Hello Auckland

It's not easy getting up at 1.30 am in the morning. It's even harder when you have only had about 30 minutes sleep since you went to bed. Although we were both very tired, sleep just would not come for Maggie and me.

And so I tossed. And turned, And tossed again. Every now and again I would glance at the clock. Ten o'clock came and went. So did eleven o'clock, and midnight. I tried every sleeping trick I could think of (apart from counting sheep), but without success.

Finally at about 1 am, I must have finally fallen into a troubled sleep, only to be woken by the blaring alarm a few minutes later. It was too late to try to grab any more time in the Land of Nod, so I staggered out of bed and began a very long day.

We had arranged for the airport shuttle to collect us at 3.45 am, and he turned up right on time. Kerry had also joined us for this part of the trip. After piling our luggage into the bus, we drove the short distance to Greg and Andrea's house where we were joined by Gordon and Sue and Gael.

The drive to the airport was quiet and uneventful and gave us a rare chance to see Melbourne's roads when they are not choked by thousands of cars.

We arrived at the airport a little earlier than anticipated, but this gave us a chance to enjoy a coffee before checkin., Maggie was not feeling hungry, so just ordered two slices of plain toast (no butter, nothing, zilch, nada) and a cup of coffee. I nearly had a stroke when we were charged over $23 for the meagre snack. When I queried it, I was simply told "This is the airport".

That certainly got me off to a poor start. I can accept a range of inflated airport prices, but that was way beyond the pale. It was daylight robbery. When I decided to push my query a little more actively, the guy finally admitted that a mistake had been made and I was refunded $8. It was not just about the money, a principle was at stake,.

Boarding time arrived and we were treated to a panoramic tour of the airport in a very crowded airport bus. I started a dialogue with a Māori guy who was clutching the handle near mine. "This is the strangest plane I have ever flown in", I commented. Immediately a small child picked up the conversation "Mummy, is this a plane ?" he asked.

Over the next 10 minutes the conversation became sillier and sillier as we wondered whether the bus driver really knew the way to New Zealand, or indeed whether he knew how to drive.

We finally reached the waiting Air New Zealand plane and climbed the steps in drizzling rain. At least it was dry inside the plane.

A short time later we were on our way and cruising smoothly across the Tasman to New Zealand, where we landed about 2.30 pm. We were greeted by warm sunshine and a very quick transit through baggage collection, immigration and customs. There were no queues anywhere.

The walk to the hire car depot was not quite so smooth, especially when I found myself walking along the middle of a busy highway, dodging speeding cars and trucks.

We did eventually find the depot and proceeded to collect our cars. The process would have been simpler if Greg had not left his driving license at home. Since he was going to be the driver of the second vehicle, this was something of a giant hiccup.

I have however learned that problems are made to be solved, and a few minutes later all was sorted and we were on our way.

Our first target was the nearby Naumi Airport Hotel, where we would be spending the first night. It was a vast place and the walk from the reception to our room was almost as long as the walk from the airport to the rental car depot.

At least the rooms were large and clean and the prospect of sleep was overwhelming me. Tomorrow we head to the Bay of Islands.Read more