Today was flying day. That odd, limbo-like day where you’re hanging around at home, but you just want to get to the airport. 

Our main mission was to tuck Poppy into the garage, safely out of reach of winter and her arch-nemesis, Rust. Unfortunately, she takes up ALL the space, so that had to be our final task. The rest of the day was spent disconnecting car batteries, washing sheets and emptying the loo. 

Our flight isn’t until midnight, but we could either sit around at home or sit around at the airport. We chose the airport. So we caught the 2.30pm bus from Hamilton.

The intercity buses have been having a few problems with breaking down, and we had a flash replacement bus. The bus driver got on and said, “how the hell do I drive this thing?” I let out a nervous chuckle. I thought he was kidding, but he was serious! As we lurched onto the road, he was still adjusting his seat, fiddling with buttons, and making occasional wooshing noises.

Apart from a brief moment where we was talking on his mobile while driving a bus load of people along the motorway, I felt mostly safe.

We arrived at Manukau and had to catch another bus. We swapped from our flash comfy bus to a utilitarian commuter which smelled like piss. But it was only a few mins to the airport. Hopefully not enough time to infuse into my clothes.

We arrived at the airport at 5pm. We’d already checked in so it was just a matter of walking through. And here we are, sitting in the airport, 7 hours early for our flight. That’s gotta be a record!

We’d just found ourselves a cosy spot by the window looking at the planes, when out of nowhere came a horrendous downpour. Then the airport started leaking! It started with a few drips, then it came pouring through the ceiling! So that was our excitement for the day. Next stop. Singapore!