Saturday March 12 (Napier to Perth)

I had an early start, 5.45 am, after not too much sleep and it was still dark, lol! I farewelled my two fur babies with some regret and my flat mate, Grant, dropped me off at the airport. It was a very cool morning, 12 C ( F), following on from yesterday which was 16 C after 33 C the previous day! The Air NZ lounge at Napier has had a face lift and it is certainly a huge improvement. The flight from Napier to Auckland took off on time. It was fairly cloudy but the cloud cleared across the centre of the North Island. There were fabulous views of the four volcanic peaks, from Ruapehu, Ngauruhoi and Tongariro across to Mount Taranaki on the west of the island. There was evidence of the very warm summer we have had as there is virtually no snow on any of them. This area of the island is only sparsely populated and it looked very beautiful in the early morning light. The horizon had that misty early Autumn look and summer is definitely waning.

We landed on time after a very smooth flight, the highlight being a lolly scramble just before we landed! This must be a new feature on Air NZ flights, lol! The cabin attendant dropped the two bowls of lollies so we all scrambled, lol! 

After a brisk walk to the International terminal I collected my pre-paid for Australian dollars but then faced a huge queue to pass through security. I finally found the new 

Air NZ lounge and it is certainly up market! 

We boarded for Perth and the flight left about 20 minutes late. I had booked Business Class so it was a comfortable seat that can go flat, I so love being able to put my feet up, it sure saves my ankles from swelling up. The menus were out of print so the poor attendants had to read the choices out!

As the flight lasts six and a half hours I managed to watch two films, Star Wars and Spectre!

I enjoyed both of them but am rather sad Hans Solo was killed off!! I know there was a lot of criticism of Carrie Fisher but I think she has aged gracefully. There was certainly plenty of action at the start of Spectre, is this the end of James Bond, disappearing into the sunset with his girl??

We landed half an hour early in Perth and it was very hot. There was a bottleneck at the security check, two international flights in at the same time and only one person checking. She was sending a lot of people to have their bags checked but I was allowed straight through, phew!

The person picking me up was given the wrong time so I had a bit of a wait. It was fairly cool inside the terminal so I just relaxed and chilled out!

My friends were at a reunion so I made myself at home at their place, I had to make myself known to Charlie their dog again but he seems to remember me. After unpacking, I lay down on the bed and fell asleep for about an hour. It was then time to catch up with my friends!