Auckland

And now we're off! We've finally arrived in Auckland and are staying at the gorgeous home of friends Carmel, Peter, and Benjamin, who are being wonderful hosts. The house is one hundred and twenty years old, renovated on the inside but keeping the historic elements and decor (sort of, the kitchen's very modern). Absoballylutely lovely. As is the weather. The month before we got here they were having a terrible heat wave (or very nice, depending on which way you look at it), and right as we arrived it cooled down and now it's perfect for our Alaskan preferences. Ah, and the ride here was extremely interesting. The beginning was horrible. Our plane was a little late to arrive in the first place, but then they announce that the lavatory system was clogged. It took them an hour from when the plane actually got there to figure that out, then they put us off for another hour while they decided whether they could fix it, which they eventually discovered that they couldn't. Three hours later, about midnight, they finally started loading people onto a new plane. Once we ultimately got on the plane the flight was wonderful, with magnificently stretched out seats and full service menus and whatnot. I really should have taken a picture of our seats when they were all spread out. Really, I was sleeping on my stomach in an airplane seat. Where is that possible?