Day Two - 30th Dec 2009

A long, long, long second to last day of the year for the team. Arrived at Auckland International Airport at 7.00pm in order to book in and clear the upgraded security measures for flights to the US. Everyone arrived on time although one player, who shall remain nameless, left his passport in the car that dropped him off. A panicked phone call got the car turned around and dropped the passport off. The flight left at 11.00pm local time.

The flight went reasonably quickly and we arrived at LAX at about 2.00pm. As the plane was taxiing to the gate, the stewardess got on the PA and announced to the plane that we were on the flight and wished us luck for the tour. The news was greeted with a round of applause by the other passengers.

Customs was no problems and after gathering up our baggage, we walked out onto US soil proper to be greeted by heavy rain.

Willy Tuikolovatu was the first winner of the coverted polka dot jersey for losing his luggage within 5 minutes of entry into the US. Luckily one of his team mates had taken his trolley to the bus while Willy wasn't looking.

The bus ride, which usually takes approx 2 hours ended up taking 3 and a half due to the weather and traffic jams on the freeway north.

We eventually arrived at our accommodation at about 6.30pm after travelling for 19 and a half hours.

After tucking into a hearty meal, everyone fell into bed to get some well needed rest.