it didn’t make it to Australia that would be ok.

From there was passport check and this time we picked the correct line for ePassport. Then it was off to security and guess whose bag got pulled aside for an extra screening! Yes, you guessed it, Jacob’s! Every time, without fail. Although it was an inconvenience to wait it was entertaining to see how many people were trying to get liquids through security, like giant bottles of lotion, and then having to throw them away. We think Jacob’s empty water bottle must have been the culprit for this extra screening. After that we headed to our gate and arrived 25 minutes before boarding was to begin. And the terminal was a ghost town. It was us and maybe three other people. We started to wonder if we had the wrong gate, but no – we were just that early. After 8:15 a.m. hoards of people began streaming in. A nice Canadian couple from Toronto sat next to us and I complimented the woman’s not one, but two tuxedo cat tattoos. 🙂

Our flight was uneventful except for the fact that we inadvertently and delightedly had signed up for an upgrade when we booked our seats which meant we got a meal on the flight! This was an unexpected treat and definitely helped keep me full and happy a bit longer. I watched the entire first season of Wellington Paranormal which is a comedy created by Jermaine Clement and Taika Waititi. It was hilarious! Jacob enjoyed the free wifi and being able to browse the web while we flew.

Although our flight landed on time, we were stuck on the tarmac for almost a half-hour waiting for a United flight to get out of our gate. I used this time to play Angry Birds on the in-flight entertainment screen. About this same time, I saw a real bird outside the plane window and asked Jacob to take a picture so I could share with everyone the first Australian wildlife we saw.

Once we finally got off the plane, it was more passport checks and then off to gather our luggage and see if both of our bags made it. Jacob remarked that our bag must have gone round and round the baggage claim yesterday while we were taking our time in customs. Lucky for our luggage today we didn’t make that mistake again! Our large, main bag arrived first and a little bit later our second bag arrived too.

Next step was bio-hazard check, which was really simple and quick. Then we were done!

Jacob purchased a SIM card in the airport so he has faster data here. That means if you are texting him right now he’s not getting your messages. You can contact him via Telegram or Google Hangouts.

At the airport we also purchased Opal cards which are the public transit cards here. They can be used on the trains, buses and ferries. We took the train to the central station and stopped for lunch. Pigeons were flying overhead while we ate but I am happy to report no birds pooped on me, or my food, today.

From the central station we headed to our hotel. Along the way our train took the Sydney Harbor Bridge and we caught a glimpse of the Opera House.

We arrived to our hotel just about 2 p.m. We have an apartment hotel with a washer and dryer, full kitchen and living room. It is just the perfect size for us for the next few days. We also have a balcony but the skies are full of smoke and the air smells like the fires. It is quite the bummer, but we are hoping to have a few clear days here later in the week.

After check-in we chilled for a bit and then we went to the nearby shopping center called Macquarie Center. That place was packed! We bought some essentials and got some groceries to make dinner tonight. Jacob noticed that the flow of walking traffic is opposite of the US.  Everyone here walks on the left, the escalators are designed so traffic is on the left. I kept naturally going to walk along the right side of the sidewalk but Jacob would chime in, “Left! Left!” We are trying to get this left-sidedness down before we pick up our car later this week!

That’s about it! A very full day. We are looking forward to having the next few days in Sydney to relax and explore. Tomorrow we have a tour at the Opera House so we will be exploring the heart of Sydney.

Sorry for the lack of photos today. I didn’t take any on my nice camera and the wifi is struggling to upload right now. I’ll take lots of photos tomorrow of Sydney!

Until then!