We left our hotel in Sydney early Sunday morning plane bound for New Zealand. After the flight the day or so before it was almost weird to only be able to watch 1 movie flying to NZ. So a short 3.5 hours later we landed in Auckland. New Zealand is very strict about not letting any fruit or other foods into the country and Kia had brought a lot of stuff for her father. It was humorous to listen to her trying to explain Velveeta to customs officials. That was a good laugh.

I served my mission with a guy from NZ and never really believed that I would ever see him again after our missions. As soon as I found out I was going to NZ, I messaged him on facebook and arranged to see him, luckily he lives near Auckland! As I was getting ready to go up the elevator at the hotel he was there in the lobby. I hadn't seen him in probably 13 years and so it was really good to see him. Dropped off my stuff and went with him to his house. It was fun to meet his kids (2 the same ages as Sammy and Clara) and wife. His wife is an amazing cook and made me a "New Zealand" dinner. Lamb, NZ potatoes, and one of the most amazing desserts I have ever had. I spent the night at his house. We reminisced of our times in Japan and looked at pictures and laughed at our memories.

I ended up meeting his family including his Father, his wife's sister and her husbnad, and even met his wife's parents on skype. (funny huh!) It was a great couple of hours and I am SO glad that I was able to spend some time with him and his family. One of my favorite companions by far and so glad that we were able to re-connect.

funny words: (too many that i didn't keep track of, sorry)

- Knackered = tired ie. "are you knackered" (sounds like 'are you nekkid' which threw me for a loop at first! lol)