Day 3 I’m Tom Hanks and this is the Terminal

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Ok here we go again. We get a slightly longer stop at Sydney but still not enough time to leave the airport. In fact as it turns out we only just have time to catch the plane.

In Dubai they met us at the gate and shepherded us all through to the next departure gate. In Bangkok it was straight off at one gate and back on through the same gate. In Sydney however we are left to our own devices and it very nearly all goes pear shaped. As we are getting off one of the crew announces what we both think is gate 15 so we saunter along through the terminal building out through security and on to terminal 2 Most of our fellow passengers seem to have disappeared but then most of them could have just been flying to Sydney and not going on to Auckland.

We see a Japanese business man we think we recognise and so we ask him is he going to Auckland and he tells us he’s not sure where he is going (maybe something is lost in translation) but undeterred we continue on. Nadine gets stopped for a random checking of bomb carrying material and is taken into a side room to be sniffed by a blood hound and an electronic sniffer (I hope her deodorant is up to the job!)- she seems to pass since they let her out again and we continue on looking for the elusive gate 15. We get to the main terminal building and view the departures board but there is no Emirates flights to Auckland listing and no gate 15. We ask a security guard but he doesn’t seem to know. There is a huge queue at the transfer desk and no one is answering the phone at the Emirates desk. Don’t panic, we still have 20 minutes before our scheduled departure time and hey I quite fancy a stopover in Sydney.

We ask nicely and the three people in front of us in the queue let us go before them (did we have that panicked look of desperation about us or did we just scare them) Anyway we get to the transfer desk but the woman behind us says she doesn’t deal with transfers to Auckland and doesn’t know where gate 15 is. That’s it, no offers of well you could try this or that, just can’t help sorry not my problem.

We race down another corridor and find ourselves in another departure lounge this time with a more helpful airport employee who confirms there is no gate 15, but looks up our flight on her computer confirms its actually going not from Terminal 2 where we are, but from Terminal 1 and is gate 58 not 15 but tells us not to worry she has a bus coming in a minute for Terminal 1 and we can get on that.. Sighhhh, we reach terminal 1 and we even have time for a postcard stop although the shop only has one stamp left, oh well I only have time to write one card anyway. Before we know it we are back on the plane again and Auckland bound.

Our end of seat row passenger has indeed departed but another has taken his place, ahh well never mind only another 4 hours to go.

Fast forward and we finally touch down in Auckland. Total journey time 31 hours and 15 minutes yawn

Goodbye our trusty Emirates 777 300 hello New Zealand.

Its bright and sunny and baggage collection goes smoothly. Even the immigration official has a cheery smile and welcomes us with open arms and wishes us a pleasant trip. So unlike the UK immigration officials you see on Airport hauling people off to be strip searched for the slightest infringement. Good thing too because after 31 hours in the air I’m hard pressed to remember my own name let alone the purpose of my journey or what day it is.

What with all my medication and our camping gear we had checked nearly all the yes boxes on the immigration declaration form.

Are you carrying prohibited items? Check.
Are you carrying items that may have been used in the countryside? Check
Are you importing items worth over $750 Check.

The poor official must have thought she had a right pair and we were all set for the sirens to go off but no, the friendly official just helped us amend the boxes, my meds were fine as long as I had a doctors letter which she didn’t need to see, as long as we weren’t planning to sell my camera and laptop etc that was fine and well the list goes on.

That’s the thing with New Zealand everyone is just so nice and friendly and genuinely wants to welcome you to their country and have a good time.

We make our way to the bio security checks and Dee is rather disappointed since all the official does is ask to see the soles of our walking boots and then waves us through. (Dee was hoping to have her boots steam cleaned!). Still airport formalities completed we are finally here, we’ve made it.

We stop to rearrange our bags and try and cram all our carry on luggage into our main backs (not going to happen - I really should have bought that 90 Litre pack instead but hey you live and learn). I pop over to the Vodaphone store and pick up a New Zealand Sim card and then we stagger out to the bus stop to find our way into Auckland.

The bus driver is another really friendly New Zealander and promises to let us know when we reach our stop. We hadn’t been feeling too tired on the plane but the jet lag is starting to get us both I think and as we make the twenty minute or so ride into the centre of Auckland we both find ourselves drifting off sleep uncontrollably. We wake up only to find we have missed our stop but the friendly bus driver just says no worries and he will drop us off on the way back which he does.

Off the bus we pile and once again stagger up the hill backpacks front and rear to the Auckland City YHA.

Checking in and things instantly start to look up as we get to the desk and there are a group of very cute girls checking in ahead of us. Unfortunately my hopes are dashed and instead of checking us into a dorm room full of leggy lovelies we end up sharing a room with two other stinky guys from the UK (well Dee tells me they were stinky - my sense of smell never was up to much and we only get to meet one of them since although the second ones stuff is in the room when we arrive and we hear him snoring as we leave in the morning we never actually get to see him).

Our other temporary roommate Tim is a nice enough guy from Bath in the UK and works for the NHS, he’s been in NZ for a couple of weeks but has managed to loose all his money and cards and is waiting for money to be wired from home. Luckily the hostel have agreed to let him stay until his money arrives, but it’s a sobering thought and reminder to hang onto your money belt along your travels.

We cram all our baggage into the lockers downstairs (a bargain at $3 for 12 hours) and decide to go and check out the sights Auckland has to offer.

Its Halloween and I had really wanted to get all dressed up and go out for a ghoulish night of trick or treating New Zealand style but we are both just too zombified by the journey to take the concept seriously so we make do with visiting a 7/11 for some supplies and wandering the streets.

First impressions are that it is as people say possibly like England 40 years ago. There are all the high rises, neon lights and trappings of a big city, but it seems somehow more parochial, more safe, more friendly. There are people in doorways singing songs, groups of pretty girls walking along all dressed up in Halloween costumes and what seems to be a big cruising (of the hot rod car variety) scene with many large exhaust and shinny wheeled cars zooming up and down the main thoroughfares. With the sun having set it’s getting a bit chilly, so we don’t linger too long but do checkout the waterfront and make an attempt at finding the location of the pickup for our rental van for next day.

I take some pictures and then we retire to the hostel for a late evening meal of beans on toast (that staple traveller fair) and a reasonably early night (so much for partying the night away). The kitchen is spacious and well equipped and there are a group of Germans in the lounge singing songs with a guitar and reminiscing that this is their last night in NZ. I don’t think that hostels are quite as bad as Dee was expecting (apart from the stinky room mates) but still goodbye my chance at meeting all those pretty hostel babes, tomorrow is onto our camper van

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