Christchurch Bound

I survived the night flight from Perth to Sydney, dosing all the way. At first I had the middle row of seats all to myself, but as I was undoing my boot laces and retracting the arm rests, a hostess ushered a large dude to my row of seats and that was the end of that! The only question I have is why would Qantas serve stirfry chicken and rice at midnight? Otherwise the service was excellent! 

I Navigated the rows and corridors of Sydney Airport, leaving behind Bailey's Irish Cream (2 for $47 - expensive) and 1.2kg of Toblorone for $20 (cheap but Sammy can't eat nuts). I had a little haste in my step as the boarding time for my connecting flight to Christchurch was now only 10 minutes away, however when I arrived at the gate the plane was running 45 minutes late - no mention of this on any of the monitors! So I retraced my steps and topped up at the water fountain and slurped at a tasty flat white, accompanied with cheese and biscuits and a chocolate - all that was left from my midnight snack.

I was surprised how many people were traveling alone. Some sleep in air port lounges, some read, while others seem to look far into the distance as if contemplating what the future might hold.

At 1pm New Zealand Time, while the plane was flying high over the Tasman Sea, the crew held two minutes silence for the victims of the earth quake. As the cabin fell silent I wept into my cup of tea for all those who had fallen and for those who had lives to rebuild.

When I arrived in Christchurch, there they all were, Joe, Molly and Sam. We hugged each other as if we had waited along time to see each other again. It was such a shame that our meeting was under such tragic circumstances.