Clean Boots

As we packed Friday night and Saturday morning, Jen kep asking me "Are you going to clean our boots?"  One thing lead to another and before I knew it we were walking out the door with dirty boots.  Jen even yelled at me for trying to put on dirty boots inside the house, so I had to sit in the entry way to put them on.

Lucky for us, the New Zealand department of Biosecurity took care of it for us.  Who knew that good old Midwestern topsoil is a biohazard in New Zealand?  We got through immigration and had to check "yes" to the line asking us if we had any dirty boots on us.  We were then ushered into a special biohazard area where they stripped us of the offending footwear and took them back into a super-secret sanitization chamber.  They returned to us 10 minutes later in plastic bags with shiny-black soles.  I asked the officer when he returned why he hadn't shined the uppers as well.  I mean, what kind of service is that?  After seeing the look he shot back, I didn't push my luck any further.

So after 24 hours of travel we are on the ground in New Zealand.  All things considered, the flight was comfortable.  Personal TV screens with our choice of movies past & present, 2 meals, wine, and champaign to celebrate the morning.   We've got 3 hours or so to grab breakfast, then catch our final leg to Queenstown where the adventure begins in ernest.  We're hoping Jen's ear will pop sometime during that time, too.    All of our bags made it over safely.  I was quite relieved to see them inching along the baggage claim track.

Let's take a moment to reflect on modern jet travel.  I'm reading the memior of a Navy Aviator in WWII.  He made no less than 3 trips to the Pacific Theater, the journeys stretching for weeks.  I just made that trip and more in 12 hours.    

See you in Queenstown!

Doug (with Jen)