Arrival in Christchurch

Well we touched down at Christchurch International Airport a little after 12.45 a.m. this morning after a 3 ½ hour flight from Brisbane, 6 hour wait in Brisbane and 2 hour flight from Cairns. So after 11 hours on the move since leaving Goldsborough on Thursday morning – we were happy to finally put our heads down at the Sudima Christchurch Airport Hotel.

Departure day would have to go down in our family travel blog history as the day of Matthew’s altercation with Anna, the supervisor at the Virgin Blue check in desk at the Cairns Airport! Suffice to say, it was not surprising that the issue of Matthew leaving his Passport in Brisbane was going to cause a bit of a problem...... However, Anna was determined to make the point that this was not a good situation and “in future” Matthew should make sure that he had his passport with him. Well of course, we knew that anyway. Anyway, after a bit of huffing and sighing, she managed to be able to over-ride the system and check me through to Christchurch and check him (and his luggage) through to Brisbane. The flight from Cairns to Brisbane was pretty uneventful. Matthew decided he wouldn’t mind checking out the in flight entertainment and at a cost of $9 for 2 hours thought it was pretty good value. One problem however, when he swiped my Visa he inadvertently selected the kid’s movie channel and was forced to endure 2 hours of the “Chipmunks in Hollywood”. Things were not going well for him. Firstly Anna and then the Chipmunks.

In the end, no big drama – only issue was that Matthew had to cart his bag through the back streets of the Valley whilst he went in search of his mate Prowsy who had managed to locate his Passport under a pile of newspapers in his Brisbane flat! Long story.... However, when we finally rendezvoused at the Queen Street Mall Matthew was grasping the Passport in one hand and his bag in the other. Another potential drama had been averted.

We caught the airport train back to the Brisbane International Airport and then boarded our Pacific Blue flight for New Zealand. As luck would have it - for some unknown reason? we had been upgraded to Business Class and enjoyed a very comfortable flight with heaps of leg room.

We were met by the Sudima shuttle bus and by the time we checked in/unpacked/had a shower etc. it was close to 2a.m. I tried to call Alan on my mobile following the instructions in the Hotel handbook however couldn't get through. At 3 a.m. this morning I realised the reason why.... I was trying to dial "1" to get a line out on my mobile... I must have been delirious!

Mobile phones must be the most impersonal form of communication! Try as I might, I cannot speak "softly" on a mobile phone. I'm sure I provided considerable entertainment to anyone within 50 metres whilst "phoning home"....

Back to the Airport at 10.30 a.m. for the connecting Air New Zealand flight to Dunedin. We flew in an ATR72-500. Excellent flight! The view of Dunedin and the Otago Peninsula as we approached from the north was amazing. Can't wait to explore this beautiful country.