Tag 114 - haunted

22.08.19

It is 07:00 local time in Sydney. In our heads and, above all, for our eyes, it is still 05:00. A bit groggy, we leave the big plane and almost the only ones of all passengers, we do not go directly to the luggage, but to our next gate, where our connecting flight to Auckland will be in three hours. It quickly becomes clear that we probably won't take off on time. When we arrive at the gate, we see half a dozen airport employees running frantically through the small hall. One of them makes announcements every minute (without a microphone and with a few notes in hand). Calmly, we wait on a bench until we are asked to board the plane at 9:55 a.m. (In five minutes we should be in the air). Due to a long boarding process and heavily used runway for takeoff and landing, we don't leave the ground until around 11:30. After a flight of about 210 minutes, we land in Auckland at 5:00 p.m. local time (Reminder: Brain and eyes are now at 1:00 p.m.).

We are almost the last ones to leave the plane. This calmness and composure are due to the fact that we have decided to spend the night at the airport. Actually, we had already rented our campervan from today (08/21), but since the rental company closes its doors at 4:00 p.m., we wouldn't have made it there in time even if we had landed on time at 3:00 p.m. So why not spend one night in a hostel? - Because it's expensive! (Taxi to the hostel: €18, hostel accommodation near the airport: €24, taxi to the car rental: €15). These almost €60 just to bridge about 12 hours were too much for us.

And so we go to the immigration desk and check in to New Zealand with the help of a small computer (at least I do; Jonna's chip in her passport doesn't seem to work somehow, she has to go the conservative way through the officer). Next stop is the baggage carousel, where we join the other travelers and wait for our "checked baggage" backpack. And wait..... and wait. By now, we are only standing there with another couple and getting nervous. The conveyor belt stops - no backpack. I walk the route of the curved baggage carousel again, but don't find anything.

We march to the baggage service, which tells us that our backpack is still in Sydney but will be flown in on the next available flight - we have plenty of time anyway. Since we don't feel like wandering around the airport already, we leave the building and look for the nearest supermarket. It's wet, windy, and cold. While I have been longing for slightly milder weather and a fresh breeze after three months of 30 degrees and sunshine, the change is a bit rough now.

We familiarize ourselves with the selection and prices of the country in a grocery store and a general store (New Zealand is not as expensive as we thought. Who spread this rumor?) and stock up on some midnight snacks, which we take back to the airport

There, we look for a free bench with a power outlet in the terminal, only to realize that we don't have the right adapter (Australia and New Zealand are different!) It will have to do. We lie down and treat ourselves to a few hours of sleep, more bad than good.

- Alex