Arriving back into Auckland
I woke and it was already breakfast time! Wow, five hours of the flight had suddenly disappeared!
Breakfast was super-generous and the slice of cake would have been better placed on last night’s dinner tray.
The crew continued to be cheerful despite having worked hard with special meals and only having three seats blocked off for rest. One in particular, made a great effort with elderly Indian passengers who spoke little English. She used the few words she knew, eg. water, tea, yes and explained everything in simple words or by gestures.
Arriving 30 mins late at 1235, I saw a long queue at the agricultural inspection. But my luggage took about 40 mins (from disembarkation) to turn up despite the priority tag. While waiting, I took a look at the huge backlog of mishandled luggage in the arrival hall. They appeared to have been from a variety of different flights and need to be cleared by agricultural inspection before being sent to their owners by taxis or connecting flights.
By the time I got my luggage, the queues for agricultural inspection was gone and I breezed through into the free world. The arrival process had taken an hour from landing. Kim picked me up for a quick ride home as it wasn’t rush hour.
This trip & Year 2022 Travels
This trip felt like a mistake before I started because I had not long been back from a trip to Switzerland and Colombia. Fortunately, it all turned out better than expected because:
- I had an awesome time with Ming in Istanbul,
- Likewise with Boo in Nepal,
- I saved about NZD2000 by having unexpected dental work done in Kuching instead of Auckland, and
- My days in Azerbaijan, Kosovo and Serbia were interesting and filled with discovery.
“Revenge Travel” is a how I’d describe my travel this year. The “revenge” terminology was traditionally used in Hokkien for eating, eg. after not having had the chance to eat certain dishes while in a foreign land.
I managed to visit four countries this year, namely Colombia, Azerbaijan, Serbia and Kosovo. I even surprised myself with how all that was achieved without too much difficulty. Long may this trend continue!