Well, we're off the South Island now. It really is a beautiful place.
Our flight from Christchurch to Auckland was at 11.35am. Given it was only a domestic flight, we probably didn't need to check in until 10.30am. However, Anne and I are both nervous people so like to be there a bit early. The buses to the airport were only once an hour though, so we decided to get the 8.30am bus, which would get us to the airport at 9am. Very early, but at least we're there. Being us, we were at the bus stop at 8am. Sigh!
Then, a private shuttle bus pulled up and offered to take us there and then for the same price as the airport's bus. We jumped in and were at the airport before 8.30 - over three hours before our flight! Ho hum. We hung around for ages and got impatient.
There was no business class on our plane, so we had no chance of a free upgrade (like we got form Sydney to Christchurch). We had to sit in Economy with the plebs. Obviously this was a real hardship for us.
Often on a plane they'll shove a meal down you no matter what time you fly. As it is, we were flying at lunch time and all we got was a muffin. I didn't mind this, as I like muffins, but Anne was a bit annoyed and would have preferred something savory.
Grim up North?
I was impressed, however, that we walked off the plane at Auckland and our luggage was on the carousel within five minutes. We jumped on a bus and were at our central city hostel with fifty minutes of landing - smart!
Our good impression of Auckland didn't last long, since the girl at reception in the hostel tried to overcharge us. We made a fuss (we'd been quoted less) and she agreed to charge us that rate immediately. Since she was quite junior, and didn't speak to a manager to agree to charge us less, I suspect she was just chancing her arm. Cow. And the hostel's a bit run down.
The weather is hot, cloudy and muggy, so it's as well that we're just going to the cinema today (Sunday). We're going to see the extended version of The Fellowship of the Ring. I've seen this before on DVD, but it'll be good to see it at the cinema. We're seeing the extended Two Towers on 15th - the day before my birthday! - at The Embassy cinema in Wellington. This is where they had the premiere for the third film last week. We've not seen that one, since the DVD came out last month and we've forgotten to bring one of those snazzy portable DVD players.
This will be a good lead-up to the third and final Lord of the Rings movie, which comes out here on the 18th!
We're looking forward to picking up our next hire car on Monday and getting out of the city. The next part of the adventure begins!