So here we are!

After 18 months of planning, we’ve arrived in New Zealand.  And getting here all went more or less smoothly.

The journey started on Tuesday at 3pm, when Simon from Purely Platinum turned up to whisk us off to Heathrow.  Neither of us wanting to risk getting stuck in traffic, so we got there ridiculously early.  We were flying from the new terminal 2, which is very smart and functional.  A bit like terminal 5 on a smaller scale.

We checked in and were cruising through fast track security when I set the alarms off.  I had to stand in a scanner with my arms in the air and then get a pat down by one of the guards.  Lesson learned: never wear trousers with metal rings and zips in an airport!

We soon found ourselves enjoying Singapore Airlines’ hospitality in their SilverKris lounge – for four hours.  I have to say, the food was far superior to most airline lounges.

Eventually they called our flight and we had to go.  As we got on board the flight attendant told Diane to go down the first aisle.  I went to follow, but I was told to take the second aisle and we’d meet in the middle.  We did, but there was a huge amount of space between the seats.

Changing flights at Singapore went smoothly too, although the lounge was crowded and the food wasn’t as good.  Other than a bit of turbulence as we arrived at Christchurch, the whole thing was fairly uneventful.  In fact, all we seemed to do was eat.  Over the course of 36 hours we had three breakfasts, two lunches, three dinners and several assorted snacks.  And oodles of noodles.  Most of the main courses seemed to have broccoli or cabbage in them; this could account for some of the turbulence!

We were first off the plane at Christchurch and soon got through immigration.  On our arrival cards, we’d said we were bringing walking boots with us, so we had to have them checked over.  This nice man took them away and cleaned them for us.  I told him we’d come back if they got dirty again but he didn’t think that was a good idea.

Even with that delay, we were out of the terminal before Jeff, from Bay of Islands, was there to meet us.  However, we soon hooked up with him and we did a quick tour of Christchurch before he drove us to the motel.

By this time we were pretty tired.  While we did have flat beds on the plane, you have to lie at an angle and the bed tapers down to the foot end.  And there’s the 13 hour time difference.

So to keep us from crashing out, we went straight out to visit the Christchurch Gondola.  Nearly 1km long, this takes you up to the top of the Port Hills, where there are stunning views of the city.  We were hungry again when we go to the top – we hadn’t eaten for at least four hours, so we had fish and chips in the Red Rock Café and soaked in the views, which are dead abundant up there.

On the way back we changed buses at the strangest bus station I’ve ever seen, apparently based on an airport terminal.  The buses drive into one of around 20 gates, people get out into the terminal building and find their connecting flight – I mean bus – at another gate.  The buses then have to reverse out of the gate and continue on their way.

Our challenge now is to stay awake until at least 9pm to avoid the jet lag.

Tomorrow we’ll be introduced to our new home.