Wellywood

I'm in New Zealand! It's so surreal. My gosh. So excuse me if my entries for the next couple weeks have nothing to do with music or journalism.

Billy and I began our epic journey bright and early on Sunday morning. I hadn't been on a plane since 7th grade, so it was an exciting experience for me. One of my best friends, Ashley, had kindly made me a care package of reading material, a coloring book and crayons, and other assorted goods to entertain me on the flight. So that helped distract me from the Brendan Fraser/American Airlines love affair. (They played Inkheart AND Journey to the Center of the Earth. C'mon, really?)

Our layover in San Francisco was fun. I made Billy accompany me to Haight Street, all because of the Third Eye Blind lyric, "I walk Haight Street to the store" from the song "Darkness." And I'm sure it was THE Haight Street, since San Fran is the home of my 3EB boys. So now I feel connected to the band in a whole new way.

To be honest, I was pretty nervous at that point. We were both dreading the 13 hour flight, and being far away from home just worries me. But I fell in love with Air New Zealand instantly. The plane was full of jolly folks with Kiwi accents, and there are tons of free movies and free food to choose from. So yeah. Shout out to my new love, Air New Zealand!

So now, we're finally in Wellington with Julie and Danny, our lovely hosts. We spent yesterday just lounging around, recovering from jetlag and catching up. I slept for 12+ hours last night, a new record since I got over mono. Today, Danny took us on a mini-tour of the Cuba St. area, the highlight being the Bucket Fountain that Elijah Wood peed in, but we still have lots to explore.

I can't believe I'm here. I'll update about more adventures as soon as I can.