I'm Here! WHAT TIME IS IT??

I made it safe and sound into Christchurch Thursday afternoon, no missed bags or customs red tickets and was greeted by Wells outside our flat at 4:15 pm. So, sometime Wednesday night for most of my friends and family. Since my flights started Tuesday at 10:45 and my flight from LA didn't leave until 8:30 their time, it was a very long day. Wednesday, by contrast, was very brief. I fell asleep Tuesday night on the plane and woke up when it was 6am Thursday in Melbourne. It's hard to wrap my head around, but somehow a missed an entire day in there. I met a woman from Australia who said that when you go back over, you get into LA before you left... So I guess eventually I will get that day back! More importantly, she was from a place in Australia called 'Kangaroo'.
"Yes, we really do have kangaroos in our backyard," was her immediate response.

The Virgin Australia girl hooked me up with an awesome seat, so on my long flight I had a window seat but with only one person next to me so I was not completely trapped. For the first time ever (probably due to lack of sleep the night before) I slept pretty soundly for about 8 hours on the plane. It was awesome, it hardly felt like a 15 hour flight. And free movies, tv and meals :) I watched Something Borrowed, which I will warn you would only be entertaining if you were stuck on a plane.
I arrived in Melbourne safely, and I guess a few months too early as I will miss this opening:

As at home as this made me feel, I was definitely afraid the entire wait and next flight that I would arrive in Christchurch with nothing but my purse. I was already a little weary when the woman in Gainesville told me she could check my bags through to Christchurch even though I was changing airlines, but then in LA they took my carry on as they thought my backpack was too big and it was only checked through to Melbourne. So a lady quickly radioed someone to pass it on. I was not inclined to trust that, but luckily all my bags arrived safely and it was just a quick shuttle ride over to our flat.
Hello New Zealand!