Bottom of the world....

So, we arrived! Suus said it wasn't so bad and she expected it to be much worse and that we'd be more tired than we were (and that's a quote, folks!). We actually slept for about 7 hours on the plane which was amazing. Air New Zealand has a 34" seat pitch in the economy section of their "Pacific Class," and in addition, we had the back two seats of the plane in our own row and within easy reach of 6 bathrooms, which was handy. We talked a bit and Suus saw the scrapbook for the first time and she said she was impressed and that it looked more professional than she could have imagined. I was happy that she felt that way because of the fact that it took up almost my entire July of 2005 to complete!! I had high hopes that the books would be appreciated by the band and it was my little gift back to them for bringing me so much musical pleasure and inspiration for 25 years.

On the flight to NZ, I realized I had left my American Express card in the LAX airport somewhere. I managed to beat back visions of some swarthy character using my card all over the Greater LA Basin and just convinced myself I couldn't do anything about it at this very moment.

When we arrived in Wellington we took a cab to our hotel, which was awesome. The City Life Hotel is like a corporate apartment of sorts. We each had a separate bedroom and bathroom; a common living area and kitchen completed the picture. There was a large round table handy for eating and leaving junk on.

We got our bearings by getting a map from the hotel so that we could find our way to a few things we wanted to do (such as, uh, see a Finn show!). On our way to the venue we took a few shots of cool buildings:



Here is a shot of the venue:



We went to the venue to pick up our tickets for the Welly shows; however we found out that Suus had somehow been refunded for the second show and we had no tickets!! This was quickly remedied when the man explained that the promoter had just released several seats and we snapped up front row tickets, YEAH!! We then proceeded to hang around till we could sell the other pair of tickets for the first night that we had accidentally bought online. We got face value from a couple that was headed to the box office to buy nonexistent tickets.

When we got back to the hotel we checked our email and such, then we got dressed and left for the soundcheck. We weren't scheduled to go on said event, but I had hauled these six scrapbooks all the way across the earth (literally) and I didn't want to do it anymore!! Also I was excited for the band to finally get them since the original batch of 7 I sent out (at a cost of $116 US no less) never even got there!

We showed up in the light rain to wait for Peter at the back entrance where he said the soundcheck would be for the folks who would be able to go. After about 20 minutes he showed up and knew immediately who we were almost as if he was expecting us to be there! He took the books and admitted that his curiousity was piqued about what they could be about. He then asked us if we'd like to go to the soundcheck since there were only three others going. Duh, dumb question! Um, no, I have other plans....I was going to count the ferns in the pattern on the hotel room chairs, sorry, maybe next time!

We went next door for a beer with Josh, an 18 year old guy from the forum. We had a drink and made some small talk then headed off to the back door again. Peter ushered us in quietly and we were treated to four songs in sound check which included Pineapple Head and Time for a Change (WOWIE ZOWIE!!). I chatted a bit with Simon, an Auckland native who was down visiting his brother and catching a Finn show. Peter accused me of showing bra strap to entice the guys....while I claimed wardrobe malfunction (actually it was just forgetting to pack the right bra!!).

After soundcheck Peter met us for coffee at Starbuck's across the street and after that we had some quick "food court" food and headed to the concert again.

By this time Suus and I needed a drink so we had one in the lobby then they shut the doors so we missed the Phoenix Foundation. Our seats were in row J so not like it was in Europe, but we still were eager with anticipation. The pantomime horse came out and did its thing. We were really nervous because Peter had intimated that we might get some kind of dedication as a thanks for the books, but this didn't happen (which was just as well because, oh, how embarrassing!!).

My concert review can be seen here:

After the show we went to the stage door but there was a private afterparty going on. Guests included Peter Jackson and Jack Black, of whom Peter Green was a big fan. Peter said that the band really loved the books; Tim and Marie Finn especially seemed impressed, he said. He also said that the band thought I should be the back half of the pantomime horse used in the Edible Flowers video! This was to happen in Hamilton so I still had a couple of days to think about it. Also, he said he could arrange to get us better tickets for the Auckland show where we had row ZZ.

We headed home exhausted, and dropped right off to sleep.....