A dodgy start

Tuesday 22^nd Feb    23.30 hours

Well it was a rocky start to the trip which almost saw me miss my flight and have a 1km dash from Wetherspoon’s  Bar to the departure gate. I lost track of time and didn’t realise that they board early for long haul flights and not 5 minutes before like the “Easyjet” trips I am more accustomed to.

I was sat at the bar thinking I had plenty of time when I  casually glanced  up from reading a very interesting article in the Daily Star about Katy Price only to see on the giant TV screen the words “Gate Closing” next to my flight number !!!!!.

I grabbed my bag and raced out of the bar leaving a whole pint of Kronenberg ( at £4.45 by the way !!! ) and sprinted through the entire airport to what turned out to be the furthest possible departure gate in the whole bloody place. Naturally I couldn’t keep the sprint up the whole way and gradually subsided to a wheezing, panting jog occasionally speeding up as I forced my way through a succession of those moving walkways that carry you at a whole 1 mph quicker than everyone else.

By the time I reached the departure gate I was sweating like someone who was probably carrying a small explosive device in their shoe so was eyed up suspiciously by the security guards before being allowed onto the flight.

This debacle was the icing on the cake after learning at the check in desk on arrival at Heathrow that they had no record of me completing my ESTA travel visa ( for entry to the USA) as requested so was sent away to the internet café to do so all over again. I wouldn’t mind but I had completed said document months ago so god knows what happened there. Thirty minutes later I had completed the VISA on line and as a precaution I took a photo of the final screen with the completion code as proof. I presented myself to the check in lady again only to be met with a blank face when she checked her system and found no VISA !!!   I smugly showed her my photo as proof showing my recept for £30 together withverification code only to be told that I had been scammed and had been taken to a fraudulent website and charged four times the price for nothing…..bugger !

In the end they felt sorry for me and took me to First Class check in where a nice lady competed the visa for me using my “I phone” over the net and then checked me in straight after. A porter then came and collected my bike box and took it away for me without weighing it and without charging me £35 in excess baggage costs as I was 9kgs over my allowance… Result !!   It looked like I was going to be travelling in style.  I was then shown through to the first class passport control desk bypassing all the “Peasants” in the economy class queue only to be turned straight back again as I had not been bumped up to first class as I thought but booked into Cattle Class with everyone else. … Damn !

Anyway I needed a drink after all that so hit Wetherspoon’s for a beer to settle my nerves and that’s where we kicked off this story. So here I am, on board and flying over Winnipeg in Canada about 3 hours short of LA where I change planes. I will not be hitting any bars this time and will be paying close attention to the departure times from now on or this could be a longer cycle than I intended.

A stressful start but at least I am half way there.  

Wed 23^rd Feb 1200 hours

Landed in Auckland and spent two hours getting through customs who inspected my bike and tent like it was a Biological Weapon. Thankfully they let me keep the bike intact and sterilised my tent instead, and all for free !!

I’m now sat at my friend Tania’s house in the warm sun with the cicada’s chirping away in the background planning the next couple of days. I have to rebuild my bike, buy a local mobile phone and give a talk to a class of 12 year olds at the local school who are going to be following my trip across their country as a class project. I better keep my blog clean then eh ???

Well, I think its time for a nap now so catch you later.