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  • Day 1 Wgton, Christchurch to Singapore

    July 30, 2019 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌧 11 °C

    30/819-01/08/19

    Getting There....

    A somewhat mixed start to the trip. We arrived at Wellington airport in good time for our flight to Christchurch so that we could take a look at the new Rydges hotel and have a drink in their house bar. All well and good so far and having done that we made our way back into the terminal to go to the lounge. The airport was packed and I couldn’t get Christine in as they were accepting no guests so we had to fork out for our own refreshments......

    The rest of the journey to Christchurch was uneventful and we stayed the night at the Sudima hotel which is walking distance (in the freezing drizzle) from Chch airport. I say uneventful, but when Christine unpacked her suitcase she found a note from airport security telling her that her rechargeable power pack had been confiscated and destroyed as they can’t be taken in the hold of an aircraft! We walked back to the airport in the morning (just freezing this time....) to find our flight was delayed by an hour. Still we have a 5 hour turn around in Singapore so hopefully no dramas there and we had to amuse ourselves in the deserted international koru lounge at Christchurch until boarding. We bumped into another couple we’ve met at various travel related events over the years and they were on the same flight en route to Bali to meet their daughter.

    Did I say 5 hour turn around...? Well despite our flight being late arriving, our flight to Heathrow was even more delayed and didn’t leave until 2.55am local time (we arrived at 7pm). I’ve now seen more of the lounge at terminal 2 in Singapore than I ever wanted to....

    The photos show the view from Rydges Airport Hotel in Wellington, our Christchurch hotel, the view from the international terminal in Chch, the “packed” koru lounge and the beer I had with dinner last night!
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