Our flight did start boarding this morning before 7. We learned from the Captain that the delay had been caused because there had been a fuel leak on the plane when it had been crossing to Los Angeles. However, because the leak was small, it had been necessary to bring specialists from Boeing in Seattle down to open up the panels of the plane, locate, fix the plane. Apparently that all took longer than expected.
Some now, 14 hours later, we are in the airport in Sydney waiting for the flight to Christchurch on which we were originally scheduled. It is almost 6PM here, 8PM in Christchurch, and 11 PM in California. It is raining here, occasionally quite hard, so perhaps we did not lose too much having missed our day in Sydney.
After a final 3.5 hour flight we should be Christchurch at midnight local time. With luck the customs formalities will be quick, our bags will be there, and we make our way quickly to the nearby hotel where we are booked and get to sleep.