Day 1 - Travel day

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finally off! after an hour delay at edmonton international airport due to deicing, we finally set off for san fran. we landed just as our next flight was boarding so we had to run for it -- unfortunately, i wasn't in my jogging form and was horribly winded when we got to the gate. i met an interesting sourth african entrepreneur who was flying out of toronto where he was helping to set up private endoscopy clinics. apparently shoving camera's up your bottom is big business over there...

we landed in l.a.x. without much incident. if you recall, there's an iconic domed structure at the airport which is now a restaurant called "encounters". it's complete with cheezy 60's muzak in the elevator and jetsons' style interior.

after sitting around for 8 hours, we were off to auckland. i highly recommend air new zealand: individual tv's, decent meals, and pleasant service. i managed to get through "the devil wears prada", "my super ex-girlfriend", and "a scanner darkly". just after breakfast, a little girl wandered up and down the aisles with her teddy bear offering candy.

after transferring to christchurch we picked up our late 90's nissan "sunny". reminds me of my old sentra...

and speaking of sunny, it's a balmy 17C. we're 20hours ahead of edmonton.

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