Friday 09 August and Saturday 10 August

The beginning of our travels started out really smoothly – we caught an Ola to the airport, in a Prius driven by a nice guy called Money (real name Manpreet) who let Jessie sit on my lap happily, and was extra helpful with our luggage (of which there seemed to be quadruple what we used to take away). We got to the airport at 6.30pm, ready to check in for our 8.00pm flight – we got all that sorted, double checked we were allowed to take the travel pram as carry on, set it up and went off to the Koru Lounge… by this point we were getting a little past Jessie’s bedtime, and while I could certainly tell she was tired, she was still managing to charm the heck out of other Koru Loungers with cheeky smiles and look at me walking antics. We ended our time in there with a giant poop just five minutes before the boarding call… she NEVER poops at night, I swear she did it on purpose.

Our plane was delayed by an hour… apparently a domino affect due to “the weather in Auckland, which I’m sure you’ve heard about” (nope). Anyway, that was fine and we got onboard and into our seats ok – a nice gentleman sat next to me in the window seat. Next minute, the female passenger in front of me lays down to sleep, and her half-metre long ponytail slips through the seats, so of course Jessie can’t take her eyes off of it and would do anything to yank it, and so we spent the first half of the flight trying to ensure that didn’t happen, and thankfully the second half she fell sleep. There I was all pleased with myself, thinking that I should just be able to carry her out to the hotel shuttle, check in and get her to bed all without waking her up… this was not to be – the shuttle driver went home when our flight was delayed, and so we were informed we would need to wait 20 mins (30 mins) for the “yellow bus” which goes around the hotels. That was fine when it eventually came, though our child was no longer sleeping, or anywhere near it… thank god for the pram. We settled ourselves onboard and managed to get all our bags in. The bus was immediately full, except for, perhaps, six seats… definitely no luggage space, and the next minute a very large group of people travelling to shanghai, whose flight had been cancelled, appeared and forced themselves onboard, ignoring instructions from the lovely, but clearly frustrated, driver. Nobody would move down to fill up the empty seats, and the bus was not moving… I think we sat there for maybe half an hour while they tried to sort it. One chap, who was taking me right on back to the year 2000 with his Von Dutch hoodie, was blatantly ignoring the sign which said “Please stand behind this sign so as not to distract the driver” – he stood right next to the driver the entire time. Excellent stuff. Three hotel stops before the got to to our one – the Naumi. Being under staffed (because of the situation with the Shanghai flight) meant a very long check in line, however I managed to get in second, behind Mr Von Dutch (clearly that had been his plan all along), who proceeded to tear strips off the poor check in clerk over it all. You deserve Von Dutch, sir.

We made it to our room, and it was super cool – I wish we had more time to explore it during daylight! Out the window I could see there’s a great looking pool, and the rooms themselves are quirky, modern and fun – they have risqué little quips on everything, for example the hair dryer says “blow me”. Breakfast this morning was excellent – I am always partial to a great buffet breakfast, however I did stay away from the most delicious stuff in anticipation for the flight – I think it’s awful feeling bloated on a plane.

We finally made it back to the airport, and stood in the economy baggage drop line for a really long time before Craig remembered we didn’t need to, and wow the relief when we went into the priority area… it was like a breath of fresh air… zero chaos!

So, once checked in and through security, we purchased our Bailies for the trip, boarded our plane, and at the time of beginning to write this we were 4.5 hours into our journey from Auckland to Denpasar – it hadn’t been soooo bad thus far. Immediately I set up Jessie’s part of the Sky Couch, made it all cozy with cushions and blankets, and added a canopy over the top too, and then got her all hooked up in her harness and laid her down… she struggled for a little while but then she dozed off with bunny in hand, just in time for Craig and I to eat our meals . Craig even managed to watch a couple of movies! Jessie’s been watching The Wiggles, which I had completely cut (all screen time) for the last two weeks to get her amped for it, and it seems to have been working. Food for her is a mission, as no infant meals (or any meal for an under two) on a “shorthaul” flight… give me a break… but we’re making do… I think she’s had five bananas so far!!

Sky Couch is so awesome… I don’t think I’ll travel beyond three hours without one now (if we’re on an Air New Zealand route that is)… it just makes life with a toddler so much easier – so much space -and nowhere for her to fall down!

More later…

Laus ❤