THERE WE GO ! NEW ZEALAND JOURNEY

 BLOG POST 10

We began our first day of travel in Auckland, Tony started with a Kia Ora and made us practice it several times till our ears started ringing with the sound and then there were several ground rules laid down by him

First was adherence to time, the 6,7 and 8 formula as we used to call it ,6 AM wake up call, 7 AM bags out and 8 AM start of journey after having breakfast ,lunch would be whenever and wherever we stopped which was usually around 12 noon or 1 pm, we had to feed ourselves ,name badges were compulsory as they were the proofs for entry into all places.

Evening 6 to 7 pm were happy hours where the tourists would get drinks at slightly discounted rates in the restaurant of whichever hotel we would put up for that night, the happy hours were relatively unhappy hours for us as I don’t drink liquor and my husband was a very light drinker, after 7 pm we would all go in for dinner everyday which would be buffet sometimes and 3 courses menu  served at the table some nights

The most important rule was that , while we were seated in the bus we had to compulsorily wear seat belts even in the last row as, if we are found without a seat belt the fine would be 150 dollars, Tony said it was up to us if we wanted to spend our entire tour money on paying fines !

The next rule was that we had to follow the leader that is the tour guide and be on time whenever we stop anywhere, delay by one member would lead to complete disruption of the schedule for entire day

Tony would also regularly give us weather report of next day so that we would be geared up in proper attire as New Zealand is well known for its changing weather conditions ,Tony also said that he would be with us through out the tour and be responsible for  behind the scenes’ nuts and bolts’ which was indeed very assuring for all of us

As the bus started I could see excitement on everyone’ s faces ,we were the only Indians ,others were mostly from Australia ,2 couples from U.K and one couple from Canada, everyone were middle aged and we were sure we would form a good team quickly.

As the bus went along Tony and Megan pointed out the most important land mark of Auckland the sky tower,few of our members had come 1 or 2 days prior and could do sky walk which they said was very exciting ,Tony circulated the optional tour booking sheet as he said it would get very crowded next day

The first stop was Parry Kauri Park,

As soon as we got off our bus, we could see a magnificent Kauri tree standing proudly erect –this was the McKinney Kauri about 800 years old,we all walked along the wooden  walkways as instructed and had a look at the Kauri tree, surroundings were so serene ,not many tourists around ,could hear birds singing a welcome song for us

Those who had time for a guided nature trail, could do it on elevated walkway, circle around trees from the west end to the east end,armed with with signage and a pamphlet about the bush plants. In the forest were numerous small Kauri seedlings, only a few feet tall.

There was a small Museum with displays of the Kauri digging implements, photographs of gum-digging, giant pieces of Kauri gum, saws, native timber, bushman’s hut and other items connected with the gum digging days. On the far side of the car park there was a “whim”, which was used to haul the log

There is was a second large Kauri a few yards west of the McKinney Kauri, named Simpson Kauri, after the second owner of the property. 

 Kauri trees once covered large expanses of New Zealand and were known as "the kings of the forest". Agathisaustralis, commonly known by its Māori name Kauri, is a coniferous tree of Araucariaceae,found in New Zealand's North Island

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 Maori used large trees to carve out their’ wakas ‘ or war canoes which could hold in excess of 100 warriors, carving and for building houses.The trunk of mature trees rise straight with very little taper to the upper relatively small canopy and can be more than 18 metres to the first branches, Gum was used as a fire starter and for chewing  like bubble gum(after it had been soaked in water and mixed with the milk of the puha plant).

When Europeans first arrived in the Northland, they found  lush forests of kauri trees that blanketed the hills leading down to shoreline. Entire trees were tragically felled for ship masts, everything from homes to ornate furniture was constructed from kauri hardwood. . They also discovered that the tree produced a valuable gum resin, which was exported and used for high grade varnishes and linolium

Alas! harvest began and when it was over, the kauri forests and the land were decimated.  In the 1800s, kauri timber and gum built Auckland, Whangarei and was also exported to rebuild San Francisco after the earthquake. Stripped land was turned into farmland and soon agriculture overtook the kauri as New Zealand’s main export.

However William Roy McGregor (1894-1977) from Auckland University in 1952 came in the form of savior for the trees and successfully campaigned and created the Waipoua Forest Sanctuary,

Once-thriving kauri industry left remnants of the kauri dams. Kauri driving dams were built by loggers to drive large quantities of kauri logs downstream from remote areas. It was so astonishing to hear from Megan that to avoid transporting of these huge timber, dams were built which were able to withstand the pressure of tonnes of water and kauri logs which were swept through with tremendous force when the dam was tripped.

Now these magnificent  Kauri are facing a new threat. Kauri  die back is a fungus-type of disease, which has no cure but its spread can be reduced by cleaning boots and equipment and avoiding stepping on Kauri tree roots

LET US GET STARTED ! -NEW ZEALAND JOURNEY

BLOG POST 9

The wake up call came promptly at 6 am and we saw a message slip from our tour guide Mr Tony with details of our tour for that day, we got ready and pinned on our personal name badges, our baggage with luggage label tags were put out promptly at 7 am otherwise we had to get them into the bus ourselves so putting out the bags was done very diligently by all of us all through the tour, we then went down for breakfast

For the entire tour we had no problem with breakfast as it was a lavish buffet,  with a lot  of items to chose from - eggs with crisp streaky bacon, baked  beans, grilled tomato, hash brown, mushrooms and sausages, tomato avocado , corn fritters  with bacon, English muffin with poached eggs, cinnamon French toast, maple syrup, grilled bacon and banana pancake stack , fresh pancakes, whipped cream, omelettes , selection of breads, house-made cereals, yoghurt & sweet pastries.

 Filter coffee, freshly brewed coffee, decaffeinated coffee and a selection of teas and chilled fresh juices - Freshly cut fruit - Assorted cereals and grains - Natural yoghurt - oven fresh baked croissants & rolls - Danish pastries ,choice of toast, white or wholemeal - assorted cold cut meats - assorted cheese

We used to prefer omelettes, hash browns,corn flakes , muffins ,pan cakes, fresh fruits and yoghurt was our favorite,yummy with so many flavors !

Coffee and tea were taken cold by most of the people without milk, most places milk used to be cold and we  who preferred coffee steaming hot had to make do with hot water and creamer

As we sat having our first Kiwi breakfast I was looking around to see if we could trace any of our tour mates with whom we were going to spend  next 19 days going around the entire country, I could see few people wearing our tour badge.

We went up to our room to get our small bags and came down to our bus as instructed by Mr Tony, Lo ! the bus was waiting ,my pride that I am usually the first to arrive at any place took a heavy fall as we could see most of the tourists already seated in the bus

Our tour guide Mr Tony came ahead and welcomed us, later during the course of our journey we came to know that he is an Australian who has worked as a tour guide for 19 years after spending 21 years in the New South Wales Police Force,firstly in Canada/ Alaska, South America and China and for the last 9 years in New Zealand for Grand Pacific Tours.

 He accompanied us throughout the tour and made everyone feel welcome, relaxed and ensured that our holiday was a memorable experience. He was full of energy and concern ,never spared an effort to make us feel comfortable

 Our coach captain was Ms Megan a Kiwi who has experience driving coaches in Australia and New Zealand for a number of years and is now based out of Auckland.  she had  expert knowledge and extensive driving experience ,she had in depth knowledge about the Maori culture ,told us a lot about the North Island and assisted us with every aspect of the tour, handling heavy luggage .

 We enjoyed her professional commentary with numerous facts and figures, myths, legends and many laughs along the way.

Although our coach could take 48 passengers we were only 24 luckily, we found that we were the only Indian tourists ,Tony later told us that he thought these two poor Indians just landed ,had only few hours sleep ,how they could cope with the day journey ,he was pleasantly surprised when he found us as fresh as daisies all through the day !

We were allotted our seat numbers quite in the front for the first day, unlike other tours where we used to shift either to front or back by one seat everyday ,here our  seat numbers were arranged in a seat rotation policy in such a way that everyone got a chance to sit in the front which had a better view, the last row was called the naughty corner for obvious reasons!

Bus was a modern coach featuring panoramic windows, had superior suspension for comfort, air conditioning, reclining seats , CD and DVD player, entertainment system, intercom systems, air bag suspension, restroom which we never used  even once as the coach stopped every 2 hours at a comfort stop , two door access and cold water storage where we could put in 3 dollars in the money box and take a cool water bottle by ourselves ,there was a rubbish bin and hand sanitizer at the entrances

AT FIRST GLANCE ! -NEW ZEALAND JOURNEY

BLOG POST 8

We disembarked from the flight and strode into the lounge, we saw a beautiful Maori carving adorning the walkway at the Auckland’s airport and as we proceeded there were sensors which when we walked illuminated the walls around us , with our every step they showed interesting facts and pictures about the country.
There were ominous looking sign boards asking the passengers to declare or dispose off forbidden goods or be fined  400 dollars

We then went for immigration check with our passport and passenger arrival card which we had completed on the plane.
 A young boy in a tight fitting suit obviously newly stitched was standing ahead of us in the queue, his looks aroused all my maternal instincts which remembered our son who had gone to US at the tender age of 21 (tender for his mother) I asked him his details and assured him that he would be fine, he was whisked through the passport control point quite fast and disappeared from our sight
What is the purpose of your trip? was the question asked ,we answered to tour, and lo behold ! the Immigration officer stamped our passport.
We then marched ahead to the carousel where our bags were anxiously waiting for us and then had to wait in a long queue for immigration check where our passenger arrival cards were checked, it went on well because of all the care we took while packing in India 
We came out of the airport and waiting patiently for us we found the Grand Pacific Tours Representative holding the tour sign

Though he must have picked up quite a lot of passengers from airport that day ,he greeted us cheerfully and was chatting with us.He went and got his van ,we piled up the luggage and plonked ourselves in the seats ,after a drive for nearly half an hour during which time we saw quite a lot of roads being serviced as it was now almost 3 am .
Our driver waited patiently at all the traffic signals ,I was thinking of our country and traffic sense of some of our people and thought the less said the better ,he dropped us at our hotel the Grand Millenium ( however we were in no state to see whether it was grand or not)

 At the reception desk we were given our room key and a big bundle of the tour documents,oh no ! I thought ,we were trying to travel as lightly as we could and this extra luggage now was like the final straw on the camel’s back .It contained

·        Durable travel bag

·        Toiletry wet pack

·        Personal name badge

·        Laundry bag

·        Luggage label

·        Ticket wallet

·        Personalised itinerary

·        Optional tours directory

·        General Information & FAQ booklet

·        Customs required re sealable plastic bag

·        Postcard

·        Touring map

We were given one of these each and we had to bear them all through our journey but they were very useful and my husband paid no attention to my timid suggestion that we could leave the travel bags in the hotel room (I am very much used to load shedding)

As soon as we checked into the room we looked into the next day program, it was wake up call at 6 am, bags outside the room at 7 am ,breakfast from 7 am and departing hotel at 8 am, some of our co travellers in this tour would later say that normally they get up late and only on paid  holidays like this they get up at such unearthly hours L.O.L !
We were left with just 3 hours of sleep, my husband is indeed blessed to be able to sleep soundly as soon as he hits the bed whereas poor me was trying in vain to sleep which eluded me

 

 

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UP ABOVE THE WORLD SO HIGH ! -NEW ZEALAND JOURNEY

BLOG POST 7

The Flight attendants or cabin crew (also known as  stewards/ stewardesses , air hosts/hostesses, cabin attendants) arrived ,apparently one flight attendant per 50 passenger seats is needed as per regulations, after some time the boarding announcement was made, slowly all of us  gathered our luggage together.  

Passengers with small children and business class were allowed to board first ,later we were called as per seat numbers, the last seats called first to avoid crowding in the aisles, though we found many clustering near the gate entry trying to get in first, "gate lice –a slang word for people who try to crash in "

The seats though economy class were quite comfortable and had adequate leg and knee room, we had head phones , big, fluffy pillows and blankets placed on the seats, adjustable personal reading light, large personal LCD monitor , and handheld control unit and  in seat power supply was provided. We were welcomed with  refreshing wet towels to freshen up.

Kris World Singapore Airlines’ award-winning in flight entertainment system  offered us the latest selection of programming and games. We were handed individual toothbrush, toothpaste and knitted sock packs..

Eyeshades and ear plugs were also provided on request to help customers sleep more comfortably, Complimentary Singapore Airlines postcards, playing cards and writing kits were available on a request basis, young travellers below the age of 12 were also treated to exclusive Cartoon Network collectible items

"Crotch Watch’ was performed  another slang word used for the moment when the flight attendants walk down the aisle making sure our seat belts are fastened "

After the safety announcements were made to which most of the passengers paid no heed to as usual, the flight took off on time

I settled down to watch from my window seat the beautiful Hyderabad city by night and had a literal bird’s eye view, oh how beautiful is my city I thought, looking like a bride decked up in a sari with zardosi embroidery. As we had to spend 4 1/2 hrs on the flight to Singapore we tried to see what we could watch in the on flight entertainment.

Travel, whether it is by air, train or by road is a good chance for one to catch up on reading and movies .Before we could even choose the films the dinner was served pretty fast and we had the privilege of getting served first as we had ordered Non Vegetarian Hindu meal ,other options were, Baby Meal, Post-Weaning Meal, Child Meal, , Muslim,  Vegetarian Raw Meal,  Vegetarian Indian meal,  Vegetarian  Jain Meal,  Vegetarian Oriental Meal,  Western meals. 

The meal was wholesome and had chicken curry, fried rice, salads ,a sweet and cookies, food was well cooked and spicy ,only disadvantage was that we had no choice of other items like fish.

There was a vast choice of beverages with meals - red wine, white wine, spirits, juices, soft drinks, water and plenty of the non-alcoholic drinks which were being continuously offered during the entire flight too, flight attendants came around often to offer drinks at regular intervals, there was a snack service with a choice of fruits, sandwiches and chips.

I found the cabin crew very courteous and friendly, I found many of the passengers asking for water apparently to rehydrate themselves , lavatories had mouthwash, skin moisturisers, cologne and after-shave lotions to keep us fresh  and also were kept very clean ,I was quite sympathetic towards the tirelessly working cabin crew who had smiling faces throughout the flight

In 4 hrs 40 minutes we reached Singapore ,local time was 6.15 in the morning, distance to Singapore from Hyderabad is 2052 miles / 3302.37 km / 1783.14 nautical miles and we had gone over the Indian ocean. The time had just flown along with the flight, we were not able to sleep though we tried to doze.

I sat imagining myself outside the plane with outside temperature varying from -24°C at 20,000 ft to -57°C at 40,000 ft, no amount of safety precautions would suffice if there was an air crash were my morbid thoughts! It did not matter that we had paid for travel insurance, what was glaring at me was coverage for hijack which was maximum of 500 dollars for 5 days, what if the hijack extended for more days I thought cautiously!

As our check in luggage would be transferred to the next flight which was run by Air New Zealand ,we walked out into the terminal 2 of Singapore Changi airport which was positively glittering with the Christmas decorations and colourful shops took a few snaps at some of the spots and by the complimentary sky train went to terminal 3 for onward journey to Auckland ,we did a mistake of going very early to this terminal where there was not much shopping or entertainment .

We freshened up and waited looking around, many of the passengers were stretching themselves on the comfortable couches in the lounges ,we were in a state of limbo due to the changing time zones ,security check for the gate was very strict and we could see a lot of shampoos ,tooth pastes and deodorants accumulating in the bins

After a long drowsy wait we got a call for boarding the flight to Auckland , by now the no of Indians had become a trickle and we could see  a whole lot of people from various other countries in the lounge. 

Once we got into the flight we settled down for our 6.1/2 hrs journey ,immediately after the plane took off and seat belt sign was switched off ,the breakfast was served, by now our hunger was suppressed as our body clock said plaintively how are you going to eat breakfast so early but we had to sustain ourselves ,so we ate sparingly, slept partly, read few books and saw some more movies.

I managed to see many movies during the air travel but I particularly liked the Kannada movie Ondu Motteya Kathe,( the bald and the beautiful) which impressed me a lot, the hero is a bald man looking out for brides ,wants a beautiful girl ,the film focuses on body shaming and the imperfections, it was very close to reality, it had a positive ending where the hero gets a suitable bride for himself, the other films I liked was the Intern played by Robert De Niro and the 101 Dalmatians which I watched for  second time

It was 11.45 pm by the time the flight landed in Auckland ,we had now very little time to check out of the airport and find our Pacific tour person waiting for us ,go to our hotel, have a wink for few hours and then start our tour.

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AIRPORT DELIGHTS ! -NEW ZEALAND JOURNEY

BLOG POST 6

We took an Innova and reached  Rajiv Gandhi International Airport much ahead of time, 2 hrs before scheduled departure time to avoid last minute hassles

We went directly to the airport ticket counter to get a printed boarding pass and check in the luggage which would part company with us and join us in Auckland,oh what a relief to surrender the heavy bags to the airline staff I thought, only then a small hitch arose ,my check in suitcase contained my hard disc which I was instructed to keep in my hand luggage , I was frantically trying to open my suitcase one person comes running to me asking if my suitcase exceeded the prescribed weight when I said no his face lost its shine!

 So now we were left with only the hand luggage and my hand bag ,we then proceeded to the security check ,luckily the Indian government has removed the rule of filling the departure cards from July 1st  2017 which meant one lesser formality before boarding the aircraft.

Reason for removing the departure card was that its passenger details such as name, date of birth, passport number, address in India, flight number and date of boarding, is available in the system from other sources,

Then we walked to our gate, for personal security screening. We presented our passports and boarding passes. We had to remove our jackets and luckily not our shoes and placed them in a bin for scanning ,similarly all carry-on bags /purses /laptops  in tubs on the line for separate scanning, laptops separated from its case and its accessories. We  placed all our metal and electronic items (e.g., cell phones, coins, keys) into a bin.

As I went for personal body screening, my Mangalsutra as usual pinged when the electronic screening was done which I am used to but I refuse to part with it even temporarily for sentimental reasons ,we heeded to advice of always keeping our luggage with us,not making jokes about bombs, weapons, or other security threats.

After security check we settled down comfortably in our seats ,as we were packing and running around since 2 to 3 days exhaustion started setting in and we were also feeling hungry but didn’t want to eat anything as anyway we would get our dinner served in the flight, I started looking around, the flight to Singapore had a lot of rush as usual and thanks to the omnipresent cell phones we had a lot of free entertainment.

Sons and daughters obviously waiting for their parents to come to them giving explicit advices on phones and some mothers from the Indian soil now bolder that they are going to their children were complaining against their husbands who were squirming in their seats hushing them up, some pregnant women and some women carrying tiny tots who were posing mortal danger to all other passengers by running around at random ,it is very difficult to manage children in airport leave alone in long flights I thought

As the check in luggage was electronically screened for security as it goes to a holding area to be loaded on the flight, some of the passengers got their names called for baggage check manually, most of the women were in saris and some like me in kurtis and jeggings which I find comfortable while travelling .Getting bored with the long wait I started looking at the material I had collected on my lap top

 If we were taking in more than NZ$10,000 (or the equivalent in a foreign currency), we had to declare it ,I was worried about the currency we were taking and my long suffering husband caustically replied that it was rather late in the day for me to be asking that question and asked me not to worry as we were taking a minimal currency adequate for the trip as we were not planning to do much shopping

I tried to catch up with a few kiwi words

§  Kia ora – A greeting wishing good health, often used to say ‘hello’. The two words are often blended together so it’s pronounced more like kee-ora.We were to use this word through out our journey some times calling out kee ora to total strangers throwing them into utter confusion,LOL!

§  Hangi – An oven in the ground made of wood and bricks and name for the traditional maori dish cooked in this oven.

§  Kai – Food.

§  Marae – A traditional Maori meeting house.

§  Tangata whenua – People of the land (traditional people belonging to a place).

§  Iwi – People, more commonly used to mean ‘tribe’.

§  Haere Mai – Welcome. .

§  Tapu – sacred.

§  Waka – A traditional maori canoe.

§  Pākehā – European (white) settlers.

§  Koha – Donation.

§  Gradually time passed and call for boarding was done  

TIME MACHINE AND A SAFE HOME - NEW ZEALAND JOURNEY

BLOG POST 5

We were going to travel by Silk Airlines from Rajiv Gandhi international airport to Singapore on Nov 20th 2017, the flight would start at 23.05 and reach Singapore by 6.15 and from there at 8.55, Air New Zealand would take us to Auckland ,we would be reaching at 23.45, so basically it would take us nearly 24 hours to reach Auckland from Hyderabad but thanks to the different time zones the equation was different.

Time gap between India and Singapore is such that we are behind Singapore by 2.30 hrs so when we reach Singapore it would be 3.45 I.S.T and New Zealand is faster than India by 7.30 hours and so though we will be reaching in Auckland at 23.45 it would be still 4.15 pm in India, mind boggling isn’t it ? By travelling to countries which are ahead of us in time we lose time and vice versa. Because of this time difference, we get jet lag , a condition caused by travelling across different time zones. This leads to disruption of our circadian rhythm, internal body clock that regulates sleep and waking. Jet lag symptoms include fatigue, sleepiness, digestive upsets, impaired judgement and irritability. Moreover, it is more severe when travelling in an easterly direction like how we were going to travel now as our day is shortened , our body takes more time to adjust, leading to severe jet lag 

The term "jet lag" is used because before the arrival of passenger jet aircraft ,it was uncommon to travel far and fast enough to cause jet lag . Previous travel by propeller-driven aircraft, by ship or by train was slower and of more limited distance than jet flights, and thus did not contribute widely to the problem

‘So we were definitely going to have jet lag after reaching Auckland but we shall face it when it comes’ I thought. Though some friends advised us to take some medication for jet lag we decided to combat it naturally. Whenever we travel abroad, as we both are old fashioned enough to still wear wrist watches,I merrily alter my time according to the local time, whereas my husband loyally sticks to Indian time ,I also notice a funny feeling of  loss and increased awareness of our country whenever I travel out of India  as if my absence is being missed by my mother country

As I was busy going around packing, my husband who had finished packing his smaller suitcase much ahead of me was going about with a troubled expression on his face, I said ‘what is the matter ?’ He was upset because we had to close our flat for nearly 20 days with both our birds (sons) out of our nest one in Delhi and the other in US

I assured him as it was not possible to coax any relative to stay in the house for so many days, I have thought of few safety measures ,I luckily have a very friendly neighbour who assured me she would keep an eye on our flat ,We would be closing all the doors and windows  

Other measures to be taken would be to install timers on electronics to create noise and flickering lights, if  cars are kept  in air ports better switch off the GPS or they would lead the burglars directly home, also very essential to stash any valuables in lockers

Beware of social media and not happily post holidays snaps of entire family on vacation and have burglars holidaying at home, better wait to come back to post those snaps

 I have also seen some of friends jovially removing  their house keys from under foot mats or flower pots, I am sure the thieves know of all these common areas where the house and almirah keys are kept  better as they are professionally trained at robbery and we are not !

Better lock garage doors ,as we didn’t have a garage ,staying in a flat complex ,we instructed our watchman to get our car cleaned daily which I am sure he did -once in a week ,keeping the wind wipers erect as an evidence of his cleaning LOL,

Main step was to inform the paper wallah and milk wallah to stop news papers and milk, other wise they will be happily piling up in front of the door step

All the electronics were plugged off and the fridge emptied and switched off and the cylinder knob closed after my final cup of  hot chai ,water taps closed after the maid finished cleaning the vessels, (invariably this turns out to be a regular night mare for me  , regularly after leaving the house for work a good 1 or 2 hours later I start worrying whether I closed the taps ,switched off the hot  water geyser and worst of it all the deadly pressure cooker) ,final instructions were to my maid to fondly water my potted plants kept in our front verandah and balcony

We weighed the suitcases and hand luggage ,the weight was well below the limit and  we were all set to go  to air port 3 hours before the flight time ,New Zealand here we come !

WHAT TO TAKE AND WHAT NOT TO TAKE ? -NEW ZEALAND JOURNEY

BLOG POST 4

What to take and what not to take ?

The day of departure to New Zealand was fast approaching and a lot of home work  had to be done by me like the crucial final packing , and first thing which came into my mind was whether  we could  take some food with us , somehow when I don’t get home made food abroad, it makes me terribly home sick and so I started looking up things which could be taken safely

 New Zealand is a unique yet delicate country – it is a small island and so introduction of a foreign biohazard, such as a disease or a pest, has potential to cripple economy and throw ecosystem into chaos. This is why New Zealand has especially stringent customs laws, apart from the obvious things like illegal drugs and weapons, I was very surprised to see list of things what one is not allowed to bring in.

·        Food : Some packaged food is allowed if we declare it, but if we get fruit to eat in the plane journey,  we have to get rid of it upon arrival, this applies to meat and cheese, even if it was given as a meal on the flight

·        Honey and/or products containing honey : are a big no-no, so we have to check ingredients of any natural beauty products we take, if they contain honey, they’ll  surely be confiscated.

·        Tea and/or coffee: this includes teabags and actually when we are on a package tour we get all these as part of room service

·        Plants: I thought who’d bring plants on a plane? But I did see some forlorn plants and flowers lying in the bin in the airport when we arrived .

·        Anything that used to be a plant : like Wooden items and woven straw bags or hats,

·        Animals: hey  no animal is allowed! not even a stowaway rat

·        Anything that used to be an animal: including  items such as fur coats, feathers, bone souvenirs, things made with tortoise shell and traditional Chinese ‘medicines’.

·        Seeds : planting foreign seeds in New Zealand would be literally sowing the seeds of doom for one !

·        Equipment used on animals : like a horse brush with horsehair still on it.

·        Dirty shoes or camping gear : basically, any items one wants to bring that have been in contact with nature,  needs  to be cleaned first to make sure there aren’t any traces of soil, pollen, seeds.

Tip: Declare everything. Not sure about something or if in doubt, declare it. It’s far better to declare something than to not declare something , have it discovered and get a rather nasty fine!

 People failing to declare bio security risk goods even by accident are  fined an NZD $ 400 infringement fee. Anyone caught smuggling a prohibited or risk item could: be fined up to NZD$100,000,face up to 5 years in prison or be deported.

In fact I felt it was very nice to see the strict measures being taken to preserve the eco system in New Zealand, as it revealed their deep concern for the country

Items we don’t need to take :

·        No hair dryer –most places have it,

·        No sleeping bags allowed for fear of bed bugs

·        An umbrella :which we invariably include in our luggage is to be avoided because if we are outdoors in New Zealand and it starts raining, a waterproof jacket is going to serve us far better than an umbrella. New Zealand’s largest cities are in coastal areas where it tends to be too windy for umbrellas. So an umbrella is an item not to pack for New Zealand!

·        A cotton towel : better not take as they are extremely bulky, and impossible to dry when we are on the move (then they start to smell! ). Better take a fast-drying micro fibre travel towel instead,they take a fraction of the space in our bag and stand a better chance of drying off properly every day.

Medication : Biosecurity in New Zealand allows one to bring up to three-months’ worth of prescription medication into New Zealand. Any more than that we need a letter from our doctor written in English.

 Toiletries to pack in  carry-on luggage

All liquids, gels, aerosols and pastes must be in individual containers no larger than 100ml in volume. All containers must then be packed into a transparent re-sealable bag no larger than 1 litre ( 20cm x 20cm or 8 x 8 inches).

Travel-size toothpaste

Deodorant

Make-up (if preferred)

Wipes (to freshen up)

Any medication needed for  flight

Packing list for carry-on bag

Passport

Flight ticket

Visa + supporting evidence

Another form of ID (if one is planning to drive in New Zealand or get an  18  plus card, have  driving license and  International Driving Permit if required)

Cash in New Zealand dollars for first week in New Zealand

Credit card / debit card

Entertainment  like songs or movies – can be taken in a hard disc

Travel pillow

Spare set of clothes (in case check-in luggage is lost) which can happen

As New Zealand is  known for having “four seasons in a day”, whatever season we arrive in New Zealand, we better pack the following in the check in luggage

Waterproof/windproof jacket

Fast-dry pants/shorts

Thermal under-layers for top and bottom (wool or polypropylene)

Mid-layers (wool or polar-fleece)

Gloves and scarf/sunhat

Sunglasses

Hiking shoes or hiking boots

Wool socks

Mini first aid kit

It’s a good idea to make a mini first aid kit  just in case we get a small injury or sickness while on the road. Packing a few pain relief medicine, antiseptic cream, antihistamine tablets and anti-diarrhoea tablets is a safe move

Sunscreen (for both summer and winter)

Insect repellent –we found it very useful specially against tiny sand flies found in New Zealand

Razor

Glasses - spare set of reading glasses

Shampoo can be avoided unless one prefers only a particular  brand for their beautiful tresses

Feminine items

Make-up (if preferred)

Hairbrush/comb (if preferred)

New Zealand travel adapter most essential to charge all electronic goods

Multi-plug

Copies of  passport (can be physical or uploaded online)

Camera/laptop/tablet/phone

Electronic device chargers (extra batteries are a good idea) 

Baggage :

 As we travelled by Silk Airlines : each checked bag could not exceed 30 kg

Cabin baggage was upto 7 kgs with maximum dimensions of 115 cms

A trolley bag (55 x 40 x 20 cm), a briefcase (50 x 40 x 25 cm) or a garment  bag (thickness not exceeding 20 cm when folded) constituted one piece of cabin baggage.

 The following articles were allowed on board, free of charge, over and above the cabin baggage allowance:

Laptop/notebook.

Ladies' handbag.

Overcoat.

Reading material.

Small camera.

Infant carrying basket / infant food for consumption in flight.

Walking stick.

A pair of crutches, or other prosthetic device, provided the passenger is dependent upon them.

Now the most important part of the long journey was booking the seats as we had to sit for a long time in the flight

I started thinking should I ask for window or aisle seats?

Both kinds of seats have “pros” and “cons”.

Window seats: no one will be climbing past us to get in and out of their seat. , can sleep without being bothered by anyone and can always rest a pillow against the side of the plane. For long routes, they are ideal since we will be able to sleep ,however, we have to climb over other passengers to get to the toilet and the curvature of the fuselage might make very tall-bodied people feel claustrophobic.

Aisle seats: if we are tall bodied and like to stretch our legs during a flight, an aisle seat can be a good choice, stretching the legs also is very essential to avoid D.V.T which is Deep Vein Thrombosis, on a long distance flight we once had a male passenger forever walking and obstructing the air hostesses as he was advised to walk during  long flights by his doctor ,his wife’s gentle admonitions had no effect on him till he tripped over a small toddler and its angry father put an end to his walking .The aisle seats are easy to get out of if we are in a rush to get off the plane or to go to the toilets.

 However, the people in adjacent seats might bother us if they want to get up and down and we might get knocked about by passing people or trolleys.

  In general, middle seats are to be avoided. The persons in the adjacent seats might bother us if they want to get up and down and we have to climb over the person in the aisle to get in and out..

Seats at the back of the plane and near toilets/galleys generally are avoided as noise and smell can be unpleasant!  seats close to the galley are also noisy and so it is crucial to reserve seat as early as possible.

We also booked our meals prior to travelling as we wanted to avoid any unpleasant surprises ,our option was a Hindu Non-Vegetarian Meal (HNML) This meal is non-vegetarian and contains meat (lamb, poultry), fish, and/or dairy products. It is a non-vegetarian meal suitable for those who do not consume beef, veal, pork, smoked and raw fish. Typically cooked spicy or curried, its preparation and cooking style may vary and we found that we were served first as very few people order these meals

This post has intentionally quite a  long content meant for first time travellers and absent minded professors like me for whom every trip is a new one