Big Old Jet Airliner

16 hours and some change from O'Hare nonstop to NZ, courtesy of Skycouch, Air NZ's exceptional coach option that transforms three seats into a place to put your feet up or sleep lying flat(ish).

The various configurations of Skycouch show a parent-child combo and also a couple spooning the night away in a single Skycouch, which the women behind me pulled off elegantly. If you think Art and I considered this...no.

Unadorned version...

The sexy lines of the Boeing 787-9 wing on descent into Auckland this early morning

First stop: sim cards, one from each NZ carrier, to give our phones near-countrywide cell access (so I can work in the wilds). These guys handle all the particulars, using a paperclip to pry out reluctant US sims. "A paperclip works on every phone!" the guy on the right was excited to share.

Airport Airstream food truck

We had a good walk from international arrivals to domestic departures, looking for Barrier Air, which would fly us, a couple hours after landing, to Great Barrier Island just off the coast of Auckland.

 

Only in NZ? When we walked up to the Barrier Air desk, this guy looked up and said "So, Heidi and Art, is it?" I was so jetlagged I thought I'd dreamed it. Turns out the proprietor of our lodgings here had just checked in and asked if we'd arrived yet.

Antithesis of the Boeing 787-9, but briskly nimble for the 30-minute flight

The approach to Great Barrier Island.

Love is messy, sort of like the pooled flat white under this cup that dripped all over my t-shirt when I lifted the cup to sip. As they say in Mexico, ni modo. We're here.

 And this feels like a good starting point