1st Day of Auckland

We are supposed to change planes in Melbourne, a place I miss. If only we can go out.. but that will come at a cost of 100+ each, not including transport. I think maybe next time perhaps, since we will be going next next year. Anyway, the wait at the airport was damn bloody long! 4.5 hours? Or more. What the hell man. The flight delayed slightly too. Changing gates as and when they wish. Bloody hell. I found it difficult to sleep on the chair, because of the overly lighted waiting area. Both of us found a sweet corner with power supply for my laptop; no flights at that time. By the time we woke up, its full of people! We seemed like idiots taking up the entire stretch of seating.

Anyway, 2 or 3 flights of people passed us before it's our turn. We waited eagerly to board. Only to find a sneaky looking indian at our window seat, claiming that C is the window seat. We got the air stewardess to get him to get the hell back to his aisle seat. I don't think he has taken the plane before, because when the person in front lean his seat down, he tapped his shoulders and signalled him move the seat up. What freedom does he has over that? And that idiot obliged too. What the. During the flight, he keeps talking shit to me, I don't understand a word he is saying. I just kept replying.. "ya..Ya..." Whatever.

Funny thing is, the air stewardess asked him if he wanted fish or beef. He said he want vegetarian food. That's a special order btw, gotta do it before the flight. The stewardess gave him the fish and he asked me what is it. I said "FISH" and he told me it isn't, it doesn't taste like it. I just ignored him. I found him emptying his sugar packs into his mouth later into the flight, asking for more when he wanted. Aeroplane sugar sure tastes better eh?

We landed in Auckland airport at around 1700 (23 July 2008). We walked out of the arrival hall and saw big group of people holding flowers, big cards, waiting eagerly for their friends. We looked around, searching for our names, if there were anyone to fetch us. No one. So sad :( We walked out of Gate 9 to catch the Airbus to the City Centre. The sky is dark, the wind is strong. We paid $14 for the damned bus because we got a discount voucher of $1 from http://www.airbus.co.nz/cheap-airport-bus-transfer/171/Special+Deals.aspxus-transfer/171/Special+Deals.aspx Not too bad, $2 savings for 2 of us. It was a long long ride to the city, a very unfamiliar place.

We alighted at the Queen Street, walked our way up to the Sky Tower, the tallest in NZ. Not really very high. Petronas would have put it to shame. I don't even want to look at it. We walked everywhere - up,down,left,right, searching for our Backpackers - Surf 'n' Snow. http://www.surfandsnow.co.nz/link.htm After what seemed like a long time, we found it. It has a tiny entrance and signboard. We checked in and got our small windowless room. It's about 2.8m x 2 m with a double bed and a fan. Thats all. Nothing else even table..