Oceania: Day 1 or is it Day 3?

 Well, I will admit that at times I can be confused, especially after many hours of traveling in an airplane across a multitude of time zones. When we arrived in Auckland, New Zealand at 8:30 in the morning I was a bit dumbfounded to find out what day it actually was.

We began our trip to New Zealand from ABIA, Austin-Bergstrom International Airport or AUS as the aviation folks refer to it. From AUS, we flew to LAX, Los Angeles International Airport. We relaxed in the Delta Sky Lounge until boarding our flight, DL65, for an 11:05 departure on Tuesday, January 30, 2024.

We settled in for the long flight, 13+ hours. That's a long flight. As we were winging our way across the Pacific, we enjoyed a meal and an adult beverage or two. I positioned my seat in the full bed position and attempted to get some sleep. I don't think that I slept very much. We were flying west, the earth was rotating to the east and as usual, the sun rose in the East. Since I wasn't sleeping, I looked out the window to see the rising sun punch through a thick layer of clouds. The following photos were taken through a dirty airplane window.

I tried in vain to get some sleep, but it wasn't happening. We had a small breakfast before landing. After landing, I turned on my iPhone. It advised that it was Thursday, February 1, 2024. 

WHAT HAPPENED TO WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 31, 2024?

Okay, when traveling across the International Dateline in a westerly direction, one is likely to hav a Rod Serling moment. That's why I am confused as to this being the first or third day of our trip.

I understand that the lost day will be recovered on the trip home. I hope so!