When I went to New Zealand, it was the first time I had been out of the country since I was about 10(when we went to Canada...does that even count?) I did this trip by myself and learned so much during my adventure down under.
Pre-Lesson: Never trust the Cell Phone people...
Upon arrival in Auckland I was kind of in a daze from the 17 hours of travel. I forgot to get money at the airport, but figured I would be able to pick some up in the town I was staying in. My phone had no service, and I would soon find out it would never have service because AT&T people didn't quite tell me everything I needed to know about the International Phone Plan...go figure.
Lesson 1: Always get money from the Airport...
My shuttle took me to the car rental place and I got my car with no issues. My nerves were high, not only because of my first marathon looming less than 24 hours ahead, but also the whole driving on the opposite side of the road thing. I was so focused on not being on the wrong side of the road and just getting to my destination that I completely forgot about money...food...bathrooms...I got on the road and didn't stop until I arrived in Colville.
Lesson 2: Do research on how Small a town really is...
I mean, I knew the town was small....but this took small to a whole new level. One store, one school(for all ages), and that is really it. It's the way New Zealand is outside the city, and it's beautiful, but it definitely made things a little more difficult for this travel newbie.
Lesson 3: Those Chemistry Conversions Are Actually Useful!
After finding my place of stay for the weekend, I ran back over to the store for a few dinner items. As a runner is concerned, I was looking for a certain number of calories to consume, so the first thing I do is turn the package around and look at how many calories it had...to bad I had forgotten that when we switch over to the metric system, not only does our maeasurement of temp, distance, volume and mass change, but so does the measurement for energy....Know your Joules to Calories Concersion!!! Oops. As a Chemistry Teacher, I should have known this...but I had forgotten what it was...when you can't be exact, just stuff as much food into your face as you can.
Lesson 4: Just because you flew 7,000 miles to a far away land to run some random marathon, doesn't mean you are the only one...
The marathon I ran only had 20 people participating. It was the inaugural year for the full 42.2k distance and before it started we had a small welcome meeting, letting us know the conditions of the trail, and other useful information. They also introduced me and welcomed me to New Zealand, which was so kind and afterwards an older gentleman in a Marathon Maniac shirt, trotted up to me and said, 'Where in Texas are you from?! I'm from Houston!' Small world! :-D ... but, travel wise, I still won, because he was living there for business.
Traveling alone definitely had its perks. The race crew, a very close knit family, invited me back to their cabin to celebrate the end of the race. It was nice to relax and chill out with them. They reminded me of all my college friends back at A&M. Just a wonderful group of people.
Lesson 5: When you know you're going to be Exhausted, Triple read your Itinerary BEFORE you run and set alarms and reminders....and also rent a GPS with the car...
Yeah...rookie mistake...completely thought my plane departed at 5:30pm...after getting lost in Auckland on the way back, I finally got to the car rental place and pulled out my itinerary...Arrival in Syndey, AUS: 5:30pm Depart Auckland, NZ 3:30pm...it was 2:50....and I wasn't even to the airport yet.
Lesson 6: The people of New Zealand and Quantas Airlines are AMAZING
Miracle Makers... they made it happen...and help a plane for this silly little American. I will always be grateful.
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