My journey to Australia

Well I would first like to say that my adventure to Australia has not been without a little complication. The night before leaving, my mother and I call the airlines to see if they could just check me through in Charleston and that way I would not have to check all my luggage again in San Francisco or Auckland. Then one person from NZ told us that an hour and a half was not enough time of a layover in San Fran, yet another person from American Airlines told us we were fine (so we left the flight the same). The next morning when I got to the Charleston airport (which is the most convenient international airport to use in my opinion and after this experience I am so thankful for it), I had to stand in line for an hour or more because they couldn't get the luggage to be checked all the way through, yet I didn't have enough layover to do get my luggage and go through customs again and board the plane in San Fran. Luckily, they eventually were able to get the bags marked and I was good! I flew from Charleston to Dallas and had time in Dallas to get some Australian money, food , and relax. However, when I arrived in the Dallas airport everywhere else had had such bad weather in the west and north that the airport was crazy. It was more than an hour delayed and by the time I got to San Fran airport which was also a zoo, I missed my flight to New Zealand and missed meeting up with Jessica :( I had about 15 minutes, so I asked several people along the way to direct me to international flight ASAP but they were not so friendly (def. not good ol southerners! haha).SO I called my parents and almost had a panic attack while talking to them but luckily everything turned out ok. (I was worried not only for missing the flight, but my luggage, and we payed for a shuttle to take me from Brisbane to my university. ) I found Air New Zealand which by the way was not labeled and again had to ask where it was located. I thought I was an idiot by not finding it, but found it was labeled "San Francisco International" so that made me feel less of an idiot because everything else was clearly labeled American Airlines, United, etc. The guy at the Air New Zealand counter was very friendly, but said Air NZ only had one flight a day and then next one would not be until 7pm the next night. This is about the time that I had a huge lump in my throat and had no idea what I was going to do and thought I was going to freak out...I was across the USA from everyone and stranded. I held my composure haha for the most part haha. It wouldn't have been so bad if I had had company, but I guess you can just say I'm not the most brave person! Anyway like I said before the guy was very friendly and told me to take the shuttle to the Marriott hotel and I would have a free room to stay in for the night. I am in the hotel right now writing this and will leave for the rest of my journey tonight and hopefully make it there without anymore delays. On the bright side of this adventure---I got a nice bed to sleep in that night, and a nice shower, and a wonderful learning experience that makes for a good story :)
I will update you guys again when I arrive in Australia!