Au revoir Australia - and helloooooo New Zealand!

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It turns out that they don't turn the air conditioning off in Melbourne airport overnight. I'd kind of hoped that they would - just so that it would warm up a little bit to help me snooze. Instead, the iron seats which became my bed for the night made sleeping feel like I was staying in that hotel in Iceland (I think) which is entirely made of ice. Just without the reindeer skins to keep you warm.

I wasn't alone in my quest to save a night's accommodation by crashing at the airport. In fact there must've been half a dozen more people camped out in the immediate vicinity to my ice-chairs. One lucky soul was equipped with a sleeping bag to keep warm - all I had to keep out the chill was a beach towel...

It also turns out that the airport comes alive after the last flight for the evening departs (3am ish). It's borderline Morecambe and Wise. The cleaners crank up the stereo, and start dancing around cleaning the place from top to toe. You kind of expect there to be one of those impromptu dances in the middle of the airport floor, with the cleaners doing some sort of heavily choreographed cleaning routine.

I didn't stay awake long enough to find out if they had a routine - but as you might have guessed from the write-up above, I didn't get the most amount of sleep... By 6am the airport was bustling again and it was time for this hobo to hit the road.

I went to check in - half asleep, was cut up at the desk by another traveller and then again by a drunk Irishman looking for the domestic terminal. The check in woman shouted at both of them. Scary woman. She then demanded to see my onwards ticket from NZ, and I've only got a Trailfinders print out (complete with incorrect dates). She sighs and says that'll do. She then weighs my case - 'this is 3.6kg over, you'll need to lose some weight' (right on so many levels). I protest (clearly against the backpack weight - no contest if talking about me!), and she gets more angry.

And then, faster than lightning, she launches the other of her split personalities. She smiled and said, 'Adele, great to have you travelling with us today - would you like extra leg room seats?'. Er, what?! I'm 5ft 3 at a push - not sure that's necessary but thanks. 'Your case weight is fine'. I've not taken a thing out of it. 'Have a lovely day Adele!'. Wish she'd stop talking to me like she's known me a lifetime!

Her kindness was clearly as a result of what ended up being printed on my ticket. Frequent Flyer...

Still, once on the plane it was time to be mightily disappointed. My window seat with the extra leg room was out of action. Maybe she wasn't being so kind to me all along! However once airborn, I managed to move to a row of three empty seats and crashed out for most of the journey, until we began our descent.

Boy was I lucky to wake up then. The descent into Queenstown is nothing short of spectacular. You come in over vast expanses of mountains, with just a dusting of snow on their summits, and huge turquoise blue lakes. You fly in between two ranges which, stunningly beautiful as it is, means for a bumpy old ride - Dad wouldn't be too happy about it, that's for sure... I've flown in over mountains in Europe before but nothing compares to here as far as sights go - definitely the most beautiful landscape to arrive in.

Swanned through customs again, having declared the only food I'm carrying to be one miniature Freddo bar of chocolate and two Chupa Chups lollies. Nothing to endanger the delicate environment there. I picked up the shuttle bus to town and no sooner had we pulled out of the airport than we were greeted by the unbelievably gorgeous lake, Lake Wakatipu. This huge lake is surrounded by the Remarkables mountain range on one side, and central Queenstown just on the other side. There were boats skipping by on the lake, taking in the breathtaking surroundings. The sun was belting down and it just made you realise what a beautiful place this is. The shuttle took us around town so that we got our bearings - the town is quaint, with quirky little shops and a fairly modern feel to it, despite the history here.

The hostel I'm in is just 10 minutes from town - huge bathrooms, unusual for these backpacker places, and fairly large rooms, mean I think I'm going to be OK here for a few days. There's a mix of old and young backpackers here - mainly old, but the young ones are making their voices heard...mainly by holding big screaming arguments in the lounge and corridors. Not all happy in paradise, so it seems. I, however, am more than happy to be here. Even from first sight, turns out I might just like New Zealand as much as I love Australia. Which, as you know, is going some! So here's to the next 4 weeks or so - let the fun times begin. Bungy jump anyone?!

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