SCENES OF BEDLAM
AUCKLAND INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

"4:43pm--Sitting at Gate 3 in Christchurch Airport. Flight leaves 6:50pm. We're very early. But I'm glad we're early rather than panicking...

"Once in Auckland we're going to be in trouble. Less than two hours to fetch [our things]... then pay our departure fees (weird), then rush over to the international terminal...

"Willowbank was a complete and total disappointment, not to mention I encountered way too many angry + aggressive geese and swans to my liking. The bird sanctuary in Te Anau that Sacha recommended was excellent and it was free. I would've been happier giving my sixteen bucks to them [I did actually put a few dollars in the donation box.] rather than the ripoff tourist trap known as Willowbank. God they spend enough money on ads and glossy color brochures, I wonder just how much of the income they make actually goes to the animals. Should be about 5 pm now. Two more dreadful hours. My feet are getting sweaty...

"Once again I suffer the consequences of arriving too [expletive] early to the airport: the gate changed as we sat dumbly here, waiting our asses off at the wrong spot. But it seems we weren't the only ones. Perhaps the gate changed late. In any case, there was a brief moment of panic and mental disarray as I tried to figure out what the hell was going on. The anxiety began several moments earlier, when I noticed all the people around me were holding Qantas tickets. Every single one of them. [We were flying Air NZ.]

"Anyway it seems to be over now, the excitement. At least until we reach Auckland -- god knows what's in store for us once we get there and have to blaze our butts through to the right gate. After that, barring any plane crashes... it's home free...

"6:46pm--It appears our flight is delayed. In fact, our plane isn't even here yet. At least the monitor, which I just checked, says the plane is delayed. Oh... looks like they're about to start announcing things. People in green uniforms have convened...

"It's 6:56pm and our plane is very late. I'm starting to panic about our connecting flight TO LOS ANGELES. [expletive]...

"9:25pm--Auckland Int'l Airport terminal, gate 9. It's a freaking madhouse in here. We are packed in like cattle on the way to the slaughterhouse. Now that we've passed all the security lines I feel much better. It's just a matter of being called onto the plane. But in the interim, we wait. Apparently they're having delays in addition to these late-arriving people from Christchurch. Well let's see... first they were fixing the tv monitor. Then they were fixing a serving cart. Petty, petty things. I can't believe how many people are here waiting. It's just mad. I also took the opportunity to snap some photos of sweaty impatient nervous people. Hilarious. I'm hot. We're boarding."

. . .

One thing I left out was that because our first flight was late, we were almost certainly going to miss our connecting flight. It wasn't until we'd sprinted our way through everything, hearts pumping, legs trembling, sweat pouring, that we discovered our connecting flight was in fact DELAYED. So we were going to be okay. BUT WE PANICKED FOR NOTHING!

Photo 288 shows a mother and daughter who were being very entertaining with their chattiness. They too were in a hurry to make the connecting flight, and as a bunch of us were running, running, running throughout the airport, I overheard the mom joke to her daughter "...it's like we're in The Amazing Race!"

287 the crowd	288 Queen of the Universe	289 my best shot	290 slowly ticking away	291 final destination: LONDON
back | MAIN | next