An uneventful day spent in airports and planes. 🤮

Ah the joys of travel

I say it each trip. I hate travelling. The act of getting from one place to another, border control, bumpy flights, screaming kids, queueing, people fighting to board and rubbish food at airports. Hate it. 

But without it I cant indulge in my passion of embracing new cultures, learning traditions, tasting new foods and meeting like minded people. And so I suck it up. 

Right now I am at Auckland International Airport, Gate 8 waiting to board a flight to Singapore having arrived in Auckland from Wellington a few hours ago. 

We are squashed into the gate area, with said screaming kids, waiting to find out what ‘engineering issue’ is holding up our departure. Thank goodness I have a long lay over in Singapore so no need to panic yet!  

The queue of people is getting longer as passengers line up as if they will miss out if the don’t get on the plane before anyone else. Its not like they don’t have an allocated seat and we have been told not to take more than 1 piece of luggage on board or they will remove it to the hold. Great. No worries about lack of space in the lockers. Shorties like me get to store my luggage under my feet for a footrest.  

I had hoped for an upgrade, but no luck this time. Better luck next long haul. 

And there’s a boarding call. Like bulls at a gate they rush, lugging multiple bags and each in a bigger hurry than the next. The extra bags removed as they approach check in and holders scramble to find the things they MUST have on the flight. Really. Its 10 hours and with a bit of luck we can all sleep. How much stuff do you need. So you’ve taken stuff out of the extra bag and now have no where to put it cos your other bag is full of stuff you will need. No bag so you stuff it back in. 

And the queue waits, everyone getting impatient. 🤣🤣

Woopee. Funnily enough, despite the pushing and shoving we all had a seat!! Surprise!  No kids nearby, a virgin flier next to me delighting in all the gadgets like a wee kid. Quite cute to watch. 

Tray table stowed, seat back upright, my bag (aka footrest) under the seat in front, phone charging, movies sussed.  Got a book, puzzles, water bottle, ear buds and a sleeping pill if I decide to snooze (that might be something I do unconsciously without the sleeping pill) and once we see the safety video about the Takahe we will be on our way. 

Meal done, not that I was hungry, nap taken, not that I was tired and I’m watching yet another doco about surfing. The doco ‘the hundred foot wave’ had me enthralled on a long gone trip and made me add the Portuguese village of Nazaré to my list of must do. Now here I am on another plane watching “Groundswell: the other side of fear” another doco about giant waves in Nazaré. From a tiny barely known fishing village its now home to the world’s best surfers and those who get their thrills by watching them navigate massive waves. If you want to be captivated both docos are worth a watch if you are ok holding your breath to make sure the surfers make it through the wave. 

Groundswell takes you to the world’s best surfing sports while The Hundred Foot wave is based in Nazaré. 

Far from the waves and the thrills I peep down below. The barren red of Central Australia looks desolate and unhospitable. Our flight takes just over 10 hours.  Nearly five of those hours is over central Australia. It’s never ending and boring. 

Eventually I stop watching the surfers and sleep takes over. I was up at 4:00 am so its about time for my afternoon nap. The plane is eerily quiet so others must be taking advantage of the quiet time. 

I watch a few more docos (one about the murder of Grace Millane - excellent) and the next minute I am in Singapore. An uneventful flight just the way I like it. The food was gross but the lemon meringue popcorn snack filled a gap. 

Changi Airport is just as insane as ever. As I am wandering trying to figure out which terminal I am in I feel a bit sad. I have spent so much time in the place over the last few years that I can tell which Terminal by the restaurants in each. I was in Terminal 1, the home of the bakery that does the best Kouign Amman pastries. Bum. Once again they have sold out. My favourite airside restaurant is in Terminal 3. I will head there later. 

Singapore Airport is no longer deemed the worlds best but it’s still pretty amazing. In recent years the landside complex called Jewel has popped up. A huge 5 level complex with shops and restaurants all set around a massive water fountain. It is pretty cool. On the upper open air floors there are fun rides and entertainment. 

I am in Jewel eating truffle fries as I write. The place is bustling with people. It’s fantastic and well worth a visit if you have time to kill. 

The early start is beginning to hit me. Apart from a one hour nap its getting close to 20 hours on the trot, 2 hours till my flight leaves and a four hour flight to arrive in Colombo around midnight their time. Hopefully my ride will be waiting and I can go straight to the hotel where the plan is to sleep like a baby. I have a full day before the tour starts and I plan on doing very little. 

I will be in Negombo about an hour north of Colombo on the beach, so hopefully that will mean a slow start and fresh air for a couple of days. 

I stopped for a snack at an Asian Food Hall. My very Mee goreng was delivered by robot. It was really yum but quite bland and I laughed when the waitress asked if it was too spicy. Ha ha. 

Last bathroom stop before boarding and I got a bonus. The Autoflush washed the bottom of my shirt. Gratis. I’m pleased I noticed it before sitting on it on the plane. Airdryers do come in handy. 

And time to board. The two Queensland women thought it beneath them to queue along with everyone else so they just pushed into the line. It saved them three minutes. 

The woman with two toddlers wasn’t given any priority either from officials or from those in the queue. 

The extremely large man next to me in the queue shed drops of perspiration each time he moved and subsequently tried to catch his breath. Please dont let him be next to me. 

He didn’t and my third flight of the day departed after we all went through another bag scan. 

Singapore Air have taken a leaf out of AirNZs book and play a safety video rather than an in person demonstration. Theirs doesn’t have a story but beautifully done and very easy to follow with clear instructions. 

But like the previous two flights our peace is interrupted by announcements that no one can hear or understand. 

What an uneventful start to my trip. No crazies, nothing to Wow me but I hope this is the only unemotional and boring post of my trip. 

See you tomorrow.