Farewells and Arrival in NZ

 I've made it home! Sitting down on the plane was such a major relief after fretting about getting a negative covid test, all the paperwork, getting boxes sent, my bags packed, and UK cancelling airlines flying in at the drop of a hat. I had a really lovely last week with my housemates and leaving them behind has just been so difficult. They have been an amazing blessing to me throughout the last two years and deserve medals for doing three national lockdowns with me!

We were up at 5:30am on Friday to get to the airport with plenty of time and my sweet housemates all got up super early to come to the airport with me. They weren't allowed into the terminal so final hugs had to happen outside. Singapore Airlines were amazing at making sure I was as far away from everyone else as possible. So I had the three seats in the middle section of the back row all to myself - what a luxury! If it wasn't for the whole covid situation it would be an ideal setup. The flight to Singapore went very smoothly, I enjoyed watching some movies and reading my book and had a bit of a doze. We had to stay on the plane in Singapore and weren't allowed to get up and walk around. They also pumped a disinfectant spray through the air vents which was quite disconcerting. Great idea to do obviously, but very odd to be in a plane wreathed in light smoke! I found the flight from Singapore to Auckland very tough as my stomach decided to rebel and I got very hungry but couldn't keep any food down. Alerted the cabin crew as to what was going on and turned out they had to contact Auckland in advance to say there was a sick person on board. I had to wait till everyone had left and they told me someone was coming to do a health check. I did feel highly embarrassed though when two police officers, a customs official, and a paramedic arrived on the plane with the news an ambulance was also on the way. Little bit extreme I thought but a fair enough response in the current climate. So they checked me out and went through all the symptoms and decided it was combination of stress, travel sickness, and being overtired (I'd been awake 30 something hours by this stage). But then I got a police escort through passport control, covid contol, and customs. I think my fellow passengers must have thought I was a criminal! Way to make a dramatic entrance in the country right?

They got us all onto buses and then took us to the Waipuna hotel in Mt Wellington, Auckland. Really lovely room, a window that opens, apparently a lovely outdoor area (though I can only see the carpark). Food so far has been nice with plenty of it and we had our day 1 covid test early this afternoon. Just waiting for results and then might be able to go outside! It is a pretty incredible feeling to be home but also quite surreal at the same time. Now I've got to amuse myself for 14 days without all of it being in front of a screen....

Lunch