NZ meetup

[Talitha]

Breaking News........


WE HAVE PRIMATE! He'll be in NZ 31 Dec to 22 Jan.

First official non-NZ, non-GL scummer. Woohoo!!



[Got my fingers, toes and eyes crossed for PJ to work something out...!]

[Katsuball]

I'm a newbie but have been lurking for a while. Oh, I'm also kiwi. When/where is the potential meet? Potentially?

[Talitha]

Hi Katsuball

I live in Palmerston North, so we'll be based here when we're not doing other stuff in other places.

Groza is coming from 31st December to 14th January. Primate is probably going to be here for the 6th to the 13th of Jan, but he's in NZ for longer than that and is flexible.

So far we've got planned:
- From 8th to 10th January we're going to Sixtus Lodge (an hour from PN - out in the middle of nowhere, near Ruahine State Forest Park).
- Watching a 20-20 cricket match at Pukekura Park, New Plymouth either on the 3rd or the 6th of January.

Where abouts are you, Katsuball?

[petroleumjelly]

Argh, I'm so stupid. Prices for tickets have gone up almost $1,000 since the last time I checked. Trying to work this out!

Edit

: False alarm; I had me going from Jackson - New Zealand instead of Seattle - New Zealand. (Granted, prices have still gone up about $500-600, but it's not

as

bad as I thought...)

[Talitha]

If you want PJ I can help you search for affordable flights.. prices change all the time - (just let me know your prefered dates (is it a return trip from seattle?))

[petroleumjelly]

What I was looking at:

JAN - SEA, Dec. 18 or so
SEA - PMR, Dec. 29 or so
PMR - SEA, Jan. 9, or so
SEA - JAN, Jan. 11, or so

In other words, two round trips (once to Seattle, once from Seattle).

Classes finish for me on December 15 and start again on January 13.

Right now, the three cheapest SEA - PMR flights I have found around my schedule are:

1.)

Dec. 29 - Jan. 8 @ $2,242

2.)

Dec. 27 - Jan. 8 @ $2,242

3.)

Dec. 27 - Jan. 9 @ $2,242

Other things seem to jump to about $2,375. So much monies!

[Talitha]

Yeah, it is a bunch of money

Pity you can't go direct back to Jackson as it would mean you could stay longer (but is probably more expensive).

I'll do some fare searches and keep an eye on prices. Hopefully something will work out!

[Primate]

What I was looking at:

JAN - SEA, Dec. 18 or so
SEA - PMR, Dec. 29 or so
PMR - SEA, Jan. 9, or so
SEA - JAN, Jan. 11, or so

In other words, two round trips (once to Seattle, once from Seattle).

Classes finish for me on December 15 and start again on January 13.

Right now, the three cheapest SEA - PMR flights I have found around my schedule are:

1.)

Dec. 29 - Jan. 8 @ $2,242

2.)

Dec. 27 - Jan. 8 @ $2,242

3.)

Dec. 27 - Jan. 9 @ $2,242

Other things seem to jump to about $2,375. So much monies!

You've probably looked at this, but going to auckland instead of PMR shaved a lot off the the price for me, and once you're in the country, getting around is a comparatively small problem.

[petroleumjelly]

I have actually not looked into flying into Auckland: I suppose I might as well look into that later today. I've just been going off Tally's post where she said PMR was the best place to fly in. Goodness knows if I picked my own airports I'd find myself in Tasmania, or somesuch.

[Talitha]

What Primate said, but I was looking at flights to Auckland yesterday and they were still expensive.

Flying to WLG is another option, I can definitely pick you up from there.

[Talitha]

[Edit: Attention PJ]

OK here's a crazy idea but might be worth looking at.

Check out www.airpacific.com

Currently you can fly from Los Angeles to Auckland on Air Pacific and back for US$1447 (includes all taxes) on a few different dates.. I was looking at coming on Dec 27th and leaving on Jan 12th.

(Remember that NZ is a day ahead of USA, so you could leave NZ on the 12th and still get back to Mississippi on the 12th with a one way flight from LAX. )

So it's be $1447 + separate one way flights from Seattle to LAX and one way from LAX to JAN.

Looks like you can get Seattle to LAX for US$250 on 27th December (Alaska airlines)

LAX to JAN for US$220ish on the 12th Jan (continental, american, delta)

The probelm is that some of your flights aren't linked so you'd need to allow plenty of time between arriving in LAX and getting on the plane to NZ/Mississippi in case there are any delays. (I havent checked the whether the times work, as I'm unsure whether this idea will seem like a good one or not!)

[/Just an idea from someone who really wants you to come visit ]

[petroleumjelly]

I will look into it: this will be getting more difficult, though, since our school is going to be closed for the rest of the week (!!!!!) and I do not expect to have internet access again until this Sunday. This weekend was completely eaten up by an arbitration competition, and I am just about to be on the run again...

<333 Thank you for your suggestions, I'll try to make it happen!

[petroleumjelly]

May have thieved some wireless access for a little while...

[Talitha]

How's it looking PJ? Think there's any chance?

Seem to still be some ~$1450 lax-akl flights on airpacific.com (28/29 Dec to 11/12 Jan) in case that option might work.

[petroleumjelly]

Hrms -- airpacific.com actually declined my credit card (and I

triple

checked that I had enough money), so I am wondering if it is because I'm ordering stuff in Washington (through my Mom, as I do not want to punch in credit card info on an unsecure network) for a flight from Los Angeles to New Zealand. We're calling the bank / airpacific to see if we can't get this done.

The flights we were looking at were about Dec. 28 (arriving Dec. 30) - Jan. 7, from LAX - AKL. GoGoGo!

[petroleumjelly]

It is done!

I did decide to take the Los Angeles route as you suggested, as it did save a few hundred smackaroos. Here's my schedule:

LAX - AKL, arriving December 30 at 11:50 a.m.
AKL - LAX, leaving January 7 at 6:05 p.m.

No need for you to worry about all the stuff in between, though I will say I that I will definitely be bringing a blanket.

Hurruhz!

[Talitha]

Wow! That's so cool!!!

Such a short visit though!

Now we need to work out (with you and Primate arriving in Auckland within a day of each other) whether I come and pick you both up, or what. Slight complication is that Groza is arriving in PN on the 31st. (he flies via Auckland too though).

[petroleumjelly]

Yes, sorry for the short visit (I would

love

to visit longer), but I obviously had to stay at home for couple days after Christmas, and then I have to be able to get back in Jackson for school.

So, is there anything I should bring (that is legal to bring by security)?

[Talitha]

Hmmm, I don't know if you can get Louisiana Gem hot sauce? Failing that, some Reeses peanut butter cups or Girl Scout peanut butter patties.

But you don't need to bring anything

Just be aware that NZ has very strict border control and it's not drugs they're most serious about, it's plant & animal products. If you try and smuggle in an apple you'll get a $200 fine. Processed packaged food is OK.

[petroleumjelly]

Dang, I was gonna bring a bag of grapefruits with me, too.

[Talitha]

Last person who tried that is now serving a life sentence in Paremoremo Prison.

[Phoebus]

/demand signed postcard

[Talitha]

Did you ever get my postcard from Brasil? I struggled to learn a whole sentence in portuspanglish so I could buy the stamps.

[Phoebus]

YES!

I keep forgetting to tell you.

Sorry.

It is awesome!

Dos Estados Unidos amused me

*hug*

[Primate]

Wow! That's so cool!!!

Such a short visit though!

Now we need to work out (with you and Primate arriving in Auckland within a day of each other) whether I come and pick you both up, or what. Slight complication is that Groza is arriving in PN on the 31st. (he flies via Auckland too though).

I may have been a tad strict in my interpretation of 31st of dec. I actually get in at 11:40pm on the 31st.

We should get an aim chat going to sort this out, better than round robin pming.