Only lost one bag

I made it to NZ yesterday a bit tired and minus on bag. I am still waiting for my bag to catch up with me but found out today that it is not lost, just took an unscheduled trip to Australia. Fortunately, it only has some clothes and extra boots in it. More importantly, the box with the optical collectors and computer equipment is here with me, safe and sound. I shipped most of my equipment to Antarctica (via Port Hueneme, CA) back in September in time to catch a boat ride south. But a I need a little more time to finish the calibrations of my optical collector (and replace a broken amplifier in one instrument) so need to hand carry some equipment with me on this trip. My journey south started in Houston on Monday (07 Nov 2005) with a 2:30 flight to Dallas. Not a very auspicious beginning, but American Airlines has the contract for all the US Antarctic Program (USAP) flights to the New Zealand. So from Dallas (an American Airlines Hub) I flew to Los Angeles and then a few hours later (08:45 PM Pacific Time) boarded a 747-400 Auckland, New Zealand. We arrived in Auckland a little after 9:00 AM on Wednesday 09 November after crossing the international date line in the middle of the Pacific. So total flight time was a little more than 12 hours. I still haven't figured out how to sleep on a plane so managed to watch about 4.5 movies and read the inflight magazine while most everyone else was asleep. After looking for my lost duffel bag and filling out the appropriate paper work I cleared NZ customs. I raced over to the Auckland Domestic terminal for a short (1.5 hr) flight from Auckland to Christchurch, NZ. Happy to report that the rest of my bags made it safely and I caught a shuttle to my hotel in Cathedral Square (i.e., central part of Christchurch where Christchurch Cathedral is located). Made it to the hotel (via shuttle bus) around 11:00 PM but my room was not ready to took a walk around town. Took some photos of the cathedral and visited the Christchurch Botanical Gardens.