Off to New Zealand

Got up at about 7:30 and had a shower and coffee at Jo's house before setting off to the airport. I stopped on the way to fill the car for the last time and then dropped it off at the Airport and went to check in, Adelaide Airport is about the same size as Liverpool, but less portacabins. I went to check in at the automated checkin but it didn't work and referred me to the service desk, luckily it was only because I had an onward flight from Melbourne so Igot my bags checked through to Christchurch ( good job really as they were over 22kg and the Jetstar flight from Melbourne is 20kb max) So all I had to do was pick up my second boarding ticket at Melbourne when I got there. I got a call from Ian Loxton asking where I was and I told him at the airport, and he surprised me when he said he was just going through security and would see me there! Somewhat confused I met him on the other side of security and found out that you don't need a boarding ticket here to go through security and you can go in and out as you need! Ian had come to see me off and we managed to get get a picture of us (which I had forgot to do the other day.) taken by a very fiendly security guard on the entrance gate (you wouldn't get that at Liverpool) Ian also gave me a very rare Baseball Cap with the Compuserve Pacific logo on; very rare these days. So my flight was called and we bid farewell and I boarded the flight to Melbourne. The flight only took an hour (for a distance that had taken me about 5 days to drive!) We got a coffee and cinnamon cake on the plane and the cake gave me heartburn, daft thing is I knew it would, but I still ate it! Luckily I had some Rennie in my bag, not that I've needed it much these last couple of weeks. Once at Melbourne I still had to exit the Domestic area and go and recheckin at the JetStar desk but it didn't open for 2 hours so I had a wander round the airport and resisted the temtation to eat at the many restaurants, as I wanted to have something to do once through check-in. I ended up doing a Phil Rowe and camping out on the check-in desk till it opened for 45 minutes. So armed with my Boarding pass I went through immigration, and security (this time it's travellers only) and it drops you straight into the duty free, a quick wander around here then on to find some food, not impressed the only food out let airside is 1 cafe-bar, all the restaurants and food outlets are before security and you cant go back out, so I had to have a microwave warmed chicken schnitzel and an overpriced beer, oh year and the internet access was $11/hour. Not impressed, Melbourne Airport! The flight boarded on time and we actually made some time up with a tailwind so landed about 20mins early. The flight was fine but as JetStar is a lowcost airline the food and drinks are chargeable but luckily I had an exit seat so I was able to stretch out for the 3 ½ish' hours.
We landed in Christchurch around 10:30pm local time and I get ready for the usual immigration/quarantine questions, especially as I had brought the tent I had bought in Australia. I ticked the various boxes on the entry form, and joined the queues to get checked over. The lady on the desk looked at my shoes and decided my trainers needed scrubbing – the soles of them - not the whole of them and obviously the tent needed checking out. She asked me to wait and took them off into another room and was gone for a good 15 minutes. when she came back the soles of my trainers were spotless and my tent was repacked tighter than when I had bought it. I wall let out into the arrivals hall and went to the info desk to find out how to get to my hotel I had pre-booked. The lady behind the desk called over 'Marcell' the hotel driver who I had just walked past to get to the desk and he took me out the the free transfer bus he had outside. I had no sooner got in the bus and got comfy and was looking for the seatbelt when he had the door open and we had arrived, it was no more than 500yds to the hotel door. I checked in ok and then walked to my room and it felt like I walked further to the room than we had driven to the hotel.
I was just settling down in the room for the night when there was a load of shouting and noise out in the corridor, by now it was gone midnight and a little late for that sort of noise. I put my eye to the spy glass and saw a load of kids running up and down the corridor. Grrr.... Camp Warden head on... I went out and read the riot act, quietly but firmly, it seemed to do the trick but just as I had done so a German guy from the room next door to me came out and had a go at me thinking I was hotel staff for letting the kids lark about, I politely explained I was in the room next to him, and went back in my room leaving him stood in the corridor in a pair of boxer shorts with about 20 Korean?!? kids sniggering at him and darting into rooms. With that I decided there was only one way to get to sleep and had a wee dram of the good stuff I'd purchased in Duty Free.