Prising ourselves from the extremely comfortable bed of the Rydges Hotel in Auckland, we were up bright and breezy to pack the last few items in our now bulging travel bags and rucksacks. Auckland airport is quite a distance from the city centre, so we had booked the shuttle bus to the airport last night on the recommendation of the concierge. The shuttle bus is just a quick as a taxi and a fraction of the cost, it’s just that you have to share it with 10 others. It’s only about 40 minutes in the morning traffic, so we can put up with that. The shuttle arrived just a few minutes late, but we had allowed plenty of time to get to the airport and we were not actually departing until 12.40 in the afternoon.
The journey was quick as the traffic was very light and we were soon unloading our bags from the shuttle’s trailer and into the check in queue, which was amazingly short. Just as we entered the terminal, there was a place where you could weigh your luggage and repack it if necessary. We took the opportunity to weigh the bags as we have accumulated quite a bit of useful junk over the past 6 weeks. Much of it has been wedged into our rucksacks, but some just wouldn’t fit. We were lucky – one bag just 1Kg over weight and one 3Kg under. That was OK as we could probably talk our way out of 1Kg overweight for the one bag. As it happened, there was not a problem, so no humiliating repacking as was the case at Gatwick when we went on the cruise!!
We boarded bang on time and then waited 20 minutes for paperwork to be sent electronically from Sydney before we could start to taxi. Up and away, the flight was less than half full, so plenty of space. It was a perfect flight, smooth as silk from take off to landing and totally uneventful – just how we like it. As we were on the final approach to Sydney the view of the harbour was stunning. The opera house and bridge were resplendent in all their glory and you could see for miles around. Doubly good as the plane banked round and swept pass the other side of the bridge and gave us a terrific view right across the harbour. Just a few minutes later and we were in Australia.
After we had booked this holiday, one of our old friends, whom I have not seen since my last visit here in 1975 offered to put us up whilst we were in Sydney. Little did he and his wife Bev know what they were in for!! John had given us his mobile number and said to call it when we get through customs. Only problem with that was that the immigration people wanted to know where we were staying on our first night in Australia and we only had a phone number!!! With visions of being turned around and sent straight back out again, as we had not filled in the address box on the immigration form, we felt slightly uncomfortable. The nice man obviously did not see a couple of old folks as a serious immigration problem and we were allowed in.
Through immigration and customs, the next challenge was to make the phone call to someone we had not met for 36 years! Like all good friends, he was there when we needed him. Within just a few minutes of arriving at the meeting point outside the airport terminal, John pulled up. Unmistakable, he looked just as he did in 1975, but slightly aged and a full head of hair. As we drove to his house it was as if we had not been out of touch for such a long time. When we reached his house we were welcomed by Bev his wife and instantly made to feel totally welcome by both of them. That evening, we enjoyed a traditional Australian BBQ and yes we did have shrimps tossed onto it!!! After some more gossip over dinner it was time to retire to bed as we had an extra two hours added to our day.
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