The Long Trip Home

The last pub

It started at an insanely hour of taking a bus to the airport at 3.30am (which I nearly did not get off at as was half asleep) from town after taking the Laus at 12pm from near Kate's. All this so I can take a 6:30am flight as public transport is not 24hrs and a taxi would be over 35 Euros. It did however allow me to go to a pub and have my final pint of Guinness and get a dance or two in. It felt strange though going into a crowded pub with a large pack on my back and dressed in travelling clothes. This however was not enough to stop guys coming up and talking to us both.

Stadel Museum Campin Throne Of Mercy (Painting)
My 2 hour flight to Frankfurt from what I can remember was fine. I successfully managed to sleep through both take off and landing. This consequently meant my cell phone was on for nearly the whole flight. Once at the airport it was surprisingly fast through security and passport control and before I knew it I was on a train into the city. Managed to get myself to the river where I consequently turned the wrong way and was confused for the next hour. Though with time on my hands and the views nice I didn't mind too much. Once back in the right track I was walking past the many,many museums and being a tourist and taking lots of pictures. Took my last chance at the Stadel Museum to be cultured and see outstandingly amassing paintings from seven centuries. Though being overly tired and on a semi time limit I have to admit I didn't fully appreciate it or take it all in to an extent I normally would.

From here it was a continual wonder down the street where the place started to really come busy. Before this, I wondered where the six hundred thousand people of the city all were as I only was seeing scatters of people out running on cycling along the river. Everyone was out looking for a bargain at a street market which sold everything from second hand goods to new t.v's and pushchairs. Once back over the other side of the river again, the crowds continued at the fair and I went to see an amassing church (actually a cathedral) that had been taking up the view in the distance for miles. Right next door was Roma which is an area and also ruins. Afterwards it was a walk through central Frankfurt to try and get back to the train station. After 40 minutes I admitted defeat and got some help. This lead me to an underground station where I had to fail to pay to get on as didn't know of the station I needed to get to just how many stops it was. Then it was a confusing time of climbing up and down stairs trying to find the right platform and then metro to the airport. Thankfully it all worked out in the end and I easily got back in time to get on my plane to Hong Kong.

This plane ride sucked. The five day airline strike finished 15 minutes after departure. This meant we only got one meal on the plane. It was not vegan let alone vegetarian. The two salads were still frozen which included the piece of chicken. Needless to say I came off the 10 hour flight very hungry.

Once in Hong Kong my plans of going to explore the city disappeared as I was too tired to go through the hassles of all the extra security checks involved. It was weird being caught up in all the Olympics hype (there was promo stuff everywhere) and also police walking around with their fingers on the triggers of large AK riffles and having smaller guns on their belts. My eight hours there was spent either wondering the large terminals, reading, eating, dozing and yeah and trying to sort of the business of my wallet being stolen out of my bag with licence, credit card and lots of Euros inside. This turned out to be complicated getting sent from one place to another and in the end because my flight was departing they (lost and found people) over the phone from the Air New Zealand Lounge assured me they would email me the report. It however has yet to arrive.

I then had my 11 hour flight back to Auckland. Thankfully the service was good, the food was nice and the NZ wine was fantastic. I however was unable to sleep at all and managed to watch 6 episodes from last sessions Outrages Fortune among other things. Once in Auckland, unlike last time returning back into the country customs and bio security was a smooth and easy process. I then had a two hour stop over before flying back in a tiny bumpy plane back to Palmy and reality again.