you have to do what?

so apparently they dont let you go to new zealand unless you already have a return ticket booked... which erin and i did not. Luckily for us we had gotten to the airport 6 hours early because we came straight from byron and are just waiting in the airport. that reminds me of another adventure... alright lets get some structure to this blog post.

The three byronians awoke (jesse, erin and diana) at around 8:15 to the wonderful sound of jack-hammering and drilling and other loud construction noises. The hostel we were staying in was so brand new it wasnt even ready yet... thus the ridiculous cacophony of noise so early in the morning. Nevertheless, things had to be done and planes caught so we arose cheerfully. Our shuttle driver was quite friendly and floored it all the way (with one stop for a kindly older gentleman) to Ballina airport, which is about 25 minutes outside of Byron.

The flight was successful and that's where Diana would leave Erin and I to our own journey. I walked down and asked the lady at the magical window how to get to the international terminal from the domestic one and she said give me $6.20 and I said is there another way and she said no. I said, well i have to be able to walk and she said... well ya, but it takes 30 minutes. I said good deal and after Erin asked for directions (I have a Y chromosome and am incapable of asking for instruction or directions of any kind) we were on our way. Good old Nancy (the window lady) gave us the directions but failed to mention that walking was more or less impossible. Not only was it miles upon miles, but parts of it were on the sides of highway-like roads. Are you kidding me? Trucks were honking incessantly at us as we ran for our lives with our 20 kilo packs on our backs. An hour or so later we were final at the international airport... only to find out we couldn't board for another 2 1/2 hours.

After bumbling around the tiny terminal and eating some McD's... we finally went to check in... only to find out they wouldn't let us on the plane without a return ticket. Bollucks! The lady was super helpful and found us the flight we were looking for (6 weeks to the day from now) and offered to book it for us, but she also let us know that they charge a fee and we should book it for free on the free internet kiosk nearby. We did so and 10 minutes later we had our return flight from NZ on april 28th from auckland. Hopefully we have enough money to make it that long and hopefully we can be there at the right time. If not, it's only a $30 fee so not too big of a deal.

That was our exciting day and we look forward to arriving at 1am NZ time tonight in Christchurch, NZ. Keeps your eyes peeled for updates whenever we get a chance. Thanks for following and talk to you all soon.

- Jesse "Trekkin on the Highway" Meredith