From a 4 hour flight from LA to LA, to the airport management office in Tahiti, we FINALLY MADE IT!

Our trip took about 100 more interesting turns..

Our flights [on 1/18] from Buffalo to California were as smooth as can be. We arrived in LA and made our way to our hotel for the night. The smoothness stopped there.

Just landed in LA

We packed everything up the next morning fingers crossed the weight of our packs would be good to carry on. We had to do a bit of re arranging as the overhead bins are tighter than we expected [which we found out during our flight in to LA]. Security at LAX was smooth and we were on our way to our gate. We relaxed for a bit and showed up about an hour before boarding. 30 minutes go by and we hear “Nicole Hauser & Adam Bautz please report to gate 121”. Oh boy…

The representative at the gate explains to us that in order to board this flight, we must provide a departure flight out of Auckland, NZ… FYI: we are only rolling with one way tickets and apparently this is a no-no. She then told us we must show proof of a flight out before boarding began for THIS flight if we wanted to board it- we had 10 minutes.

We sat down and I jumped on Kayak.com and started searching. Knowing that we have signed up for the Tough Mudder on March 23 in Melbourne, Australia- we had a good idea when we were going to exit NZ for a little while as it was. They were making announcements in French which made me even more nervous and pressured since I had no idea what they were saying- all I was hoping was that it had nothing to do with boarding that’s for sure. Bingo- nonstop flights came to the top and I booked us on a direct flight March 20^th from Auckland to Melbourne- ran to the counter, showed our proof and we were good to go.

Talk about a close one.

From there we will decide if we head back to New Zealand, which we think is the plan right now, or head elsewhere from Australia. We are still waiting on our FIRST ticket money back from the insurance company [the claim is still in progress] so that may play a part in what we do as well.

As I type this we are now two hours into flight #3 [LAX to PPT/Tahiti_8hr40m flight].

We just enjoyed our Chicken dinner which was actually quite delightful [even though the picture doesn't appear so] and so graciously accompanied by complimentary wine- thank you Air Tahiti Nui [keep em’ coming]!

Air Tahiti Meal

We will land in Pepeete around 10pm their time.  After customs, we will find the shuttle to the hotel we are staying at for the night, which is where I will have WIFI and be able to post this. Thankfully, I noticed on the booking reservation that they only accept cash in their currency for payment. We stopped at Currency exchange to get the 9,500 in Tahiti money [$130USD] and exchange the rest of our USD for NZD [New Zealand Dollars].

We depart Tahiti at 9am Jan 20 and arrive in Auckland at 1pm Jan 21. This flight is only 5.5 hours but considered an overnight flight because of the time difference and date change. Once we arrive in New Zealand, we booked our first 2 nights stay through Budget Backpacker Hostels NZ [BBH] so we are able to get situated and relax. BBH is a network of approved hostels and better pricing if you are a BBH member. We can pay for and pick up our BBH member cards at the location of our first stay [$65NZD]. On the BBH website, you are able to put requests in for different locations based on the accommodation you would like- single room, private room, private room with private bathroom, single bed in a multi-stay room, etc.

From there we will have a few days until we start at our first WWOOFing location.

The flight attendants also gave us cute little flowers while en route Tahiti.

Flower Power.

CHANGE OF PLANS.

Literally as I pushed SAVE and was about to put my Surface away, an announcement came on in French and all I could make out was “LA”. The English version came on which informed us that due to mechanical issues, we are heading back to LAX and will arrive at 7:30pm, which is in about an hour and a half. 4 hour flight, and we will be back where we started. Update: Mechanical Issues=a bird flying into the engine. W.T.F.

Side note: they requested the cute little flowers pictured above back, since you can't bring flowers into the United States.. 

We have to fill out brand new customs forms to enter back into the US, they are taking care of hotel accommodations, and who knows what else….

And let me tell you, the worst flight ever to have is a 4 hour flight from LA to LA. Fact.

LAX Hell..

After sitting in LAX for three hours, they prompted us to board again. We got back on the plane and were off at around 11pm. We tried to sleep most of the time, ate the meal they served at 4am which threw us both off, and finally arrived in Tahiti around 530am. Our flight out of there was at 910am so we were looking OK there. We go through customs, out of the airport, and right to the check-in counter for this flight. More issues.

Apparently Air Tahiti Nui didn’t update their system with the flight out of NZ- so they asked us to show proof. We had no WIFI and nothing to show that we had that flight to Melbourne, so they brought us into the management office of the airport so I could log on to my email and pull up the receipt. The keyboard was different and I was basically a hot mess.

Tahiti Airport Management Office

All in all- the boss logged in for me because I was not capable of doing it myself with their wacky keyboard, we showed proof, and we were checked in. All I could think was- when will we catch a break!?

Waiting in the Tahiti Airport

We had 2 hours in the Tahiti airport and we boarded our LAST FLIGHT of our 4 flight disaster. We were FINALLY en route to land in New Zealand…

and finally... THE EAGLE HAS LANDED!!

I am finishing this from Freemans Backpackers Lodge [Hostel]. We walked around to get a bite last night and check out what was around us, and immediately crashed when we got back. I think we are both ready to get out of the city already, and get into some pretty epic scenery and nature.

Freemans Backpacker Lodge- Our Room

It’s a bit rainy this morning, but we are on a mission today to possibly purchase a campervan so we have something to drive/sleep in while we are here [when not camping or WWOOFing] and a few other things [wall plug converters, etc].

All smiles from Auckland, New Zealand,

Nicole

Wednesday January 22, 8:31am

 

Polar Vortex…The Dream Crusher

I’m not even sure where to begin with this one.

Two Words: POLAR VORTEX.

POLAR VORTEX

We are still in Buffalo.

Everything out of Buffalo is cancelled.

We were booked on FIJI Airways out of LAX tonight at 9:30pm- we can’t get there.

W T F.

We thought we were in the clear. Everything was scheduled and on time, we finished packing- posted our farewell on Facebook, poured some wine and then BOOM- CANCELLED. The Buffalo Storm of the Decade is the crusher of all dreams.

Adam and I spent about 4 hours, starting at 1am, on the phone trying to figure out a way to get out of Buffalo, how to cancel our flights, contact the reservation we had in New Zealand for the first couple nights we got there, and if we just lost all of our money.

Here are some things we learned in this process.

Oh, and only twice did Adam have to take the phone away from me because I’m pretty sure I wasn’t speaking English, but pure profanity after 3am.

Tip 1: Do not book FIJI Airways. Ever. In a million years.

                  Example Conversation:        

Fiji Airway Employee: There is nothing we can do for you. We do not refund.

                                    Adam: So you’re saying even though there are traveling bans where we are and every flight is cancelled, if we cannot make it across the US before our flight at 9:30pm we are screwed.

                                    Fiji Airway Employee: Yes, sir.

Tip 2: NEVER book through AIRFARE.COM…who apparently I booked through when I used KAYAK [this may be more so the problem, but FIJI Air was about as helpful as speaking directly to a wall]. And I repeat, NEVER. They hung up on me twice, and they refuse to cancel my flight. They sent me 2 emails with a link to change the flight telling me that’s all I can do, and by doing so- I will get charged $350 per ticket. There is no way for me to take out my credit card information to process the request. Mind you, all of their flights now are about 2 or 3 times more than what we paid in August, and they will not honor our pricing.

Example Conversation:        

Airfare Employee: You are confirmed! Your flight is on time, have a great trip. 

                                    Nicole: No, I am trying to tell you…

                                    Airfare Employee: Your flight is on time and you are confirmed.

                                    Nicole: No, I need to cancel my flight. 

                                    Airfare Employee: You cannot cancel your flight it is non refundable.

                                    Nicole: Our connecting flight was cancelled and nothing is flying out for us to get to LAX- we have no choice.

                                    Airfare Employee: Your flight is confirmed and it is non refundable.

                                    Nicole: We are unable to get there- there is no possible way for us to get on that flight. 

                                    Airfare Employee: Our flight is on- I suggest you get here or you lose your money. ::CLICK::

Tip 3: PURCHASE ALLIANZ TRAVEL INSURANCE. AAA uses Allianz, which is how I heard of them. Adam and I purchased this insurance directly through Allianz and my fingers are crossed that this is covered with them. I was hopeful on the phone and I am currently gathering everything I need to send them for this claim. They are extremely helpful and someone from the United States actually answered my phone call at 2am- points in my book for sure. They even knew of the situation; fingers crossed.

We changed our Southwest flights out of Buffalo, and we booked elsewhere to get to New Zealand.

January 18^th is almost the same as January 8^th, right?

See you on the 21^st New Zealand.

The Storm of the Decade [in photos]

Niagara Falls, NY - Four Points by Sheraton Hotel

Niagara Falls, NY - Four Points by Sheraton Hotel

Niagara Falls, NY - Four Points by Sheraton Hotel

Niagara Falls, NY - Four Points by Sheraton Hotel

Niagara Falls, NY - Four Points by Sheraton Hotel

Niagara Falls, NY - Four Points by Sheraton Hotel

Niagara Falls, NY - Four Points by Sheraton Hotel

The Storm of the Decade… Of Course.

T-minus less than 24 hours… we think.

Buffalo, NY has been hit with “the storm of the decade”

 

Go Bills.

Thruways are closed, Buffalo schools are closed and nearly every district in Erie County, along with all courts, Buffalo library branches and almost all municipal halls announced they'd be closed today because of the extreme weather.

There is a Flash Flood Warning for the Upper Niagara River in northwestern Erie County and southwestern Niagara County. This includes Niagara Falls and Grand Island [where we are]. 

Niagara River.

The National Weather Service reports the ice jam flooding on the upper Niagara River is a result of high winds and increased ice flows. An ice jam has formed between the Power Authority and Cayuga Island. 

Having said that, my dad wants to take us out with a camera to see the ice for ourselves.

90+ flights have been cancelled…and I’m about to shed 90+ tears. They even noted on the news that more flights have been cancelled in Buffalo today than the entire United States. 

Fingers crossed for tomorrow!! Safety first though… so we are ready to roll with the punches. Or start punching. 

As of right now our flight is still scheduled. New Zealand, we will get to you no matter what. 

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!!