Just Made The CUT

Well after months of talking, dreaming, and anticipation I've gone and taken the leap over the Pacific puddle. I'm here in Auckland New Zealand with my likely over prepared bike which I will likely call home with a strange fondness. We set out over a day ago from Portland (My bike and I). My flight was met with some minor challenges; Almost didn't get my boarding pass from Pacific Air in LA because I didn't have onward passage, had to get a ticket from Qantas to Australia at a random date, my carry on was taken before my flight and it almost got left in Fiji (I was the last one on the plane), my camping gear had to be extradited from the packaging in order to sterilize it before I got into New Zealand, and the only smooth part was getting my Visa (less than a minute) by showing only my passport, onward passage BS!!
Got my Bike packed and was trucking to Auckland in a Roundabout sort of way because the most direct route was off limits to, bikes go figure. I ran into a fellow biker who took me all the way into Auckland in an intense racing mannor. He had a simple light sports car bike and I was following literally through traffic with an inch to spare on either side as I squirted between cars and busses riding my semi truck bike loaded to the teeth. I couldn't stop smiling to the entire ride!