New Zealand!

As some of you know, my wife have been planning a trip to New Zealand for a while, and finally we're actually doing it! Starting on Monday we flew from Columbus, OH to Los Angeles. We had a 14 hour layover in LA so we ventured out to Venice Beach and spent part of the day exploring and enjoying some beautiful weather. We then boarded our longest flight which was LA to Brisbane, Australia. That flight lasted about 14 hours and because it left a little bit late we ended up getting to Brisbane about 20 minutes before our next flight left. We managed to rush to the gate in time and, after a few more hours of flying, arrived in Auckland, NZ. Our arrival was slightly dampened by the fact that our checked bags didn't make the plane in Brisbane, so we had to wait a day until they made it to Auckland, but other than that our arrival has gone smoothly! We're currently in a hostel in downtown Auckland and are sharing a room with 10 other people from all over the world. Most recently, the two roommates closest to our beds were from Italy and England.

We're in the process of trying to buy a campervan which will be our housing for the remainder of our time here. There's a van that we're hopefully buying, pending the results of an inspection today, so fingers crossed! Wifi is pretty limited here, so I'm not sure how often I'll be able to post with @steempeak, but I'll do it when I'm able! My wife and I are currently sitting in a sports bar where we just enjoyed a delicious breakfast and some tasty Americanos (apparently just plain black coffee isn't a thing here?).

Here's an unedited phone picture of our first view of New Zealand from the airplane. I'm so excited to get out of the city and explore more of this country!