Christchurch and Newport!

Ok, so we've made it to Christchurch and finally get to stop travelling. Talking to the owner of the motel (who's clearly not a Kiwi). Where are you from? He asks. UK, we say. Where in the UK? South Wales. Exactly where? Near Newport. I'm from Newport! We didn't spot the Welsh flag flying outside...

So chances of finding anyone else on the holiday who's from somewhere closer?

Found some good beer in the local pub but too knackered to stay and listen to the band. Tomorrow we start the holiday properly! So far it's all feeling pretty similar to Hawaii so nice and familiar.

Auckland

It sounded like we had plenty of time for our transfer when we booked the flight, loads of time... Positively ample!

But no.. We'd not really included the time required to get through immigration, and the large queue therein that is natural when an A380 has just landed. Then there was the wait for our baggage to arrive because - again - an A380 had just landed.  Then there is the large queue for customs/quarantine (did I mention the A380?).

We also forgot that even though we had cleaned our walking boots very thoroughly, declaring them meant we had to unpack and show them... This was hindered by the shrink-wrapped (think mechanical bailer) bags.

Oh, then there was the 15 minutes walk to the domestic terminal.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, we made it to the gate with just about enough time to write this blog :-)

The benefits of the A380 far outweigh the inconvenience. So much space! And loads of films, including most of the Disney back catalogue, which Dave particularly enjoyed. Oh, and 3 hours in Dubai was more than enough!

Heathrow T3

Ok, so not a particularly exotic location, but it's a start.

Had a scare when the check-in girl asked if we'd registered online for our visas.... "No" we said with a slight tremor.. Then it turned out that that is just for transiting in Oz. Phew!

If you remember the scene from Lord of the Rings where Frodo gets grabbed by the giant spider and wrapped up in silk... That just happened to our Rucksacks!

All ready for transportation to Mordor.. Very apt.

The Blog

So, after a few months of planning, and carrying lots of rice up hills (it's cheap, heavy, and we'll use it eventually... does rice go off?), the last thing to do before we head off  is to create The Blog! Well here it is... Ta Da!

To be honest, coming up with the blog name has been the hardest decision that we've had to make so far this year, and that has included selling our house and committing to buying an asbestos-riddled 19th century cottage (which was doing well until the 50s). So no complaints about the imagination of the blog title please!

So don't worry, we will be coming back, we have a 'house' to restore! :)

Who knows how often we'll keep this updated on our travels... there's only one way to find out!