Mother Bear's arrived!

To whom it may concern, Mother Bear & hubby have arrived safe and sound in New Zealand :icon_biggrin:

There were no spatulas at dawn and we get on very well, so sorry to disappoint you gossip-lovers out there!

I'm sure you will be hearing from her shortly....... watch this space!........

[ag28com]

Hey MB, it must be good to finally be there...............

It's been deathly silent on the forum whilst you have been en route.....

We are flying to Auckland on 24th January

HURRAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[MotherBear]

Hah! And you all thought you'd seen the last of me for a while. Wrong! :icon_mrgreen:

We arrived safe and sound down under yesterday a.m.. Flight wasn't too bad as I got confused about the different time zones and just set my watch to NZ time. I didn't clock-watch at all and just let the journey flow along, my brain didn?t register day or night, which I now believe was a good thing. We broke our journey in Bangkok for a few hours and had a hotel room so could take advantage of having a shower and a lie down flat on the bed after sitting for so long. Felt fresher and better for that. We didn?t manage any lengthy bouts of sleep at all, only naps, but, somehow, they seem to have kept us going. I would say that throughout the whole trip, the temps in the aircraft were decidedly chilly and we huddled under our supplied blankets the whole time. At one point I did worry that my brain was failing due to the cold as one time, waking from a doze, I?m sure I saw a bloke come past wearing a skirt. Thankfully, since being here and talking over the flight, I find that hubster also saw, not only one, but two blokes wearing skirts. How strange :icon_eek: !

Thai Air - had high expectations of this company and, whereas I wouldn't necessarily complain about them as most things were OK, I was a bit disappointed that the staff weren't as smiley and helpful as I'd hoped. This was more apparent on the first flight, as there were very few smiles available and I'd go as far as to say one young hostess looked, most of the time, like she'd burst into tears if someone looked at her the wrong way. I suspect this was merely due to on-board tension between the crew rather than any problem with Thai Air itself. The plane was older and quite rattley to the extent that an Arab lady sitting across from us became concerned that the console and large video monitor above her was about to come crashing down on her head. The second plane we had was more modern and the staff more friendly, so there was a different atmosphere. This one had seat-back video monitors which were more user-friendly, as we could choose what we wanted to view. Initially, there was a problem with ours which stubbornly refused to run films or TV programmes. After 2 reboots from the cockpit, they started to function again and the second part of the flight was more entertaining. We found the meal times somewhat odd in that, on the first flight we'd had a meal shortly after taking off from Oman, then another one (breakfast) at 5 a.m. when we left Pakistan. No doubt this was to accommodate new passengers coming on board, but was awkward for us, having already not long ago had a full meal. I had an unhappy meal experience in that my Thai curry seemed to prefer sitting in my lap rather than on my plate and milk I was opening for my cup of tea (little pot), shot out like a water cannon and hit me full in the midriff. Never seen anything like it before, must have been packed under pressure. Once the meal was over (and I?d attended to my laundry problems), landing cards for Bangkok were filled in and it was time for sleep. There was no on-board entertainment, only the usual flight safety info etc. so there was only the choice of sleeping or reading. Lights were turned off and window shutters were ordered to be pulled down as everyone settled for the 'night'. However, it was actually daybreak, so we'd been busy during the hours of darkness and, now that it was daylight, it was time to sleep. Perhaps this went some way to helping us adjust to a different time zone, as, so far, we haven't suffered much from jetlag. Had a good 12-hour sleep (started dozing off around 8-9 p.m. last nigh).

Can?t comment too much on the process of arriving at Auckland airport as, by some happy coincidence, a wheelchair had been ordered for me from Bangkok where I?d also had one to help me cover the great distance through the airport. We simply flew through both airports very quickly, by-passing the queues and having all the paperwork sorted for us. Impressions of Auckland airport were good, but Bangkok was rather old and run down. Coming out of Auckland airport, I was surprised to feel the temperature was quite ?fresh?. Being summer time I thought it would be warmer, despite a few clouds skudding around. The rest of the day we had a few heavy showers and it?s still like that today. First afternoon here, we went to The Warehouse and New World, so, been there, done that. Plenty of stuff available, but haven?t really taken in all the prices yet. I certainly don?t think we?ll starve when we come here to live. The area is very nice and I enjoy seeing the different types of plant life. Lots of big blue or while ?globe? type flowers in gardens and along the road sides, sprouting from large clumps of green.

That?s an account of things so far. We?ll start going out and about shortly, weather permitting. Got off to a slow start to allow us to ?chill out? after the flight and we?ve some ?business? to attend to first (details soon). Then, no doubt, things will start to gather speed. And, as Welshgirl says, there?s been no sign of spatulas being drawn as yet. All is sweetness and light. More later??..

Ag28com - good luck for your flight. Hope it goes well for you.

[SteveyC]

Aww aren't you just the best MB. Devoted follower (and leader) of the forum glad the trip went without event although, not sure I'll be rushing to fly through Bangkok or with Thai Air.

Look forward to further updates and preferably a bit of goss about Welshgirl being a bit of a bitch really .......no?......perhaps not then

[netchicken]

Welcome to NZ Mother bear!
Those blue and white blobs may be Hydrangeas

[Pulsarblu]

Have lots of FUN in NZ o~, Mother Bear!!

Pulsarblu

[MotherBear]

Originally Posted by netchicken

Welcome to NZ Mother bear!
Those blue and white blobs may be Hydrangeas

No, Netchicken, I know hydrangeas from the UK. These are a darker blue/purpley colour (or white) and have long, strap-like shiny leaves. There are similarities with hydrangeas in that the flowerheads are a similar size and shape. We can see these other ones all over the place here, growing almost like a (very attractive) weed. I would like to buy a book of NZ flowers/bushes etc. while I'm here so maybe I can identify them from that.

[Pulsarblu]

I think they are Lavender flowers

[skybluearmy]

i think they are WEEDS!!!!!!!!!!

Glad you arrived safely MB.

Don't think i'll fly with Thai, it sound dangerous :icon_eek:

[MotherBear]

No, Pulsarblu, definitely not lavender. Lavender is quite low growing but these plants grow to about 3ft. high and don't smell of much.

Skyblue, don't be too put off Thai Air, it wasn't that bad, just not quite what I'd expected. OK, so we had an old rattley crate on the first leg, but the second plane was modern and didn't appear to be in the throes of falling apart. Apart from seatback entertainment screens not working, subarctic temperatures and men walking round in skirts, it was fine.