Blonde on a Road Trip

Woke up 10 minutes before my alarm – standard.

Repacked my bag again to put my footwear on the top in case my bag gets searched, so they don’t have to unearth all my other worldly belongings to get to them.

Had a coffee and some fruit and said an emotional farewell to Michael, who kept asking me to stay and be his housemate. As much as I would love that, I have spent a fair amount of money on the next leg of this trip, so I might give it a miss for the next few weeks and then regroup back in the UK… and negotiate with Phoenix…

On the train by 9:30am, and my flight is at 12:40, so I reckon I am running on time.

Got to airport by 10:25am

The Qantas check in is all done via machine, including bag drop. Had a minor scare when the machine asked me to get assistance and the lady needed to see proof of my onward travel from Auckland. I suddenly panicked and couldn’t remember which airline I was flying out of Auckland with. Had I even booked a flight?! Surely I had?! Could I have been that stupid? I frantically searched my emails and apps for flight details for the 7th December, which I vaguely remembered was the day I thought I’d leave New Zealand, but nothing was coming up. Panic!!! Was I going to have to book a flight there and then?!

And then I found flight details for a flight at 3am on the 7th December back to Sydney, and then on to Bangkok. PHEW!!!! Not quite as stupid as I’d given myself credit for after all.

I had a bit of bother scanning my bag, which came in at 20.3 kg, so I’m still way under the luggage allowance, although it doesn’t feel like it when I’m lugging it around.

If I’m being honest, Sydney Airport is a bit overdesigned to the point where it isn’t very user-friendly. The way finding completely gives way to a luxury shopping mall and once you’re in there, you have no chance of finding out which gate your flight is going from or how to get to it. You’re just in a maze of designer brands.

It didn’t stop me buying some perfume though because the Australian dollar is a bit weak at the moment, so I got a good conversion rate on Monzo – win!

Flight is at 12:40 but at 12:27 we are still not being called to board the plane. Instead an announcement came over the tannoy to say they’re experiencing issues with the inflight entertainment system. Urgh! Luckily I’ve downloaded a series to watch on my iPad, so I’ll be able to fill the 3-hour flight.

I wasn’t sure if there was going to be a meal on this flight as I hadn’t been able to check in on the app, which would’ve told me either way. So, as I boarded the flight, I asked the two guys from the cabin crew: “Is there a meal on this flight?”

And they said, “Male? There are plenty of males on this flight. Oh, a meal?! Oh, yes. There’s a meal.”

Ha-ha…

At least I wouldn’t be solely relying on the overpriced salt and vinegar crisps I’d bought from WH Smith. Yes… there are WH Smiths everywhere… UK, Singapore… Australia…

Happily, the entertainment system was working and the pilot was confident he’d get us to Auckland roughly on time! So I logged onto the Qantas app and started watching The White Lotus.

A few hours later, we were landing in Auckland, where they put the fear of god in you about bringing any food or disease into the country. There’s even a sniffer dog (beagle) that sniffs you as you line up in single file before going through the arrivals gate. Having watched Border Patrol on TV, it is amazing what rubbish people try to bring into the country, declared or not, and they do film a TV programme at Auckland airport (there are signs saying so).

I got through the arrivals door expecting to see Anneke as she said she was ready and waiting, but no sign of her. So I called her and told her where I was and she said she was there too… so how can we not see each other?! Turns out she was sitting in the front row of the arrivals lounge and had just completely missed me as I walked through and I also hadn’t seen her either 😂 whoops!

We found her car… with Vader (dog) in the back – yay! And then we went to Orewa, with the hope of getting some food and eating it on the beach, but Auckland was doing a UK spring impression and had gone from sunshine to rain, so instead we just got some tasty chicken burgers and ate them under the cover of an umbrella and admired the sad-looking grey beach from afar (150 metres). Another time!

Just like Australia, it seems more common here to have aioli with chips than Ketchup, which they call tomato sauce. Lots to learn here!

We stopped by New World, the supermarket, grabbed a few things including a pack of Speight’s lager, and then headed to Anneke’s place.

It was dark by the time we got there, about 9pm, but we sat down and had a beer together and made a vague plan of our Northlands trip.

Can’t wait to see what it all looks like in the daylight!