I agree it's a reality check. We can't look past our batting performance, even though I think Aussie bowled well, some of the dismissals have been our mistake more than their excellence. I also think we've finally had the green home pitch tactic backfire by losing the toss against a team who it perhaps suits better than it does us. Against India and West Indies we may have lost tosses on green tracks but their teams weren't balanced in a way that they could make the most of it. I've said all along it's a risky way to go with the toss suddenly meaning so much on a pitch like that.
We've performed poorly but there are a few factors outside of that as well, some within our control and some not (umpires) which are a waste of time even talking about when we can focus that energy on what we can control.
The earthquakes in ChCh are going to cause some headaches for NZC. I can see Aus not wanting a bar of it which you can sympathise with particularly if they keep happening. We may find ourselves losing the series prematurely today.