Day thirty four – London, airports, planes and a lot of hanging around

Our last day. We woke on the 29th (a Monday, apparently), packed, and stashed our bags at the Premier Inn. Paddington’s branch deserves a medal… shiny, new, super convenient. Other Paddington hotels, take note.

London gave us a crisp autumn morning, so we wandered into Hyde Park. Breakfast one… a pasty. Breakfast two… something more Glutard-friendly. Balance. The park was alive with geese and squirrels, strutting about as if they owned the place (they do). We looped around the Serpentine, down to Hyde Park Corner, through Green Park, down the Mall, and back via Piccadilly, Shaftesbury Avenue, and Soho.

One last spin on the Lizzy Line delivered us back to our bags, then on to Heathrow… and all the waiting that airports require. The flight itself? Smooth, uneventful, no complaints. Well, aside from thirteen hours of broken sleep, but that’s economy for you.

And then, Singapore. A quick wash, a brush-up, and here I am in the lounge, waiting to board the next leg to Auckland (and waiting, too, for L, who’s been slightly waylaid at security).

Fast-forward ten hours, and somehow it’s Wednesday morning in Auckland. We’re at the domestic terminal now, waiting for our final hop. So far, the return journey has been suspiciously easy. Passport control everywhere has been a breeze (automatic, fast, error-free). NZ biosecurity? Simple. Being able to check our bags straight through to Wellington from Auckland International? Excellent. Even duty free was cheap and plentiful.

If nothing goes wrong in the next couple of hours, I may have to admit this has been one of the best long-haul returns halfway around the world I’ve ever done.

And now, in a risky flourish of cocky efficiency, we’re planning a fly-by handover of house and car keys at the airport with the people who’ve been staying in our place. What could possibly go wrong?

What do you know, it went without a hitch. Handoff completed, we found our car and headed home, grateful to see Wellington in it’s drizzly, windy and wintery (8 degrees!) glory. Now we’re home, relaxing with a cup of tea and staring down a pile of washing and the realities of everyday life.