4th Mar

After checking out of the hotel, we spend the afternoon waiting in the foyer for the shuttle to arrive.

Sarah has another wee battle. There was no separate voucher for this extra night; we told them it must be included from the first two nights we were here. As a result, they didn’t have a record of our breakfast being prepaid. Luckily they accepted it all when Sarah presented the itinerary from our travel agent. We also had to point out again about the city tax. Clearly these people are not used to that one being pre-paid.

The concept of getting an earlier shuttle seems lost on them as well. Eventually, it arrived, and we are off to the airport. But at least it did arrive, and our names were on the manifest. Back to zero on the sphincter scale

Five minutes later and we were at the airport. The check-in is out the front, with only a roof for protection. We are dropped at the Air New Zealand zone. There are two queues. One for Business and Koru, one for economy. There is a security officer at the entrance to the first queue, and heaps of people in the other queue.

I have to say that I have never seen Sarah move so quickly. “Koru Club!” as she ducked over there.

“What? Where? Who?”. Where did she go?

Anyway, the officer checks our credentials, and we are at the check-in counter moments later. All is well and off we go into the building. We find our way upstairs to the lounge. Air New Zealand share this with everybody else who fly in, but at least it’s air conditioned, has a nice view of the runway and sea beyond, and there are snacks and drinks.

The aircraft arrives, and we wander down to look in the duty free shop before we board. Quite a quick turnaround here. There is another ambulance case coming in, this time a baby.

When we board, we se a cabin crew member that I recognise. He transferred to London base when it opened, but is obviously back in AKL now. I’m sure he’s originally from CHC.

When we get to our seat, we meet Margot Black, another mainlander who is based in AKL. Nice to see a friendly face. Have a chat, she gives us J‑class headsets and a glass of bubbly, and we are set for the flight.

As always, the Air New Zealand food is good, and there are a couple of movies to watch.

Heading home.

So that’s it, boys and girls. The trip is over, and I survived.

Guess what? She is planning the next one.

Will it be the Indian train next?

Perhaps a cruise around the Hawaiian Islands?

There is talk of a week in Bangkok.

Who knows?

Maybe all of the above