Flying back Home!

Cant believe today is the day we fly home! This year has flown by. Feeling sad to be leaving New Zealand after being here for nearly 8 months. It feels like our second home. We feel lucky we have been able to explore this beautiful country and we have met some lovely people along the way. We are looking forward to seeing our friends and family when we get home. It is a bit unclear whether we will have to self isolate or not.

We got the skybus to Auckland Airport around 11am. When we arrived in Auckland airport we had to wear a mask. It really was feeling real now. It was strange to put a mask on. We didn't need to wear one at all in New Zealand. The airport was not busy at all. It was strange to not see a lot of people in an airport. There were only a couple of shops open. Before we went to the gate we had to have our temperature checked. We flew with Singapore Airlines. We left Auckland around 3pm. The first flight was a long 10 hours and 30 mins. We couldn't get any sleep on the plane. We had to keep our mask on the whole time apart from when we had meals.

When we arrived in Singapore they attached a coloured wrist band on us. So they knew who was the transit passengers and the arrival passengers. We both got off separately. It was all very well organised. They directed us in to a lounge with the same passengers from New Zealand. Unfortunately we didn't get to see any of Singapore airport. Apparently its quite impressive. We were able to freshen up in the bathrooms here and put a new mask on ready for the second flight. We were asked to fill out a health from before we arrive in the UK and we had to agree to self isolating for 14 days and provide the address. I only just managed to fill this out then we were called to board the next plane to London Heathrow.

We were sat next to passengers from the New Zealand flight in the same section of the plane. Passengers that came from Singapore were in a different section of the plane. There were curtains inbetween and we had separate bathrooms. We used anti bacterial wipes to wipe our seats and tables down before we sat down. This flight was over 13 hours! The longest flight we have ever done. I managed to get few hours sleep after taking some sleeping tablets. When we arrived in London Heathrow at 5.30am we were asked if we had completed the forms. The woman that asked us didn't even have a mask on! Half the staff had it down their chin. A bit pointless wearing one. If we were going to get covid it would of been at Heathrow. When we went through border control they didnt even ask for our forms even though it said online we would need to show them. Just our passports. We kept our distance while waiting for our bags.

After a long wait we booked a coach to Bournemouth from the airport. We had to have our temperature checked at the coach station before getting on the bus. We had to wear our masks and it was window seats only to allow for social distancing. Luckily it was just us on the coach all the way to Southampton. Only a few people got on here to Bournemouth.Read more