Tokyo: Narita Airport

Well, this comes to you from the Qantas lounge at Narita airport in Tokyo. Last update before I get on a plane to Brisbane and then on to Auckland. Dirtbags that they are, the Qantas flight is operating by JALways, which means that I was unable to use airpoints to upgrade. And that means that I expect to arrive into Auckland late tomorrow (Thursday) afternoon, grumpy, smelly, and generally unimpressed with Qantas. The only non-Qantas flight and I end up on it!

GRRRRRRRR

Oh, well. See how it goes. Sonia says the planes are nothing flash. The Qantas lounge is not full, so hopefully this means I might be lucky and have an empty seat (or two) next to me. In that case I stand a small chance of getting some sleep between here and Brisbane. Then I have about an hour to transfer to the flight from Brisbane to Auckland, hoping all the while that my bag manages to make it onto the same flight. Then, on arrival in Auckland, negotiating the travails of the Hertz counter (has anyone ever had a good experience with car rental companies at the tail end of a long-haul flight?) before a 1-hour (or more) drive out to Kumeu.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

By this point in the narrative, astute readers will have worked out that this part of the holiday is not working out right!

Small consolation that Sonia's flight from Bangkok to Sydney is delayed (but not enough to preventing her making the connection to Auckland).

More once we get to the end of this trip....