After staying up a bit too late packing we didn't get the early start we imagined. But we had enough time to have a morning filled with cleaning, going to the bakery for our last good pie, and doing the final check of our bags. I managed to tear the zip on my duffel when I was trying to put my jacket in but Natalie got her sewing kit out and we think it should hold fine now.

Dad had been picked up drop us off at the airport but he had to rush to the doctor in the morning so Mum had to come instead. He came along an hour or so later with Scott on his way to the UK though. 

Weighing the bags at the airport we found that most were well under weight but my bike box was 600g or so over weight. I spoke nicely to the check-in staff and they assured me it wasn't a problem. They even allowed us to take a 4pm flight to Auckland for our JFK connection instead of the 5pm that was making me a bit anxious for time.

We said our goodbyes to my parents, and then to Scott and Amelia who were flying out from another terminal, and headed for our flight. After landing in Auckland stretched our legs on the traditional 15 min outdoor walk between the Domestic and International Terminals and breezed through the e-gates and security that people had warned us were temperamental.

Airports are always a bit stressful but nothing went wrong while we were in NZ. We boarded our flight to NYC and did what you'd expect on a 16+ hour flight. Lots of sleeping and movies and games. They kept the 787 windows blacked out even when it was the middle of the day while flying over the US so I couldn't see much, and I was struggling to stay awake when I wanted to. I expected them to let the light in when we were flying directly over LA and I was hoping the see some of the landscape of the Appalachians and Midwest that I'll be riding over in the coming months. It's a bit disappointing but I guess they want to keep everyone asleep as long as possible.

We landed in New York and got to see the sunset behind the skyscrapers of Manhattan. The wonder of that was quickly dashed with a CBP officer doing his job well but putting us under stress. Can't blame him really, but the JFK airport staff yelling at us while we were trying our best to get 2 bike boxes through a tiny customs door weren't helping. We nearly thought we'd lost a bike because they wouldn't let us find a solution to get them both out.

The taxi ranks were a bit more chill, and they were very helpful there but no taxis were big enough for our mountain bike boxes. We ended up waiting in the uber XL area and saw a level of chaos I'd expect from Manila. We're finally in the hotel in Brooklyn now. It's really nice here, I'll put up a good review once we're finished.

That was a lot of rambling, but this Monday has been about 30 hours long so far so we're crashing. Good night.