It has been a slightly chaotic week with my flight to Washington via Houston affected by the Dreamliner engine issues (well done Rolls Royce, lol). It is departing Auckland three hours later so I would miss my onward connection. After much discussion with my travel agent and a phone call to Air NZ I am now flying direct from Houston to Fort Lauderdale so I will arrive while it is still Saturday, lol. The weather in Napier was not very pleasant, with rain and wind, however that does not bother me as I am leaving it behind, lol!
My friend took me to Napier airport and, after checking in, I settled in the lounge, after a while a message came over saying the inbound flight form Auckland was late!! That meant we would be late leaving, just as well I had plenty of time before my flight to Houston, lol! We departed about 39 minutes late, it was cloudy and dry leaving Napier but wet and windy upon arriaval in Auckland..
I spent a few hours in the Air NZ lounge before heading to the gate, we had to leave enough time to go through a TSA interview. This is a requirement from US Security for anyone travelling to or through the US. They need to see passport, boarding pass and eTicket/Itinerary, the latter to ensure we are returning to NZ, lol!
We were waiting to board when we were informed about a delay due to, a hydraulic leak. The Flight Captain came out to speak to us about the delay, it could be a further two hours and we were already late. He came back out a bit later and I asked him what the issue was, he said it was a Shutter Panel and an individual one can be closed off. It would only affect our take off if the plane was heavy but it was well under weight and would not affect us. So boarding commenced and we departed about one hour and a quarter late.
It was a good flight with not too much turbulance and we were only 50 minutes late so managed to make up some time. I did not sleep very much even though I had a lie flat bed but it was good to just lie down and relax after dinner. Passport control and secuurity were fine, with only short queues, I must say I prefer Houston to other airports in the US. We landed in Termnal D and had to catch the Sky Train to Termnal C for our Fort Lauderdake flight.
On the flight to FLL I heard these people in the row behind me saying they were from New Zealand so I turned round to ask them if they came on NZ28, my flight. They had done so, she lives in Wellington and he lives in Auckland but grew up in Taradale so went to the school I taught at, wow!, I know it is a small world but this is ridiculous. His name is Simon Davis and I did remember him, OMG, he remembered my name too.
United Airlnes decided that having boarded and seated all the passengers on our flight to FLL, it was just a practice for the real thing, lol! Enough already with the aircraft issues, we were informed of an issue with one of the air conditioning packs, LOL!! We were then advised the plane was out of service and we should go back to the gate. We were then informed our flight would leave from C39 not C6 where we were! Fortunately, it was a similar plane so we would not need to be allocated new seats, phew! I have assistance due to my bung left shoulder (surgery is set for November after, my travels for the year) and there were not many of the assiatants available for all the chairs so Simon and his friend wheeled me round to the gate and also helped me with my carry on bag. It was not very large but tricky to deal with as my right shoulder is not that brilliant!! They made the trip so much better for me and it all seemed hassle free, they were so lovely and I certainly appreciated their help..
Sunday
We eventually departed an hour and twenty minutes late so my long day just got longer, lol! We made up twenty five minutes on the flight so that was pretty good. Fort Lauderdale airport was ready to close up for the night, one cleaner was half dozing on his machine, so we held everyone up, lol It was a very pleasant early morning weather wise! I did not have to wait long for my friend to arrive and we headed for her home.
Her cat, Abby, was very shy last year but she has since come out of her shell and she came over to say hello to me! I have to be careful to close my bedroom door as she made a beeline for it when it was open, lol.
Abby has had a really good trim due to her fur getting matted and she looks like a small version of a lion, lol! After a shower, a lovely cup of tea and an English muffin I finally got to bed just after 3 am!! I finally slept for about five hours and thenate my breakfast in the enclosed patio outside overlooking the Gulf Stream. It is a very busy waterway and all day there have been boats and jet skis motoring up and down.
Jackie took me out to do a bit of shopping in the afternoon from a Publix and a Walmarts not too far away and stopped at a Starbucks for me to buy a coffee. It was good to get home, write my first blog for this trip and relax watching the action outside.
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