Third time's the charm...

First off, we made it! All of the Ferguson-Hendricks clan is now safely in New Zealand. Taylor and I spent our first few days here in New Zealand's largest city, Auckland, before setting off on a mini-vacation road trip down both islands before Taylor starts his new job next week.

Like I said in my previous post, one the most daunting (and expensive) parts of our move has been getting our cat (Pinky) and dog (Atticus) there with us. When we first started seriously discussing moving, that was one of the most revisited topics. Would it be cruel to put them through the stress of an international flight that they couldn't understand? Was it stupid to spend so much when we were preparing to completely start over financially? We probably read hundreds of reddit posts and articles about traveling with pets, which of course didn't help in the slightest. At the end of the day though, they are our family and we just couldn't imagine life without them with us. Spoilers: they made it, but there were definitely a few bumps along the way.

The Prep

As an island nation, New Zealand (NZ) has some of the strictest biosecurity regulations for bringing in plants, animals, or anything else that may threaten its unique ecosystem and agriculture industry. Of particular concern is rabies. Throughout NZ history there had not been a single recorded case of rabies until 2023, when a cargo ship worker arrived in NZ already showing symptoms and ended up testing positive. On the other hand, the United States is classed as Category 3, countries where rabies is present but controlled. While this doesn't put it in the highest risk category, rabies is obviously terrifying and NZ goes to great effort to keep it out. To do so, NZ requires animals being imported from a Category 3 country to have an import permit which necessitates a slew of vaccine boosters, a rabies titer blood test, and cautionary parasite treatments taking place over about 6 months. As complicated as all this is, the major airlines flying into NZ all require booking through a certified pet transport company to make sure you don't mess it up. So, after shopping around the limited number of companies that would work with New Zealand (and getting past the sticker shock of the quotes we got back), we booked with Starwood Pet Transport in June of last year.

The first task we were given was finding a USDA certified vet to sign off on the battery of tests and vaccines. Even this step, which we thought would be a no brainer, turned out harder than expected. We called half a dozen nearby offices, and all were non-starters, either not taking new patients or not actually having a USDA vet on staff (even though they were on the USDA list). Finally, we landed one who turned out to be the perfect vet to help us through the process. He and the practice walked us through every step of the 4 visits and as a bonus, Atticus loved him (Pinky didn't, but that's to be expected). We also had to get the boys measured for the very specific travel crates that would be allowed on the flight. Pinky was easy (one size fits all for cats), but Atticus had to get measured which he was very puzzled by!

Change in Plans

After all the months of prep, travel day was fast approaching. Another fun thing we learned about pet travel (to NZ at least) is that apparently flights do not actually get booked until about 7-10 out from travel. The original plan that was proposed when we booked with Starwood was surprising. Rather than flying to the west coast then on to NZ like we humans normally do, the boys' route would take them east from Chicago with a stop in Doha, Qatar. According to our travel agency, this plan had a few advantages. Mainly, when we first booked, pets were required to have their crates sealed by a USDA vet upon drop-off and the crates couldn't be opened again while in the U.S. Since the only direct flights currently available and accepting pets are on the west coast, that would mean staying in their crates for not only their flights but also the hours long wait to change planes. On the other hand in Qatar, which is also rabies free, they would get a nice long layover to get out of their crates to stretch their legs and get a quick vet check before finishing their journey. After looking at all our alternatives, we somewhat reluctantly decided to stick with this plan. We made plans to drive them the six hours to Chicago where they would fly out to Doha. Luckily, they each had a personalized St. Christopher's medallion for their crate to keep them safe through their crazy travels (an amazing gift from their cat friend Boo Bear).

On a Friday at 5:30pm, about 10 days before the boys were supposed to fly, we missed a call from our transport company and got a distressingly vague voicemail: "There are some changes coming on from Air Qatar. We need to touch base to review some back up options." Of course, being after hours on a Friday, we weren't going to be able to get a hold of them until the following Monday. After spending the weekend worrying, we learned on Monday that with the current situation in the Middle East, the Doha to Auckland route had been cancelled indefinitely. At this point we had 3 options:
1. Leave the boys with Taylor's family in Cleveland until the undetermined time that flight resumed service.
2. Get them Los Angeles by ground, either with a shipping company for an additional $5000 or by driving them the 35 hour cross country trip ourselves.
OR
3. In less than 5 days, drive them to New York City where the only flight that would handle the crate size Atticus needed for the international flight would get them to LA where they would board for a few days, get their final vet check, then fly on to Auckland.

After discussing, we decided we didn't want to leave them with the plan so up in the air, and being in a car for several days straight sounded even more stressful than flying, so we decided to go with option 3. This also meant that we would now need additional paperwork from our USDA vet for domestic travel within the next 3 days. When Taylor first called the vet's office, they said they were completely booked. I think they realized our desperation when Taylor asked if we could pay extra to get squeezed in, and the receptionist told him it didn't really work that way but offered to reach out to our vet to see if he could fit us in that week between surgeries. An hour later she called back and said he could make it work the next day. As we learned later at the visit, that day had been his day off, but as soon he found out what happened, he insisted on getting us in as soon as possible. One last visit with him later, we had our second set of paperwork, and we were ready to go. The crates wouldn't quite fit in the car fully assembled, but we managed to Tetris together a makeshift bed for Atticus while Pinky got to ride up front (which he wasn't too happy about until he realized he could watch the world go by).

Travel Day

We got to NYC late the night before they were scheduled to fly. Since they needed to be picked up first thing in the morning, we had decided that the most important thing in choosing a hotel was proximity to the airport. With one of the FIFA World Cup matches also taking place that weekend, the last minute change of plans left our choices limited. We ended up booking a budget hotel on Long Island about 10 minutes from the airport. We quickly realized that we were maybe not in the nicest neighborhood or the fanciest hotel, but it was just a place to spend the less than 6 hours until the boys' scheduled pickup. Atticus and Pinky were a little unsure of their first hotel visit, but gave it the all clear after some quick checks.

However, after a few minutes we found there was a slight problem... The day we arrived also happened to be in the middle of the northeast's mid-June heat wave, and it was still about 92°F at 11pm. The room's AC was working its hardest, but didn't seem to be making a dent to the heat in the room. After a sweaty, fitful night, the time finally came. We got up before sunrise to assemble the crates in the tiny parking lot behind the hotel, loaded them up with our courier Luis, and they were off. Taylor and I headed back up to our toasty hotel room to wait for them to get in the air. There may have also been some tears involved.

About 5 minutes later, both of our phones buzzed simultaneously. We both had one new email from Care Tags, our automated update service: "Your flight from JFK to LAX has been cancelled. Please await further details." We called Luis who said that he hadn't been able to get ahold of our travel coordinator, but he was going to bring the boys back to keep them from having to wait in a hot van until we knew what was going on. So 5 minutes later, they were back with us, confused but happy. We soon got notification that they had been rebooked for the same flight the next day. We quickly decided we couldn't do another night in the oppressive heat of our hotel, so we found an Airbnb in the suburbs that had both working AC and a yard for Atticus to run off some of the energy he had from being cooped up all day. Plus, Pinky was thrilled to see it had a window sill designed just for him.

Travel Day, again?

The next morning we did it all over again. Our Airbnb host had requested that we not do the pickup at the house so early in the morning, so we loaded the boys and their crates (disassembled again) and drove to the parking lot of a Whole Foods around the corner. We reassembled the crates just in time for Luis to pull in. Luckily, Atticus didn't seemed to have been too traumatized by his ride the day before as he wanted nothing more than to go say hello to his new friend Luis.

We helped Luis load them up, and they were off again. I thought that it might be a little easier the second time, but nope. Blubbering mess again. About 40 minutes later, Luis sent a message telling us he had arrived at the airport with about 3 hours to go before departure, and that he would let us know when they were all checked in and loaded. 30 minutes go by without any word, then an hour, then 2. Once it was under an hour till the flight departure time, we really started to worry. Luis had been great about updating us so far, so it seemed unlikely that he would suddenly stop now. We reached out to him, and he responded that the boys were okay, but they hadn't been able to check in and he was trying to find out what was going on. About 20 minutes before the scheduled departure, we got the bad news: they wouldn't be able to go on this flight either and he was bringing them back again.

When they got back the second time, Pinky and Atticus were still happy to see us and get out of their crates, but there was definite air of confused acceptance, especially from Atticus. Maybe this was just how things were now; a man comes and puts them in a noisy box, drives around, then brings them back to mom and dad. While they settled back in, we got the full story from Luis. When he arrived at the airport, the staff that was supposed to handle the animal cargo check-ins were not there for their scheduled shift. When they finally arrived nearly 2 hours late, they told Luis it was too late to get everything checked in time to make the flight. Needless to say, we were furious. We had only planned to stay for a night, but now were looking at a 3rd. Every day we stayed was more unplanned spending on food and accommodations, time that we needed for our own travel preparation, and more stress on Atticus and Pinky getting shuffled around to another new place. After a very frustrated call with our apologetic coordinator, the boys were rescheduled for a 3rd time to a flight the next day. This time, our coordinator offered to get them into a very exclusive boarding facility next to the airport. We hated to leave them any sooner than we had to, but with so much going on and the prospect of finding and getting to another place to stay, we decided it was best that they stayed there while we got back on the road for Cleveland. Luckily, the third time really was the charm, and they were able to board this flight without a hitch. They even had some friends!

They landed in LA with a few days to spare before their international flight. Every day we looked forward to getting their "report cards." These came exactly as expected - Atticus seemed to0 excited to get to meet new people to be too phased by his travel, while Pinky was just furious.

Just as Pinky seemed to really be settling in, it was time to fly again. Thankfully, there were no issues getting on this flight. Even though they seemed to have made it through the ordeal of their LA flight without any lasting damage, I was incredibly nervous. This flight was over twice as long at about 12 hours total, during which they would be held in the dark cargo bay. Taylor and I anxiously watched the clock and waited for their arrival update. Finally it came! They looked a little worse for wear in their first photos (who doesn't after a 12 hour flight) but they had made it safely to their quarantine facility where they would spend the next 10 days. This facility sends great updates as well, and they always manage to take especially perfect pics of Atticus!

Paws and Paws

As you can probably imagine, these past few weeks have once again not left much time for baking, no pavs! Instead, I thought I would include some bonus paws. During my trip to visit my family in Tennessee, I had one major request: a family trip to one of my favorite childhood places, the Memphis Zoo. My parents, both my brothers, and my sister in law all joined us for a spectacular day.

Stay tuned for more

This post turned out to be longer than I expected (very cathartic though, so thanks for giving me a place to vent!). In the next week and half, we will be off on our journey through New Zealand and the boys will finish quarantine, so there will be some more exciting updates and hopefully some fun pictures in the next post. For now, I will leave you with one final update: our exciting new wheels. When we were considering purchasing a new car after we moved, we knew we wanted to stick with an EV like ours back in Cleveland. In the months before our move, I liked to keep an eye on TradeMe, New Zealand's major buying/selling platform. When I saw this car, I immediately sent it to Taylor, almost entirely as a joke since it's not the car I would have dreamed he'd be interested in. Unexpectedly, he fell in love with it, and immediately reached out to the owner who graciously agreed to hold on to it until we arrived. So I present to you, Oberon (named for the Shakespearean king of the fairies), who will carry us into our adventure.

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