I was getting tired after midnight and lay down in the check-in area. I dozed for an hour before waking up, as the check-in counters were being prepared for opening.
I got a boarding pass for my flight back to Auckland immediately. It has been a good trip with all going smoothly until the little hiccup at the end. Considering how badly disrupted the Cocos and Christmas flights can get, I got away very lightly.
The flight home was perfect. I shifted to a spare row to catch up on my missing night sleep. A hot breakfast was supplied followed by a well-filled pack of chicken sandwich before landing.
Auckland airport showed its true colours, with a remote (bus) gate arrival and long queues at biosecurity which saw me get to the outside an hour after touchdown.