hi
the 3 last days were really really really long for me, and this is
the story. it's very long so you don't have to read it
:)

many times in my life i dreamed of traveling in New
Zealand. non of them included being stuck there and
becoming an almost illegal immigrant!!
even though i told you i'm having a flight few days
age - i'm still in NZ!
here is what happened:
on the 15th of february (4 days ago) around midnight,
i said goodbye to everyone and headed to the airport.
the boarding wasn't about to start until 4am, so i
found a nice space on the floor, next to some other
backpackes, and chilled/napped. at 4am i attended to
the boarding stand, placed my bag on the scale and
gave the nice lady my ticket and passport. 30 seconds
later, she was telling me that my Australian visa
expired 2 days ago. she said it's not a problem though
- "you can just go to an internet stand and reissue
your visa in 5 minutes" - i was so relived!
i filled the online form and noticed that i can't
select "israel" as a nationality. went back to the
nice lady, told her what happened and she went "ahh
that's right, Israelis can't apply for visa over the
internet - you must apply for new visa at the
Australian embassy before taking this flight".
you know, it's hard to comprehend it when they tell
you that you cannot take your flight.
i wanted to tell her "but wait! how could it be? i
already packed my bag, said goodbye to everyone, slept
on the damn floor for 4 hours! how could it be...?"
but i knew it won't help...
the next thing i had to accept is the fact i have to
get to Auckland - 800km and an ocean away! that means
buying a 200$ plain ticket to a place i don't really
want to be...
the worst thing is that my New Zealand visa expires on
the 18/2!! so i called the immigration and told them
my story. as usual these New Zealanders were sweet and
told me they won't kick me out of here if i do it
myself in the next 3 weeks.
at 8am i called Adi to come pick me up from the
airport. i spent another day in Christchurch and took
the flight to Auckland the next day. i thought to
myself "that's not too bad. it may cost me some more
money, but i'll go to the embassy, explain my
situation, get a new visa and take a flight to
Australia the next day".
in Auckland i slept in a lame backpacker in a room
with this extremely stinky guy which farted and snored
all night. i got up early in the morning "who knows,
maybe i can even catch a flight today...".

and that's what happened today - you should know every
time i moved from one office to the other involved
about 2 miles of waling and long waiting...
i had some passport photos taken and went to the
Australian embassy. the lady over there told me i
should have checked my flight ticket in first place
(thanks, haven't figured it out myself - i'll remember
that for the next time somebody asks me "what is the
most annoying comment you've ever got?"). anyway, she
told me it will take around 10 working days to know
whether i'm granted or not!!!! (so much for my
optimism)
i went to an internet cafe to get some forms i needed
and to write a personal letter to the embassy (maybe
it will make things quicker). plus, i had to go back
to my backpackers and pay them otherwise they would've
kicked me out.
when i got back to the embassy, happy that i have
every thing it takes for applying, the guy looked at
my passport and told me they cannot issue this visa
while i don't have a valid New Zealand visa. i tried
to explain him that the immigration told me it's ok if
i'm leaving soon but he just said "if you stayed here
longer then what you were suppose to, you can do the
same thing in Australia" - can he really be that
stupid??!?!
so i almost ran to the NZ immigration office to have
my visa extended. but they wouldn't give me one. "if
you want us to extend your visa - you must prove your
flight to Australia is coming up soon".
think about it - it's a trap! i can't book a flight
cause i don't know when i'll be getting my Australian
visa (if i ever get it), so i can't get the NZ visa
which means i can't apply for Australian visa, which
means i can't book a flight (and so on!).
i ran to the "cathai pacific" (my flight company)
offices and explained the situation. they printed a
fictive itinerary (flight booking list) for me and i
ran back to the NZ immigration. they were closed! at
1600!

how frustrating could it get??
so now i have all the forms they asked for and i hope
they won't make up any more problems tomorrow.
now i'm forced to relax until tomorrow...

so that's my day - how was yours? :)

i must tell you your sweet sweet letters regarding the
blog / your love life / studies / army depression /
trip plans / mental problems are the only thing which
kept me going! thank you very much! :)

thanks for having the patience to read this over-sized
letter! :)
wish me luck for tomorrow!
Love
Yaron (your NZ illegal immigrant) Cohen