So, 3am wasn't that bad. I woke up at 2am. I think my internal clock thought it had to get to the airport 3 hours before, but we could get there for 2 hours and be fine. I woke up Keri at 3am and we got ready for the airport. Our taxi was already waiting for us downstairs at 4am.

Here's our breakfast:

We got to the airport with tons of time to spare. We checked in with our second leg of the Virgin Australia flight to Auckland, New Zealand. The security clearance section actually just opened up shortly after we checked in. So, we were among the first 5 people into the security zone. One of the employees opened my umbrella to check, which was the first since coming from Japan. I also got swab checked for explosive residue.

We got to our gate and relaxed. It was nice seeing the sunrise at the airports. Here's the Auckland one!

Too bad we didn't notice the large chess set, or else we would have had a quick game! 

We boarded our flight at around 5:45am because there was no point to race into plane. You'd have to wait in the plane for all the people to board anyways. So, we're usually the last 20 people in when the line up gets shorter and shorter.

Our flight is pretty sweet. Nice comfy seats especially after our amount of budget airline flights. After the flight took off, I turned on the in-flight entertainment app and played the Monty Python's The Meaning of Life album. We also tuned into Weird All Yankovic's Mandatory Fun album. Lots of comedy albums that I haven't heard of haha. Also I tuned into Savage Garden's The Single album and Keri started lip syncing to "I Want You". And of course, we had to lip sync to "Truly Madly Deeply". Oh and don't forget Abba, Gold album! Never a dull moment on the plane!

When we got off the plane and got through the customs, it was 1:30pm. We went to Vodaphone and got some phone stuff working! Then we went to the i-Site booth to sort out maps and got ourselves two tickets to Auckland City Center. Also, they clearly had a dwarf on loan from Middle Earth to great visitors! 

We got to the City Center around 2:30pm and checked with the Intercity Bus Terminal on bus information. After that, we walked to the intersection and had Mexican burritos. It ain't Burrito Boys but it'll do for now. We got on the bus at 4pm and headed for Kerikeri.

The bus feels like a greyhound or a GO bus. Comfortable coach buses with air conditioning but bonus free WiFi though! I also noticed that they have dedicated bus only lanes to drive through to each station. That's pretty sweet, no need to worry about the traffic much except for other buses, turning into stations and stopping at the designated towns.

I never realized how picturesque New Zealand was. I was mind blown when every single turn or up and down hills, nature looked amazing. Here's several shots in different locations during my 4 hour ride to Kerikeri.

One of the owners of the backpacker lodge that we were staying for two nights, came to pick us up! Dave from Hone Heke Lodge gave free pickups from the bus stop! He waited for us as Keri and I got a sub from subway as part of our dinner plan. After that, Dave gave us a quick tiny loop around Kerikeri and mentioned that there were around 5000 people staying here.

We got to the lodge and the other owner, Victoria had already set up a dorm room for us instead of a mixed room as I requested! She said that because were a couple, we could have a dorm room, if we prefer, for the same price. We took her up on the offer and got settled in.

We had quick bites, did some research for tomorrow and went to bed!