0400hours… I’m seeing rather too many of these it has to be said! Although, today I’m not grumbling too much about it because it takes me to my Morgi! As everything was pretty much still packed, we didn’t need to do much after a quick shower to wake us up, before checking out. We’d already decided a taxi was pointless for the 400 metre distance to the airport, something we may have reconsidered had it been raining, which thankfully it wasn’t.
When we got to reception, there were bloody loads of people checking out and a fleet of taxis and mini buses were waiting outside to take them to the airport. The staff were pretty quick doing check out and due to that we were hot footing it to the airport by0430. There was almost a scrap in the reception, an Asian lady had pushed in to try to check out. Unfortunately for her it was a New Zealander lady she had jumped in front of. Said lady was having none of the Que jumping and promptly put the woman in her place, she winked at me, and mouthed “watch” and proceeded to inform the cue jumper in no uncertain terms about the system. I can’t decide if the Asian lady was Rude, stupid, ignorant or all three.
The rumble to the airport was a nice flat trip all the way, and with the sturdy one on my lap, the other rucksack on the back of Mildred we were there before the rest of the people from the hotel who were piling into taxi and minibuses. It was a pleasant temperature to be in, too early for pesky mosquitoes, and a gentle breeze and all in all a straightforward operation.
On arriving at the airport, we were directed to a waiting area for about 10 minutes and then as soon as check in opened we were in the Que. with the sturdy one vanishing into the dark hole of doom, we were escorted upstairs through security, and the most feeble pat down ever. Because we had an hour or so to kill airside, we had a brew, there was no need for breakfast as we were having that on board the plane. There was quite the convoy of people in wheeling chairs, and I was pleased there was the tunnel to the aircraft rather than a lift because there would have had to have been a couple of journeys for all of us. I was boarded first and the seating configuration suited us perfectly. A two, a four and another two. We were in the two seats so no one to disturb us, or indeed, no one for us to disturb!
Breakfast was egg, beans,sausage and hash browns fruit and yoghurt with a cereal bar. Satisfying. The flight from Fiji to NZ is 3 and half hours, plenty of time to watch a film. … you would think! The pilot on this occasion was particularly chatty, he didn’t stop talking, and announcements were coming every 15- 20 minutes or so. Mate. Stop. I’m trying to relax with a movie here!
Special assistance were ok, not the best we’ve had by far, but the girl wheeling Mildred was ok. Some of the others were not so much. The airport transfer wheelchairs are pink moulded plastic, and pretty funky looking. I’m not sure how sturdy they would be or how long they’d last, I imagine they were easy to disinfect and wipe down being plastic. They were such a pretty colour, and I was a bit disappointed that I didn’t get to use one.
As we flew in to Auckland it was a raining, but by the time we’d gone through security, and customs it had dried up, leaving it overcast and warm. Our initial plan was to get the train to our hotel in Newmarket, but the early start was catching up with us and we opted for a taxi instead. So much simpler! The hotel was about 20 mins from the airport, and we had timed it right and missed the school rush hour, which saved us quite a bit of sitting in traffic. The hotel itself Alpers inn, had parking spaces should we need them, and the room was very comfortable housing one double and one single bed. The air con worked and it was kitted out with kettle, fridge, microwave and the usual things you’d expect in a room. There was a bond to pay which we would get back after the room had been checked by housekeeping lm not sure what they were expecting us to do to it!
Newmarket is just North of the airport, but really handy for all routes in and around the city, Morg and Liv are 5mins away in their flat share. As they were both in work we arranged to meet them in Newmarket in a pub. Liv caught up with us on our way as she’d got off the train and where we were headed was a few minutes walk away. Within seconds of having hugs, I looked up and saw my Morgi. He looks fabulous, really well and has a massive grin on his face. One happy mamma bear right there! We had the best hello hugs and his fluffy green and black leopard print jumper made it extra cwtchy! They pub was right there so in we went and had some cider and caught up on the news. After a few pints we thought it might be a good idea to get some food and went to the Westfield mall where they have rooftop dining if you fancy it and any number of places to choose from. We went simple, and into a place I can't remember the name of. We all ended up having the same, fish and chips. Can’t go wrong with that can you? We were there a few hours and the waiter came and asked us if we wanted anything else because they were stopping serving. It wasn’t even 2000hrs! We had finished eating so drank up the drinks and made our way out of the mall. As it was early we rumbled back towards the first pub we’d had a drink in, it was the bottom of the road Morg and Liv needed to go up to get home so was the perfect location. Liv decided to go on home as she needed to shower and so some bits ready for work in the morning so it was just the three of us. We got into the outdoor drinking garden, and one of the regulars asked the barmaid if she’s still serve us. They had already called last orders and she point blank refused, the guy tried again for us to no avail. So with no cider on the cards Morg caught up with aliv and we rumbled back to the room. They’re both in work tmrw, so we’ll catch up with them tmrw night again.
Much love
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