Jetlagged in New Zealand - 22/10/2007

After a short nap in Dubai and otherwise not sleeping for the better part of two days, I arrived to Christchurch fueled mostly by anxiety and sleep-deprivations.

For clearing immigration, I had to provide proof I intended to leave the country. I couldn't find my initerary, but I remembered the flight and that was good enough. The hurdles in customs were unexpected. Basically, any food or dirt needs to be cleared by their Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, so I got inspected for my dried soup mix, instant grits and instant porridge emergency rations, as well as my trainers that have seen Scottish dirt before, all of which I declared. Then all of my luggage got x-rayed by the MAF to make sure I hadn't forgotten anything, intentionally or not. The promo videos showed a woman trying to smuggle in a pineapple and a man smuggling a drum made of wood and a former cow. Large fines were threatened, but in truth it was a far friendlier process.

I was retrieved by one of the University of Canterbury faculty members and whisked back to my hotel. The quiet and the still made me very sleepy, but I didn't want to sleep at 2pm and be wide awake at midnight. I phoned parents, then took a walk and then phoned Amy in Denver. I made it to 8pm and gave up trying to prop my eyes open any longer.