Greetings, once again, general populous of cyberspace.
In preparation for the boyfriend's impending career in aviation I felt it necessary to practice some time-zone traveling myself, just so I could relate and be empathetic. It's not that I hadn't experienced time-zone travel before (in fact I have done the Auckland to London trip far more times than I care to remember) nor that I was particularly jealous of all the time he gets to spend messing around in planes going all sorts of exciting places; it was because I had the overwhelming desire to feel like I had the mother of all hangovers without the fun of getting tipsy first. On a secondary note it may also have had something to do with a commitment to a very dear friend that I would attend her wedding.
The journey was, as always, approximately a day of hanging in the sky bored senseless punctuated with movies I had wanted to see in the cinema, missed, and was now grateful I'd saved the $15. In an effort to save money I added an extra leg to an already long journey and used the AKL>SYD>HKG>LHR route. For the sake of my own sanity, which I evidently value at less than $300, I will not be adding the Australia leg in future. Admittedly it was only a transit stop involving less than an hour not onboard an aircraft, yet I feel it made a long journey feel even longer - no mean feat!
I was fortunate on all three legs to have an unoccupied seat next to me (thank you St Christopher) so was able to put my feet up and get a bit of rest. On the final leg up from Hong Kong I was extremely lucky to have a whole row of three seats all to myself so could lie down for a few hours. In hindsight I should have asked for more pillows, it has given me horrendous taco neck even 24 hours later. Live and learn, I guess. Unfortunately, on this blissful stretch out leg, the entertainment was only working on the middle seat meaning I had to either develop some intense gymnastic skills in a short period of time or not be able to stretch my legs while watching below average movies. After a few walks down the cabin to limber up for option one, only to remember I was wearing skinny jeans, I resolved option two may be more pleasant for all involved and far less traumatic for anyone who may have to help me vacate my seat.
The flight arrived into Heathrow half an hour ahead of schedule at 4.30am, making us the first arrival of the day. While after a journey of such epic proportions many people would see this as a bonus I soon came to learn this was not the case. Baggage handlers in London don't start until 4.45am and UK Border Control until 5. A few, apparently more jet lagged than myself, attempted to use the smart gate system despite large signs saying it was not available until 5.30. Evidently the robot workers union struck a better deal with the government. I debated using my NZ passport to enter the country however the British one I had already pulled out was exercising its power over me and telling me I would disrupt a perfectly good queue if I moved. You can't argue with the Great British logic.
Time-zone travelling is still kicking me around a bit, after multiple naps yesterday I finally fell asleep at 12.30 this morning only to wake up again just before 4. The homeopathic jet lag pills I bought don't seem to have worked their usual magic. I sense this will be a very long day.
Sidebar
On all three flights I missed out on the chicken option as I was sitting at the rear of the aircraft. Refer to blog one. Just putting it out there.
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