Sleeping really didn’t get much better… Well, we didn’t switch on the TV in the early hours anyway - progress. All the walking yesterday obviously didn’t tire us out enough as once again, we were both awake when we should have been asleep, then asleep when we really should have been awake, as Paula nudged me awake at 10am. We hopped out of bed smartly and headed straight to the nearby Denny’s (do they do loyalty cards?) expecting it to be much quieter than previously. It wasn’t. Whilst Paula made do with toast, I settled for the quesadilla with a burger pattie. It came with the most tasteless nachos ever, (no salt or flavour) so they stayed on the plate and it was swilled down with a large glass of orange juice. Coffee could come later.
We almost had to hurry back to HoJo’s as check out was 12 noon, and as is usual when taking a long flight, leaving the shave and shower to the last possible minute helps feel a bit les grubby on arrival at the destination.
We enjoyed HoJo’s and as stated earlier, they do a far better job than many so called superior hotels. Check out was easy and we parked our luggage roadside awaiting the Disneyland Express coach at 12:42. A good run right to LAX when the traffic ground to a temporary halt as they had checkpoints and three lanes of traffic converged. Fortunately, Air NZ is at terminal 2 and once again a speedy, smiling check in.
So what was the outgoing experience like, given the usual tight security? We handed over our checked in luggage to a porter who delivered them to a very frazzled X-Ray area, where the luggage was just piling up as they seemed to have a mechanical malfunction and the operatives there were not looking too happy. We checked with the nearest and he confirmed that we didn’t need to wait for our bags – thank goodness. All zips were secured with cable ties rather than Aviation approved locks and we headed straight for the escalator.
The immigration part was conducted very quickly at the foot of the escalator by a somewhat po faced female official – which is often the norm here in this area and we headed up the escalator to the inevitable long queue for scanning.
Shoes off. Belts off. Trousers fall down (just kidding..). All pockets emptied. Electronic devices such as computer and Kindle into trays. Once again, a bit short-sighted here, as the amount of bench space prior to the scanners is way too short, as you only have about two metres before the scanner and you are busy pulling items out of your hand luggage at the same time as trying to get half undressed and using up about 5 trays.
Into the body scanner and out again, then pile all the stuff back into the hand luggage and get dressed. Reminder to self. Wear slip on shoes in future and put the electronic stuff into one carry on – which is always a bit awkward, if they weigh your bag and it is over 7kg – which it may well be. A full sized camera and long lens, video camera, laptop computer and Kindle, compact camera etc., all items they suggest you put in your hand luggage! They didn’t weigh our hand luggage this time in Auckland or LA, but they certainly did on our previous Auckland flight (economy).
A welcome coffee at Starbucks (again) and the usual wait for boarding. Same seats as last time and an on time departure heading for Heathrow and an expected actual flight time of 9 hours and 35 minutes which augured well – until the usual holding pattern at Heathrow effectively put us back on schedule instead of early.
Another decent flight, though my USB stick wouldn’t work and then the screen totally locked up at dinner time and needed rebooting.
May 29th – UK!
Another totally sleepless night (no surprises there then) and an on time landing. For many people, Heathrow is another airport that they would prefer to avoid but as in LA, a smooth, quick friendly immigration interview – well, a quick look at the passport anyway, after a fairly long walk. Travelling on a British Passport is certainly an advantage here but it was noted that less than half the staff were of European descent.
Straight to the luggage carousel and less than two minutes later, once again we had all our baggage on a trolley and headed for the Enterprise Car Hire desk, as per our instructions. It was unmanned but the lady on the courtesy phone told us to head outside to pick up area 2 and the van would be around in about 5 minutes. It took 10, but by this stage, we were happy enough to have landed safely and escaped the system.
A fairly quick paperwork and out to the cars. We opted for a silver Vauxhall Astra as I knew the boot was a decent size. What I didn’t notice until we sat inside and had signed all the paperwork, was that the previous hirer was a tobacco addict and the evidence was all too plain, but at 12:30, we carried on anyway and into the usual melee of the M25 London orbital motorway.
The car seemed a bit gutless to me and only later did I realise it was only 1400cc, but the UK has a punitive road tax for larger or less fuel efficient vehicles. I just had to get used to stirring a gear lever again.
We headed north in bright sunshine, aware of the new average speed cameras now installed on some sections of the motorway. It was about 19 degrees (cooler than the Auckland we’d left behind) that gradually faded and we hit rain for a while. A quick comfort stop and a Costa’s toasted two filling sandwich (definitely not as good as Scott’s egg, bacon, tomato and cream cheese, triple decker toasted sandwich in NZ) before turning off the M1 motorway at an earlier junction than normal, as the traffic was slowing to 40mph ahead.
Massive road works between the motorway and Nottingham, as at long last they are turning the road into a dual carriageway. People had been campaigning for that 40 years ago, so by 2015, it should be completed.
At brother Dave and Sue’s and our base for the next month, for the usual warm welcome and then a visit to see my son and lively grandson, before heading back to Sue’s for a meal and eventually, another fairly early night.
From now on until we cruise, the blog will be fairly intermittent with posts only every few days until we start the cruising June 28th. No doubt we’ll pack fair bit into the 28 days anyway, so who knows? Watch this space – if you are still awake.
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