Off to the Dark Continent... part 1

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Hi everyone,

Firstly, "Thanks Dave for safely depositing us in Auckland!"

After a restless night's sleep and a few entertaining and late shuttle passengers, we finally made it to the airport at 04h00. Luckily we were only fourth in line to check in, so it seamed that we would be nestled in for our coffee and breakfast in no time, with 2 hours left to go.

HOW WRONG WERE WE!!!

First mishap: Upon entering South Africa on a Kiwi passport, one is granted 90 days of visa free holiday. We had booked flights 9 months apart, hoping that our grand stories of wayward adventure ahead would persuade the authorities that Mark was not in fact intending to settle in sunny South Africa. Apparently this is not the case. The extremely efficient Qantas staff were onto this and we were redirected to the booking counter to make a plan. Fortunately we had purchased flexible tickets (to change our return dates as we pleased) and were able to make the change instantly and therefore fulfilling our entry requirements. We must have looked rather fraught (Mark nearly had a meltdown!) as the booking lady didn't even charge us the NZ$50 change fee but instead just smiled and wished us well on our quest.

Next mishap: During our debacle, the miniscule queue had exploded to 150 plus and was literally spilling onto the walkway! We hastily stepped in line, as every 10 seconds there was another person filing in behind us.

What seemed like an hour later, our bags were weighed and with 1kg to spare, our boarding passes had been issued and we legged it to the security screening to be welcomed by yet another queue. This one moved much quicker though, allowing us time for the loo before our flight boarded.

A couple of hours later we enjoyed a full breakfast and coffee inflight, which was actually rather good and very much appreciated.

All in all, a successful first leg - we made it onto the plane!

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