The Final Journey Home

I got told by a couple of British people that their obsession with health and safety was just progress and would be in New Zealand within a few year. Well I hate to tell you this but we saw none of it in the US. At Manchester Airport we were told off for wheeling Holly on our car seat propped up on the front of our luggage trolley. Yeah she fell off once but it wasn't any great height and we were using common sense not to go too fast. We did it in San Fran and Auckland no one cared. Time to loose the paranoia in the UK and force the politicians to wind back the policy.

Anyway we were somewhat paranoid about time and arrived at the San Fran airport four and a half hours early. We actually had to wait 45 minutes for the counter to open. We were the first in the queue and enjoyed the very friendly experience of Air NZ staff. We sat down and had some Chinese before what we expected to be an arduous journey through US customs. Again we were wrong; they smiled and had us through in no time. The worst place we have experienced for customs was Heathrow. I was really surprised. In Heathrow three of our bags needed to be reexamined, one bag 3 times and they picked out the smallest detail. In San Fran I forgot about my toilet bag and they took the shaving cream and left the deodorant. 

So there we were waiting in the transit lounge for over two hours. Kids entertained themselves of course. Must have gone to the toilet five times and Holly needed to chat to anyone who would listen.

The difference between Air NZ and Virgin Atlantic was marked. On Virgin they just ignored attendant lights as they had so much to do or fix where as on Air NZ nothing was wrong and no one had a need to speak to an attendant. The attendants looked and acted completely professionally. On Virgin they were all made up and it felt more like a slightly out of control English holiday camp (Hi de Hi ) where the attendants also looked slight flustered.


The girls all sat together on one row just behind us (their choice). It had me concerned but they were amazing. Either playing with their flight entertainment or sleeping as we left at 10pm. 




The rest of the journey was just as uneventful. Customs in Auckland is always a hassle as bags are thoroughly checked with a concern for our bio-security is so strict. It still took less than an hour and we had time to walk over to the domestic terminal. We had another wait and boarded our final flight from Auckland to Nelson. 

The arrival was strange. Oma and Opa to greet us. The cousins Anna and Aimee also turned up as did Sue's friend Delwyn. Being home means not having to travel any more but it also means a consistent job and resetting up our house. Dealing with the hassles of having had our house rented and getting back into schools etc. 

I will miss the British the most. Their friendship, openness and general attitude took me aback and I shall value the year greatly. If you are ever in NZ give us a bell. Bozzy your still the man and I hope we catch up sooner rather than later.