Our departure from LAX was pretty smooth especially given we were on a very full plane, approximately 300 people. We had a celebrity sighting of one of the passengers, Sue Bird (Megan Rapinoe’s fiancé).
Thirteen hours and 6500 miles later we landed in Auckland along with 2 other flights around the same time. The airport was packed so it was a slow go through passport control, customs and getting to our hotel which all in all took 3 hours. As we were exiting the airport we saw our first FIFA signage and happily took a photo.
We are staying at the Avani Metropolis Hotel and we were so thankful to have our hotel rooms ready for us to check in. We all took hot showers to clean up and felt “new” again. Time to go get a coffee to perk up a bit and explore the Central Business District (CBD). Most of you know what a coffee enthusiast I am and I’m thankful to say that Auckland’s coffee game so far seems right on par with L.A. Lots and lots of places offer “coffee takeaway”. I had a flat white this morning and it was delicious.
We decided we would go towards the wharf and find some fish and chips for lunch. Along the way we did some window shopping. The city was definitely bustling with people in the CBD. We saw the Britomart train station which we will transport from to get to The Opening Games.
All of us kept commenting on the weather and how nice it was. I was frankly really surprised that it was so nice. And apparently I have reason to be which I will explain. We thought maybe we should take advantage of this amazing weather and take a ferry ride or a boat through the Harbor. We found a company that takes guest on a sailboat through the harbor. The boat left in 30 minutes and would be about a 75 minute trip. Perfect! The sky was clear with puffy white clouds and the boat moved slow enough to take many photos and video.
The captain of the ship said, “You picked a good day to come out because this is the nicest day we have had all year.” Down under they are in the middle of their winter so I clarified with her, “This is the nicest day you have had all year, including earlier this year when it was summer?” She said yes! Wow, I was so pleased and felt so lucky we could experience it.
After the boat ride, around 5 p.m. it became clear we packed in a LOT and it was a very long day. Time to turn in early and get our rest so that we are fired up for the Opening Ceremonies tomorrow.