AWKWARD IN AUCKLAND
Our arrival to Auckland airport was as chaotic as we anticipated due to thousands of people being stranded courtesy of the Chilean volcano spewing out an obese ash cloud over most of New Zealand. What was meant to be a 12hr stopover in NZ en route to Santiago, Chile (precisely where the volcano was doing it’s thing), turned out to be a three day squat in unassuming Auckland. We checked into a nice hotel in the heart of the city and made the most of our free accommodation courtesy of our travel insurance. We ventured into the streets of the city and were both super impressed (and surprised!) with the trendy and stylish hub that seemed to be hosting more foreign strandees than local Aucklanders. Much to our nonchalance, we absolutely loved Auckland (which we’d previously written off as just a stopover destination) as its side alleys offering hole-in-the-wall bars, cafes and pubs squeezed amongst some world class shopping made our stay a super enjoyable and unexpected one. The next few days consisted of waiting for the ash cloud to get over itself and move out of our way but to no avail. So, in hope of kick starting our journey beyond our backyard, we decided to flip the itinerary on it’s head and booked flights to LA instead. Due to the super last minute plans, we were super lucky to score seats on a flight that went via Tahiti as there was such a massive backlog of poor buggers trying to reach their final destination. Upon checking in one hour before it closed, we were politely informed at the desk that we couldn’t board the flight without a printed ticket of our flight exiting the US at risk of us deciding to stay in the US and we would be deported upon touching down on Californian soil. After a major panic attack and a brief soiling of the Bonds cottontails, we waded our way through the ocean of stranded people to an empty desk with a phone. Totally random, but well received! I jumped on the phone like a cougar at the Exchange Hotel on a Friday night and frantically dialed the travel agent back in Oz… No answer… Then tried again, and alas, was answered by Chrissy the branch manager who just happened to be my agent and gorgeous cousin. Within 10 minutes, Chrissy had efficiently sorted out some bogus exit flights and emailed it through to us so we could dash back over to the now closing desk and squeeze our asses on that goddamn plane! After wiping the sweat from our steaming brows, we found ourselves sitting on the plane bound for Tahiti, looking at each other in dismay of what just happened… And what just nearly DIDN’T happen!
WIN:
Stumbling across the delights of Auckland that wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for poor ol’ Chile’s unfortunate situation. And Chrissy’s impressive efforts to get us on our way, deportation free.
FAIL:
Dear Chilean Volcano: seriously, could you have chosen a worse time to erupt? We think not.
theflightclub 