From coast to coast...and now across the pond

As stated above...before it was always "coast to coast"...today (now friday my time) marks the start of "across the pond" when we talk about where we tour. Thats right, In The Mood is now officially "safe and sound" down under...though our gear is still in hock with the NZ government. More on that later. 

Our journey started (well for me...over 4 years ago planning this thing) Wednesday August 31st, USA time. The day started with a wonderful 9 hour trip from our rehearsal and opening location in Folsom California to Glendora California to drop off some gear and then over to LAX where we awaited our first international trip for ITM. The dive was the normal...long....hot...and long. After getting to the airport, we met back up with the company who was waiting for us at the terminal.

We took our whole show, stripped it down as much as we could, and stuffed it all into 22 "boxes". Each box had to be 24"x24"12" in size...AND...had to weigh under 50lbs. A tall order as we carry all of our stuff in our 36' truck thats packed to the gills. Each box was super-reinforced with special tape and labeled in every way possible to ensure that should something go missing...we could have it sent to us. It took days and many many hours to get everything set in boxes, taped up, labeled, weighed and organized. Truly an undertaking. We got to the airport at 4pm...for a 11:40pm flight to New Zealand. We had some time to kill you could say. Getting out of the country wasnt a problem. Security was a breeze. The next several hours were spent pacing in Terminal 4...sitting around with the guys...walking to the other end of the terminal (only 400 yards max) and checking out the extremely overpriced shops. We all spent most of the time hunting around for one of the few 120v plugs that might be hidden on a wall somewhere so we could charge our laptops and cellphones for the flight. This was fruitless for most, as there were only a few plugs to be found. As time passed slowly...we all called our loved ones and wished them farewell for the next 5 weeks. The entire trip would be without cell phones for most, and internet is VERY expensive here. Most took the time to call their families and say goodbye. Man that sounds so cryptic! Finally the time had come to board. 300+ people stood in line to board the jet that was outside waiting for us. Oddly enough, it had shown up at the gate nearly 3 hours ahead of time! 

Once on board, i was seated in a window seat on the left side of the jet...35 rows back. The rest of the company with the exception of Bud, was in the rear of the plane in rows 50+. All Bud told me was that the rest of the company was in the rear and me and him were in the "front". By front, I mean front of economy. Behind Business...and First Class. I knew Bud was not on the plane as I made my way to my seat. A nice comfy red chair right in front of the bathroom. Thankfully there was only 2 seats in my section. The plane is configured 2X4X2 across. So I figured it was just gonna be me and Bud. Somehow I always end up in that situation. So I grabbed my ipod, headphones and Kindle and sat down in my new home for the next 14 hours. The nice part of flying with Qantas was that we each got a "welcome kit" which had a blanket, pillow, airline headphones and a toothbrush and small tube of toothpaste. (boy that was a welcome relief after 15 hours on a plane! more on that adventure later) As I got myself as comfortable as possible for the journey...a young girl walks by and sits down next to me. This was a shock. Bud was sitting next to me as per my calculations. And no...he didnt get to have a First Class seat...we arent flipping the bills here. 

Could this be? Could I have slipped the grasp of a 14 hour trapped next to by boss? YEP! So we sat down and the flight began. After the first few awkward moments of flying next to a stranger...we struck up a converstation. I never got her name though. Anyway...after some small chitter chatter...come to find out, her and about 20 other female college students were on their way to work abroad in Auckland as teachers. The wilder part was they were all students at Geneva College in New York. Some even live in Syracuse. For those not familiar with that last statement...Syracuse is 40 minutes from where I live, and Geneva is not far away from me either. Truly is a small world sometimes. The girls were going to Auckland to meet their host families and teach there until the end of the year. 

Onward and upward we went. We ended up sitting on the tarmac for an extra half hour because the ground crew put too much fuel in the plane and we had to burn some off before we got to a safe take-off weight as we were fully loaded.

Shortly after takeoff...the drugs kicked in and I was out like a light. The menu that the stewardess had handed out told all about the services that were set up for this flight. They were going to do dinner 3 hours in, snack a bit after that, and then 3 hours before we were to land, they were going to serve breakfast. Well...I closed my eyes and the next thing I knew, they had plopped down this goodie bag on my lap. The stewardess asked if I wanted coffee. I tried to form the words "water please" but my brain and body were not talking. I must have said something close to that because she motioned to the bag on my lap. Inside the bag, there was a tea cookie, bag of chips, 2 chocolates and a bottle of water. The water tasted so good after hours of sleep. Soon after I drifted back to sleep for a while and awoke somewhere towards the end of the flight. We were just getting ready to pass over the International Date Line when this picture was taken.

Sleep was far and near impossible for the rest of the flight. My body just wanted none of it. Over the course of the next few hours, I killed some time watching TV, reading a little and just trying to sleep. 

These are some of my first views of New Zealand. Known as the land of the big white cloud. The weather here changes by the minute...really. Sunny one second...snowing the next...after that...sunny again.

Here we are...all alive. waiting at baggage claim to start the customs process. Now that fun note I wrote about earlier. For some reason, a form was overlooked and our gear was not cleared to enter the country. After almost an hour, the decision came down from the customs agents. We could take our personal items, but all show items and instruments must be left at the airport in the hands of the NZ government until a bond was posted for the items...to the tune of nearly $116k USD. It was 9am...Thursday Sept 1st New Zealand time when we landed...this was the last thing we needed. But we had no choice. 

Here we are shortly after meeting John our new tour manager for this trip. This is our bus for the next week. There is a small "box" in the middle of the bus about 3ft high...apparently its the bathroom. More on that later...maybe. 

After a short tour around the city of Auckland...we arrived at our first hotel. The City Oak Apartments. a beautiful 10 story apartment building. Here are some pictures of my apartment. 

We have 2 of these small bedrooms. Perfect size for a bed, small bookshelf and room to walk around the bed.

The washer/dryer that is located in the bathroom

Kitchen area. there is a microwave, fridge, 2 burner stove, sink, oven and dish washer. The kitchen came fully furnished.

View of the apartment looking at the door

Outside my window...8 floors up

Sky City

The stage setup outside the theater for the broadcast of the All Black Rugby team. World Cup Starts in just a few days...and Auckland is hosting it

For lunch...I had run into a group of guys from the show and we ended up at this beautiful coffee house. One of our guys had been wanting to jump off the Sky City tower. Its a thrill seekers dream I guess. Its actually a "controlled fall" ...but its basically a free-fall. It takes about 11 seconds to make the 192m jump. At a cost of $225au...not my cup of tea. But he did the jump..and it was amazing. we were lucky enough to be able to watch the jump from the landing pad. Since it was a slow day...he got to jump a second time again for free. The video might end up here sometime...im not sure when due to "contact restrictions. But the coffee house was beautiful and the coffee was like nothing ive ever tried before. Amazing is about the only word i can find. Lunch was a ham, cheese and pineapple "toastie" as they call it. And some chips. (fries for you americans)

One of the bars me and Julian went to our first night. It was a bar we found by accident while walking around the harbor looking for some dinner. After we walked in..we quickly saw the huge parkas on the wall and realized where we had stumbled into. It was an ICE BAR! Well now we had to check it out! It was $30au but worth it. That included the rental of the parka, gloves and a your first drink. At $12 per drink, it really wasnt that bad. our Bartender/host was Luke. A young lad from the UK who was working at the bar on a work visa for school studying hospitality. It was just the 4 of us in the bar..me and Julian as well as Luke and another bartender named Rebecca. She had only been in the country for 2 months. Luke had just gotten there 2 weeks earlier. The entire bar was made of ice...except for the windows, lights, banners hanging from the ceiling and the floor. Everything else was complete ice. The tables, chairs, sculptures, glasses and even the game table! Its very hard to pick up the puck with your gloves on!  The hi-res versions of these pics will be online once we get back to the states, but for now, you will get the idea. The bar was 5 below at all times. COLD! We spent about 45 minutes in there just shootin the breeze with Rebecca and Luke. (pics of them to come)

Julian enjoying a shot from the ice Elk

After the trip back to our apartment...we still hadnt found food. So we met up with Greg, Jen and Brian and we went to the pub down the road. It was a nice little Irish Pub. Had some TRUE Guinness and a burger. The burger was good...just different from what we have in America. Cant really put my finger on it.

Well we were whipped. I hadnt slept since the flight and I was fading fast. We all headed back to the apartments for a well needed night of rest. After climbing into bed and doing everything i could to keep my eyes open long enough to plug my laptop in (i think i fell asleep for a second while trying to do this) and start a movie. One last check of my Ipod to see how late we had run about the town like real party animals...9:30pm.

After that...a good nights sleep...5:30am I was wide awake and here I am! it was a crazy night. Tomorrow is our first show in Auckland...1900+ sold in a 2200 seat house! 

For now...thats all!