And So it Begins...

This move has had so many different stages that it feels like it has been happening for months. This week however was when the rubber met the road. We had been staying with our immensely generous and patient friends Tammy and Chris, who in the midst of their own new home purchase and move offered us not only a bed but also loaned us their car so we could get the final few bits and pieces sorted. We owe them big time!

Wednesday, July 13, we handed over our beautiful home to the property management company, a process which included the 11th hour drama of a plumbing issue requiring cutting through a wall to replace pipes and finding someone to replace drywall, all in less than 24 hours... super fun and not at all stressful...

Thursday was Chris' last day of work, and finally a chance for him to gain some freedom from email and work deadlines. We also met the people who will be renting our house for the next three years. The seem great and are experiencing what we are just a few weeks ahead of us - they landed on Wednesday, did a walk through of the house on Thursday and are moving on Friday.

Friday was my last day at work which started with some last minute logistics, and ended with a happy hour on the roof of our offices which was fantastic.

Saturday we finished our packing, did a final weigh of all of our bags (340lb of checked luggage plus about another 80lbs or so of carry on each....) and found an Uber big enough to take us down to a hotel next to the airport so we would have less to stress about on the morning of our flight.

The hotel was a great idea in theory, and had an incredible view over the Pentagon and most of down town DC, however we were woken up at 2am with a fire alarm which required the entire hotel to evacuate into the parking lot in our pajamas.

At this point it occurs to me that if the hotel really does go up in flames, all Chris and I are going to NZ with is our back packs full of laptops and technology items, passport and the clothes on our backs. Fortunately it was a false alarm and we were all back in bed for an hour or so before my alarm at 4am.

Sunday we somehow managed to make it to DCA will all of our luggage, get it all checked in, made sure it met all the weight requirements and headed to the Admirals club for a very early mimosa. The bunting on the way to the airplane was a nice touch - reminding us, as if we needed it, that we were leaving America.

Our flight to LAX was uneventful until we deplaned and were accosted at the gate by my brother! He had flown down that morning from Seattle to surprise us and boy, did he! We then spent a wonderful day with Chris' sister Sabrina and my brother (also Chris). Sab took us to a very cool winery in Malibu where she had prepared an incredible picnic lunch and we sat under the olive trees drinking wine, munching on stuff and listening to the band in the glorious California sunshine.

Eventually we made our way back down to Santa Monica where we walked along the beach and brother Chris took some fun pics to remind us of the day.

 Late Sunday night we boarded our 787 Dreamliner, settled into the rather wonderful business class seats we had managed to upgrade to thanks to all the points collected due to my weekly flights to Dallas for the last six months, and slept much of the way to Auckland.

Monday didn't exist due to vagaries of the international dateline and transpacific flights.

Tuesday we landed in Auckland at 7am, slightly delayed but feeling remarkably refreshed thanks to the awesome flight we had.

Everyone lined up to deplane only to be met with a team from New Zealand's Department of Spraying Down Foreigners (I don't know the real name of this department, obv...) . These guys protect against nasty insects and bugs that we could bring into this pristine country, by walking up and down the aisles of the plane spraying aerosols over all of the passengers and  luggage.

Much to the amusement of many of us, the spray smelled of... kiwi fruit... I guess I should have seen that one coming....

Immigration was beyond simple - Chris and I both have E-passports which basically meant we could scan our passports at a kiosk similar to the self check in booths at the airport, collect a ticket, get photographed and never speak to a single person. Once we collected our bags - all six of which arrived together in less than five minutes, we progressed to the customs and biosecurity stations where I had to declare my duty free chocolate purchases and our feather duvet (as an animal product). Fortunately neither of these were an issue, our bags were swiftly scanned for any other biosecurity contraband, returned to us and we were done!

Welcome to New Zealand!