Why I "Love" Airports

Hey everyone. It hasn't been long, but I happen to have some time on my hands. We're in Adelaide (yay!) and there is a sort of heat wave going on. It is 38C! And it isn't supposed to cool down for the next week. I would love to do some looking around, but it is just too hot. So here's the whole story on how we got here. We slept in the airport last night. By sleep, I mean lay down on the hard ground and try to get some rest, unsuccessfully. I think I slept maybe two hours at max. The rest of the time, I listened to music, took notes on Australia, wandered around, and read my book. Also, I spent half the time being jealous of Bretton, somehow she slept for a good amount of time. At around 4:00 AM, I woke her up and we checked our backpacks and waited to board. The flight from Christchurch to Auckland was so short. Basically, you reach the maximum height, then you start descending again. But it was so cool, I could see Mount Taranaki from the plane. It was so gorgeous! Being back in Auckland was nice, but short. I kind of wish we could have spent a few days there and then headed to Adelaide. I think I wasn't ready to leave New Zealand, I was just starting to really love it. Although, I was happy to say good-bye to our roommate in Christchurch. Very strange, Bretton walked in on him putting sunscreen on his back with a knife. He always said really weird things to us, once asking "Did an exercise coach come into our room this morning?". Ummmm... no. Oh yeah, I forgot to write on my blog last time about something that happened in Kaikoura. I was relaxing, reading. I went to sit on this hammock, with a great view of the ocean and town, I wasn't really paying attention. I sat and flipped over on my back. Big deal, right? I'm the only person that saw. Not. Since there was such a good view, people could see me as well. There was a whole restaurant of people sitting outside who saw me. They were all pointing and laughing, so embarrassing! Anyways, on the way to our gate, I spent all of my remaining New Zealand money on chocolate. I only have 10 cents left now. Then we boarded for the four hour flight to Adelaide. I was so hungry and was so relieved when the served breakfast. I watched two movies: "Rachel Getting Married" and "The Secret Life of Bees". It was pretty relaxing, but I was still totally wiped. So, we had to fill out our customs cards. I have always believe in being completely honest. This came to haunt me today. I am always afraid that if I don't tell the complete truth, they'll somehow find out and I will get reprimanded. Anyways, we go up to the counter and they look at my sheet. The lady asked, "Where are you staying in Adelaide?" Well, through a friend at church (thanks Rika!), we set up accommodation with her relative. So, I emailed him a couple of times and we set it up over the internet. Anyways, I said, "With a friend of the family." (just easier to say) I had paused when I said it and she looked up at me. "Is he meeting you here?" "No, but he's picking us up from Tea Tree Plaza Interchange." "Have you ever spoken to him on the phone?", she probed. I said, "Well, I've never met him, but I've emailed him on the internet to set it up." That did it. She gestured us through the gate and I thought we were free, but another lady came up to us after speaking to our customs officer and said, "Can you two please just come over here?" I was thinking, random check. They always pick me, but whatever. Stay calm. She asked us many questions. The first question was, "What is your relationship," she gestured at us. We looked at each other and said, "we're just friends." She didn't seem convinced and kept on probing us with questions. She asked us what we were going to do in Australia, if we were working, what we did in New Zealand, how much money we had, how we made the money back home, and how old we were. I was freaking out at this point, trying to hide the fact that I was shaking. That would look pretty suspicious, I think. Then she said, "So, this friend, how do you know him?" I explained again how he was a relative of a friend from my "church". I emphasized "church", hoping she might clue in that it was okay. She turned to Bretton and said, "Have you been here before?" Bretton said, "yes." "Do you have any 'friends' you met then?" She emphasized 'friends', as if everything we had said was a big lie. Bretton shook her head. After a bit, she asked, "So this isn't any internet dating thing?" I was shocked! "NO!" She finally let us go after getting his phone number. In speculation, I think she thought that we were lesbians who were prostitutes back at home (how else would we make the money to go to New Zealand and Australia?). We were meeting this guy that we met off the internet as part of the prostitution ring. I was so worried! I think I said a variation on the same story because I was scared and wasn't thinking straight, and they took it as lies. When they asked his name, I was so scared, I paused for a minute. Then I quickly said, "Ben". At that point, I couldn't have even told you his last name. It sounded like I had to pause to make up the name. Anyways, in hindsight, I think I could have made some better choices with my words. And in the future, I am staying at a hostel, not with a friend of the family! And still, after that, we had to have a biological inspection of our hiking boots. Then this lady asked me all these questions regarding my ownership of everything in my backpack and searched it. She found a tomato that I forgot about and had to seize it. Luckily, I was not reprimanded for that. So, upon leaving the airport, I felt thoroughly questioned and stressed out. We sat on the bus and forgot to validate our tickets. The bus driver was annoyed when we tried to and couldn't put it in the right way. But now, we're in Adelaide in an actual house! It is so nice! And Ben is so nice, he made us crepes for lunch! It feels so good to be in someones home again, it's been a while. We plan on staying here for around a week, just to plan out our trip. Also because Melbourne is about five degrees hotter, and I am not prepared for that. I've already drunken four litres in six hours. Now we're just staying inside. We're going to watch the tennis match between Roger Federer and someone else tonight, they're playing in Melbourne. That is insane, they must be roasting! Only cold food from here on out. Salad. Anyways, that is my experience thus far. I hope you have enjoyed listening to my blatant stupidity. I also hope that you are able to understand what I wrote. I think I'm still pretty freaked about what happened, it may be hard to grasp what actually happened. At any rate, there is a sixty degree difference between the temperature here and in Canada. Yikes! Happy heatstroke everyone!