Hello New Zealand

So this must be the Lord of the Rings place

We have made it to New Zealand. Yay!
In looking back, the hardest part of the journey was the drive to Atlanta. The I-575/I-75/I-85 route is the most straight forward and we took it in the middle of the day outside of the morning and afternoon peak hours yet it was still very busy in parts. It can be quite confusing as the road changes from 2 to 4 to 7 then back to 3 lanes, keeping us on the ball to be in the correct lane to get to where we were going.
At one point a car in the lane beside us failed to stop in time and pushed the car in front of them into the one in front of him. A 3 car minor crash (more of a fender bender) in the middle lane when the road was 7 or 8 lanes wide. We were sorry for them but very glad we were in front of it and not delayed. I could see the traffic confusion already beginning in my rear view mirror.
Then it was time to check in and go through security and customs and more. Just follow the line and prompts, show the passports many many times within feet of the last time they were shown and eventually we get to board. Every flight was over subscribed so on board luggage space was tight.

Exactly the question we asked.

The best part? When we landed in LA we asked about our bags and where the next gate was, expecting it to be miles away across multiple terminals. "It's right there," pointed the gate attendant and smiled at our shocked faces. We came in at Gate 48A and left from Gate 48B. I am still amazed.
After boarding at 11:30pm on Friday LA time, a 13 hour flight meant we arrived in new Zealand at 8:30am Sunday morning, NZ Time. Saturday was wiped out by the International Date Line.