Well, now I'm in Auckland, New Zelaand.
The trip was relatively uneventful except for the luggage problems.
Took the shuttle bus to the Airport at 1:00pm on Monday. At the airport they wanted to charge me for overweight luggage because Nationwide (S.A. airline) does not allow extra for sports equipment. I got around it by getting a woman who had no checked luggage to let me put one of my bags through on her ticket. That was actually the suggestion of the desk clerk at the check-in counter. I did not think it would be allowed because of the 'match luggage to passenger' rules. When I got to Johannesburg I got my bags off the carousel. After that there was only about 45 minutes left to get through check-in. When I got there the line-up had about 300 people in it and was moving very slowly. When my turn came, they told me I could not put my luggage through under the 'piece rule' because my flight was not to North America. The 3 months in New Zealandwas a problem but more so because to and from New Zealand were on seperate tickets. I got around this because a seperate sports equipment bag is permitted. Thankfully all my scuba gear (except the fins) was in one bag.
So onto the airplane I got. We arrived in Dubai (United Arab Emirates) as the sun came up over the desert. We were due to take off 2 hours later. I had a good long walk around the airport after clearing customs and security. Then boarded the airplane. Made one small mistake at check-in... did not check on my luggage. Got lucky on seating. I had the window seat (as per usual) and there was a nice fellow (from New Zealand) in the aisle seat. There was nobody in the middle seat.
The flight from Dubai to Aukland made 2 stops... one in Singapore and one in Brisbane. In Singapore I took a long walk around the aiport. Got back on the plane. Early in this leg of the journey the attendant came by to serve drinks. I ordered my usual red wine & tonic spritzer. A few moments later the guy in the seat in front of me decided to throw his seat back, knocking over my mini wine bottle and I was covered in red wine. Thanks to the quick thinking actions of an attendant I was able to remove the wine stain before it was too late.
The Kiwi sharing my seat section got off in Brisbane so I had the entire 3 seats to lay out on. Needed it to lie down because my ankles were severely swollen. First time for me.
Arrived in Auckland, went to get my luggage after clearing immigration. The dive gear had made it but not the bag with all my clothing, walking shoes and electronic equipment rechargers along with all my other metal and sharp gadgets. So I did not get out of the airport until after 5:00. Took a shuttle into town to the Aspen House. Not much of a place... too much money for what I am getting. But I'll stay there again tonight while waiting for the luggage. will look for something else for tomorrow night.
It is raining on and off all day today. Of course all my rain gear is in the lost luggage.
Today is my 50th birthday. Wanted to go diving up at Poor Knight's Islands north of here as my birthday present to myself. Not until I get the luggage with the bathing suits and fins and camera marine pak, etc. I'll celebrate later.
Gotta go now. The jet lag has me severely out of whack. I am falling asleep trying to write this.
Posted by gailene at February 12, 2004 02:42 PM