Arriving in NZ

By the start of the last leg, a 10 hours from Brunei to Auckland I was really tired and wanted sleep. As soon as I was on the plane I settled for sleep and could feel myself drifting off. But no! Stewardess comes round with hand wipes (argh, that surgical smell again); 5 minutes later with headphones for the in-flight entertainment (my screen was broken again - I am so glad i bought lots of stuff myself); then later with peanuts, then later with dinner. It was only after a couple hours that things got quiet again and the interruptions stopped and I got some sleep, about 5 hours worth. Totally uncomfortable. I woke up feeling refreshed with a few hours to go and no sensation in my right arm, which wasn't right again until just before we landed.

By the time the plane landed I felt as if I had been travelling for a week. However, there was no luggage or customs drama (well, a minor panic from me over the legality of cashew nuts, I eventually binned). We didn't even crash once so that was really once.

I was met by Liz and Eve (picture), it was great to see familiar faces and given a bleary eyed drive home, where mostly all I could think about was how much my feet stank. Weather was a bit gloomy and my first impressions of New Zealand was that it looked a bit like Cornwall.