New Zealand 2022: Day 16 Australia Bound

By the numbers

1 plane

2 books

Bag 18.9 kilo

1 over size

 

The alarm went off at 0230 in the morning so we would be at the check in gate by 3am as I wasn’t sure how slow that line would actually move. It turns out staying at the airport was a great idea and that line was really slow moving for Jetstar. Everyone had been warned about airports moving slowly, and Auckland is no exception. I should point out they are also doing some upgrading, so no idea if that is playing a part in shops not opening up either. Apparently there will be a covered walkway to a new mass transit hub. That will be open next time we go over. The Pullman hotel will also be at the airport too.

 

We had to wait for the security gate to open before we could go through to security and immigration. People were literally pushing you out of the way as you went through. No one was going to be late for their flight, but they wanted to push and shove. Security was the easiest place to get through and I was happy for that. I only had to take my bag and laptop out of my bag. Belt stayed on and my pants stayed up too. After security there was only several options for food that were open at the time. Being just after 430am it wasn’t too surprising. I had bought biscuits at Countdown several days before and I was munching on them waiting for the gate to open. That gate was a 20 min walk and it did feel like it was that far. It didn’t take long before we were boarding and had to wait a bit before the plane took off as they were waiting for someone.

 

The flight itself was pretty uneventful apart from reading my book. When we landed we could take our masks off and walking into the passport control it turns out the Egates broke down and crashed, so everyone had to go through a manned station. Its weird how you give them your passport in one slot and they return it to you from another slot. It ended up being a little longer of a wait, but by them my bag was doing the rounds so there was that one. Mum had some wooden items to declare, which were all clear. The best part was the neighbor who picked us up was waiting for us and the better part was the weather was sunny with no rain.