Longest Day, Shortest Day

Never-ending flights
After a year of waiting the trip to New Zealand was a reality. Because it was Louisa's "special" birthday, I booked a slot in the airport lounge (just in case Louisa's ploy of wearing her "30 Today" birthday badge didn't warrant an upgrade on the flight. Louisa's badge didn't warrant an upgrade on the flight, so we headed off to the lounge. For anyone having a 3 hour check-in time and not wanting to wander through the madding crowd, I would recommend spending the twenty pounds it costs to get a spot in the lounge. It's functional and decorated by a colourblind person from the 80's rave generation. Orange and turquoise vinyl chairs overlooked the gates where the 747's wait. Drinks are available and nibbles too, but it's not a patch on the proper British Airways lounge.

The flight was called and suddenly we were off to the gate. Little did we know the sheer marathon that the 30 hour journey was going to be; a short journey across the planet via Bangkok, Sydney and finally arriving in Aukland 2 days later.

Qantus flights are reliable and functional. The cabin crew very much the same with an air of "professional friendliness"). The first hop - the phrase "hop" actually comes from the original Qantus London to Sydney flight that started 50 years ago this year took 55 hours of flying and 5 stop-overs . I think "hop" may be a reference to kangaroos but I have never seen one that can fly! Hop 1: 3 films, no sleep.

After stretching our legs in Bangkok for just over an hour we were all too soon back on the flight heading over Indonesia and across Australia to Sydney. We landed at 6:30 in the morning and I had watched another 3 films and had 30 minutes sleep. Louisa, who's not great with flying actually managed to grab more than 40 winks; I am sure that it was due to her having a fleece, a blanket, ear-plugs and a blindfold!

In Sydney we had a 4 hour wait watching the rest of the world arrive or transit through to other destinations. The Air Singapore A380 recently started flying from Sydney and we saw a couple of those take off against all common sense. It's amazing that something that big can get off the ground and be much quieter than a 747.

Finally, we were ready to fly to Aukland. I won't bore you with the details of the two and a half hour flight, but suffice it to say it was a smaller plane and a little bumpy.

As we approached New Zealand the cloud thickened up considerably it was like descending through thick cotton wool, so we knew that the UK weather had followed us! The approach to Aukland is from over the sea and as we left the cloud higher and higher above us we could see the lush green of the land and kelp floating in the sea.

It was raining!

Welcome to New Zealand
The long queue through immigration was processed quickly and efficiently by friendly officials. It was my first experience of the soft-spoken polite "kiwis". I am used to immigration officials being unsmiling, mechanical and functional. Not in New Zealand! The officer processing us asked about our trip as expected and addressed me by my first name; it's quite disconcerting! It's also nice to hear people say "please" and "thank you". It seems that New Zealand is twenty years behind the UK in many respects, and better for it too.

Bio-security
The country in the clouds has a unique ecology which needs protecting. The New Zealanders say that when New Zealand separated from the Australian land-mass, all of the dangerous, poisonous creatures stayed in Australia and all the good stuff stayed on New Zealand. Obviously, with the arrival of humans on several occasions, the New Zealans flora and fauna has been squeezed into smaller and smaller spaces as well as being put under threat by non-native species such as the possum (the possum is protected in Australia, but in New Zealand, the only good possum is a dead one). It's with all of that in mind that you can understand why the bio-security section of entering the country is so strict. At the baggage collection a young, keen sniffer dog was checking all the bags. You can imagine I was a little perturbed whilst waiting for our bags to feel the tap of a couple of paws on my backside. I am assuming that, after 30 hours of travelling, the bigger shock was for the sensitive nose of the sniffer dog. I am sure he won't be working in that business for much longer!

After the sniffer dog, we were coralled through the next bio-security section where questions were asked about whether we'd been out in the countrside, whether we had brought walking shoes and whether we were bringing food into the country. Obviously, I omitted to tell them that we came from a foot-and-mouth area of the UK.


Driving in Aukland

more to come in here... I lost it due to the poor Internet connection...

Best Western, Worst Southern
Don't stay in the New President hotel unless you have no choice. The New President hotel is part of the Best Western chain, and is very grey. The building seems to be a 60's or 70's concrete tower block with the smell of 30 years of deep fat frying food infusued into brick work. The staff were had that "professional friendliness" and it wasn't long before we got into the room.

It's a well known fact that the olfactory memory is the strongest. This fact was proven to me as we opened the door to our room. I was instantly transported back to Butlins Bognor Regis 25 years ago. The smell was the same!

--- there's a bit to go in here about the "restaurant" --- oh my goodness... that wasn't a restaurant!

The room was 30 past a refit and the windows pretty thin opening on to the main road next to the Skyline tower and the "reverse bungee". Just as well that the bed was comfortable and we hadn't slept for 2 days!

The bathroom has a shower that in a fixed position for Hobbits. As we travel around New Zealand, this is a common feature.

I couldn't wait for the next day to come and for us to leave Aukland. A wise decision to spend a single night there...