Getting to NZ wasn't quite as simple as anticipated. Somehow whilst I thought I'd looked into New Zealand visas I'd not realised that I also needed a ticket out as a condition of the visa they would grant on landing. Ah. I have a frantic scramble at the airport, helped by a New Zealand Air official with the calmest voice I've ever heard and after 2 phone calls, a long time on hold, moving some money and paying a big chunk for a refundable ticket I didn't want, I was allowed to check in. They decide to use a clearly new toy- a body scanner of the sort that's routine in Manchester (I was hoping for a diagnosis on my sore shoulder but alas...) and "randomly" check me for explosives so by the time I'm on the plane I'm feeling more than a little harassed.
One of the banes of frequent flying has to be the repetitiveness of the safety briefing- as a well mannered English person I feel obliged to listen- always more drawn to the in-flight magazine. NZ air had a Lord of the Rings based safety video with hobbits, elves and a cameo of Peter Jackson. I was so amused by it that I absorbed nothing. Luckily it was otherwise an uneventful flight :)
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