Ok, so. Since All my writing got erased last night, I'll repost some of what I wrote.

The 4 1/2 hour flight to L.A. wasn't bad. The only thing I didn't like was that they didn't give complimentary food. What a bummer. My next flight to Sydney, Australia was obviously the worst of the 3. It wasn't that bad, even with it being 14 hours, but it wasn't that comfortable either. I sat in my aisle seat, and thought "score!" because the middle seat was not reserved. So, that would give much more space during the flight. Well, the airline made a mistake with this woman and her child, giving them one seat I guess, so I was asked to more to a different seat so the both of them can take these minee. Well, grudgingly I complied and moved up a row to a seat in between to others. I thought "suuuuuucks." My shoulders were scrunched in pretty much the whole trip. The only good thing about it was it was a row by an exit, so I had all the leg room I wanted.
I arrived in Sydney and had about an hour and 1/2 to spare. I changed my clothes and had a bite to eat. The weather was very nice and sunny and I even got to see this plane named to A380 I think. It's a new double decker plane. Pretty impressive sight.

Anyway, the flight to New Zealand was probably the best. It had the most comfortable seats and the flight was the shortest of the 3. Three hours long. When I arrived I came to find out my luggage had not. Not one bag but both. Good thing I packed a change of clothes in my carry on. So, it took about 30 minutes to find that out, then another hour to wait in line to speak to the baggage claim officer. There were actually about 12 people who were missing baggage as well. By this point, I knew that whoever had come to meet me at the airport had surely split. I go through security and quarantine to find nobody. I call my contact, Wayne, and sure enough he says he was waiting with a sign for about 2 1/2 hours. So he came back to pick me up.

The view coming out of the airport is amazing. Actually, the view from everywhere is amazing. The city sortof wraps around the harbor so all you see are hills and blue water. Crazy. So, by this time it's close to 6 so we get me some food and make our way to the rugby pitch for practice. Their rugby grounds are pretty impressive. They have 4 game pitches and a nice grand stand overlooking them. They have a pretty nice club house with a small indoor training facility and also a small weight gym, changing rooms,offices, etc. At the club house they find me some oversized boots, a size too small shorts, and someone's socks for me to where so I run around a little. The practice was only an hour. Well, it's more like preseason training to get fit. I didn't expect to do everything, and by the way I was really freakin exhausted. I sat out one drill which involved alot of cutting while running seeing as how I could easily twist an ankle in my make shift boots. Then, by the end, I was a little disappointed. My allergies acted up and my eyes swole up a good amount. Obviously my body didn't like something out there. So I had to stop. For the remainder of the night my chest felt real tight and my still a little swollen into the next morning. I really hope it will go away in time or get better. That is not something I need to have while trying to train over here. Here is a picture of their practice pitch:

After practice I was introduced to Les and Mauri. They are an old retired couple whom which I am staying with until Monday. I'm not the first they have put up, and I believe they have been with the club forever. They are a very nice couple and are taking care of me very well. I think what the plan is on Monday, I might be staying in a room above a pub which is owned by this guy named Tomahoe. I think I may be working there as well. Here is the view from Les and Mauri's home:

So today I ran a couple errands with Les and he also brought me by a bank to open an account. Other than that today is quite uneventfull. I really wish I had all my clothes, and especially my running shoes so I could go for a run and at least train. I'm think about going for a walk to the local market to get some food to make sandwiches or something. It's a ways and would probably take a couple hours round trip. Everyone laughed at me because I called all the hills around here mountains. I guess they're hills but this dwarfs a hill in Louisiana. For show.

Anyway, tomorrow is their annual Petoneman. By the way it is pronounced (Pe-tone-ee-man). It's a social of some sort which I will be able to meet many people, but it is also a fundraiser for the club. It involves a bike/run race. It consists of a 4 KM run, then 15 KM bike ride, then another 4 KM run, then 15 KM bike ride. Wayne wants me to do it but geeez. Without my clothes for one, and two I really don't think I have it in me to finish that. These "hills" are going to take some getting used to. They get pretty freakin steep. So I don't see myself trying it out tomorrow.

Also, after Sunday, I don't know what kind of access I will have to a computer and the internet if I move into that room, so just stay tuned. For show