MIQ day's 4 & 5 September 27/28 2021

As we are at the stage where not  a lot is happening, I may as well combine 2 days. Pic above is the pile of paper bags - 1 delivered per meal.  They are well organised and I believe they have large whiteboards with all room numbers on them, and where they write any preferences, such as 'no marge, just butter' - though judging by my deliveries, there are occasional errors.  I also suspect they may have different boards for different meals as I stil seem to get some margarine.  

A slightly better sleep, but a cooked breakfast to look forward to. No pic as it was exactly as before.

Out after breakfast for a stroll – and I have to say, the exercise options here are generous, compared to several other MIQ facilities. We are given the times and don’t have to book. Just show the room key number and your wristband to security, who log you out then in again. This time I chatted to another inmate/traveller, which passed the time better.

Lunch I’d ordered the macaroni again, but it arrived without the juice, so a call to the very pleasant receptionist, who asked how many I wanted. As it is a very good fresh squeezed juice but a fairly small bottle, I opted for three… They arrived a few minutes later.

A nana nap followed and as we also have YouTube, I managed to watch a Chris Barber Jazz Band concert – or two.

Dinner was another new choice – butter chicken curry and rice. Very nice it was too. As with all the evening dishes so far, the meat has been tender and the portions generous. Maybe I will be putting on weight after all.

A later evening stroll – just a few laps and I should have taken the camera, as the light on a tall tree would have photographed well.

 

Tuesday and well into the enforced incarceration now, so almost a matter of just ticking along. I’d been debating how to heat food and as the only heating device is the kettle, I thought I’d try steaming the bread roll. A brioche roll as it happens and just the right size to sit atop the kettle. Back to the continental and afterwards, out for exercise, where all 4 groups are now allowed, but with a 40 person maximum, I went out a bit later, mainly as I was frustrated at trying to get Skype to work. More about that later. Ange and Rhys were out in the centre whilst the kids used chalk to draw all sorts of stuff on the car park.

They just happened to mention that they had a family room - and a microwave.  So, I rang reception asking if there was any chance of getting one. Lunch arrived (macaroni cheese again) and having considered sticking some milk into the kettle, heating it then adding the macaroni, I decided to wait and see if a microwave arrived, as that would be somewhat easier than cleaning out the kettle!
So far, nothing.

Most of the afternoon was spent trying to rescue my original Skype (mgmonza8), as since Microsoft, Facebook and Skype are now somewhat intermingled, it seems that a new Skype profile had been created that I knew nothing about, but I can’t get into my original one. Got fed up with various recovery options and password changes, email verifications and so on, so I have given up.

The nurses called in today for a temperature check, in addition to the usual daily phone call.

Dinner was another option I hadn’t tried. Pork spare ribs and once again, plenty of meat and nicely cooked – and two more bottles of juice. I’m actually posting this on Tuesday the 28^th, so I’m right up to date as nothing much will be happening tonight, though I may just do a couple of laps. So far, no rain here, whilst Auckland had a splash.   

MIQ Day 3 - Sunday September 26th 2021

Not quite as bad a sleep as before, but as for yesterday, a continental breakfast, but this time, tinned apricots – which were very nice.  Most of the other stuff I didn’t bother with then I spied a couple of magpies outside (no, not Notts County footballers) and one seemed to be more white than black. They were moving away so I chucked a couple of pieces of bread roll out onto the grass whilst I grabbed the camera. It seems they weren’t too keen on the bread roll either, as they left it, but a blackbird took it later.

Due to the demands of the day 3 Covid testing, no mid-morning exercise. Test duly carried out and an earlier than normal lunch delivery.

As mentioned earlier, there are 10 choices, A – J, and I’d chosen I, but somehow I got delivered J – noodles. A phone call to reception and a few minutes later, ‘I’ arrived – macaroni cheese and meatballs – and a can of lemonade. (I haven’t been drinking enough).

If it had been hot, it would have been excellent, but even an attack with the hair drier wasn’t enough to lift the temperature above mildly warm.

No afternoon exercise either, as the ‘green flight’ from Japan was scheduled to be processed from 1pm to 5pm. Quite why it would take that along, I’m not sure.

Another nana nap and dinner, so being Sunday, I’d chosen the beef, mash, vegetables and Yorkshire pud.
As with the lamb shank, beautifully tender beef brisket – and lots of it. I was full.

Dinner had arrived at 6:55 and exercise was open from 7pm, so I did just few laps out in the cool fresh air, but no one chatting.

As yesterday, a couple of phone calls to Paula, as she is also effectively isolated, whilst Auckland is still in lockdown level 3. Probably less fun for her than it is for me.

As from now on, most of the food will be repeats, so I won’t show anything other than a new meal option. Meanwhile, at least Monday morning is a cooked breakfast.     

 

MIQ Day 2 Saturday September 25th 2021

Another hopeless night’s sleep, so up again about 3am on the laptop for a while, but opted for some drinking chocolate. Note the expiry date… At least it wasn’t sweetened and happy enough to drop a sachet of sugar into it.

Breakfast (sic) arrived just after 8:15am - with an exercise schedule for Saturday.  Our group was 6:30am to 8:00am… Duh.  However, we could exercise after breakfast until 10:45.

I’m not a continental breakfast person, even when in Europe, but when I am, there is usually cheese, cold meats etc. not to mention warm croissants, Nutella, butter and other goodies.  Looking at today’s breakfast, I have to confess to considerable disappointment. The muffins or rolls usually go in the bin (along with the sachet of margarine) and a small portion of tinned pears plus a small yoghurt had to suffice, with the feijoa smoothie drunk later with lunch. The only protein would be in the milk and my preference is for high protein, low carb.  Fortunately, I had some coffee bags with me so had a fair coffee.

Out for exercise and enjoyed chatting to Rhys and Ange who have moved back to NZ after 20 years in London. I’d been in touch with Ange via the Facebook MIQ group so it was nice to be able to chat to someone. Several others seem to be solo travellers and make no attempt to chat even keeping a metre or two apart. We were the last to leave the exercise yard and back to our rooms. Pretty well the highlight of the day!

A nice chat to Paula and some computer work, but I never heard the knock to signify the arrival of lunch. I masked up (of course) and peeped out of the door and sure enough, the brown bag was there.

On day zero, although I didn’t care much for the lunch pizza, the fries really were very nice indeed so I’d ordered the corned beef sandwich with fries. Check out the pic and see if you can spot what was missing.

Once again, I was quite tired so took the nana nap option. No afternoon exercise option as there was another group arriving.

Dinner was in fact very nice. The lamb shank very meaty, well cooked and very happy with that choice, so I accompanied it with one of my precious cans of cider. One down, four left.

After dinner, there was an exercise option so I had two or three laps of the exercise yard – happy in the knowledge that we’d get an hour knocked off our sentence, thanks to the clocks moving forwards.

Another nice chat to Paula and I hit the sack at a respectable 11:15pm – or 12:15am, after starting to watch some of the Amazon Prime Grand tour.

So ended day 2 of 14. Roll on October 7^th.  Somehow, I don’t think I’ll be putting on weight in here.

      

MIQ Day 1 Friday September 24th 2021

Yesterday’s blog, covered some aspects of the room so today’s will include the supplies and the published menus – and today’s food, of course.

A rotten night’s sleep, hence computer work, Facebook and writing yesterday’s blog at 2am onwards.

Breakfast each day there is zero choice. Four days is a Continental (Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Boring.)

Friday and Monday a cooked breakfast so today’s was acceptable; scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage and hash browns and a small bottle of full cream milk. Not happy about a sachet of margarine though. Most places these days serve butter by default and those wanting margarine ask for it.

Wednesday – vegetable and spinach frittatas with hash browns and baked beans. I gather week 2 is exactly the same.

The lunch menu has 10 choices and is booked two days ahead.  Some of those choices are less than appealing and a bowl of minestrone soup and a bread roll after a continental breakfast just doesn’t cut it at any time.

The dinner menu also has 10 choices over the 14 days and once again, I deleted three straightaway, and later, on advice from a previous guest, I deleted a 4^th.

However, Thursday (arrival day) and today, lunch and dinner is ‘Chef’s choice’.

 

Pics should show the lunch and dinner options and you can make up your own minds about this, but it doesn’t compare favourably with some of the other MIQ hotels.  All very well being able to order from Countdown or Uber eats or other deliveries, but bear in mind that the delivery has to be before they do the rounds, so the chances are that any hot meal will be cold by the time it arrives and there are no microwaves in this establishment, nor toasters as far as I know. As one who usually prefers hot food to cold, for any meal, I guess I’ll just have to grin and bear it.

 

In terms of supplies, I thought it quite impressive, though I’m not sure about face masks and boxes of tissues made in China, bearing in mind where this pandemic started. There is a full container of washing up liquid, two dish cloths and tea towels with a small container of wash powder.  Toilet brush and a bottle of cleaner. Full container of bacterial hand wash, two bars of soap and a container each of shampoo and conditioner (extra supplies on request). Plenty of towels and toilet paper. No less than 8 bottles of water, milk, a yoghurt, a banana and a small piece of chocolate brownie and a bag of corn chips. Plenty of instant coffee, teas and drinking chocolate, a sharp knife and a bottle opener. I haven’t found an iron but I won’t need one for the clothes, though it might be useful for warming a roll or scone!

A nod in the afternoon after a Chef’s choice lunch of a sandwich, then the all-important knock on the door about 4pm, with a clear Covid result and issued with a blue wristband, entitling me to exercise. I was  informed I could go straight out for exercise and also leave my bagged rubbish outside the door.

So off I went. Clock in at security then walked out to the car park/exercise yard. I think I must have been about the first out there. My ankle was still a bit sore but wearing crocs, I was happy enough walking around in circles, with two defence force personnel and a security guard manning the gate. Oh how times have changed. Fifty years ago, I was the one in uniform, supervising the exercise of remand prisoners...
A fallen lemon found its way into my pocket.

Reading through the issued notes again from the hotel, local and national phone calls were free so I rang Paula. Although internet so far has been excellent, my rarely used mobile just seems to drop out when it feels like it, so a land-line works fine. No echo as per WhatsApp when in the UK.

Dinner (Chef’s choice again) was salmon and vegetables with a kumara rosti and thankfully, I’d got some of my appetite back and I even managed the chocolate mousse dessert. I found out later, reading through the hotel blurb, that I could ask for juice or a soft drink with a meal, but there was nothing on the menus. Noted for the next deliveries.

A bit more computer work then I found out that not only does the smart TV have Netflix, but also Amazon Prime. An explanation of how to operate the remote would have been useful, but no doubt that sort of stuff is available in the rooms when not in MIQ conditions.

One day down and 13 to go. I still have the 5 cans of cider that were in my luggage, so as yet, I haven't turned to drink…

    

 

MIQ day zero - September 23rd, 2021

The airport policeman got on our coach at the ground floor terminal, and from a well prepared script on his phone, told us we were going to the Distinction Hotel -  Hamilton.  A collective groan from the passengers… The reason I hadn’t considered this option, was because the hotel had been closed for maintenance and therefore there was no knowledge about a reopening date. I think we may well be the first group.
We stepped off the internal airport coach and went through various checks, health screening, immigration and MAF (Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries). I declared my two cans of cherry pie filling, much to the amusement of the MAF officer and was directed to the Johnston’s coach, but advised to use the toilet facilities before boarding  - which I did. Only the central side door of the coach was open, the front having a screen behind it to isolate the driver.  I sat just behind the door, assuming I’d be off quicker than sitting at the front or the rear.

About 22 people boarded coach #1 then we had to wait for the luggage to be loaded. Note that you don’t collect your luggage or even sight it at the airport, so you just hope it has all arrived.

The driver clearly explained what was going on and about the procedures and eventually we set off for a leisurely trip to Te Rapa, on the northern edge of Hamilton and my Sat Nav forecast an arrival time of 10:55am.

Although we have stayed at Hamilton numerous times, for badminton matches, this hotel (and conference centre) was new to me. Two storeys only and the first thing I noticed was that all rooms had opening top windows, which I was extremely happy to see, as one of my fears was a sealed window and a reliance on air conditioning.

Once in past the defence force personnel who are overall in charge of security, we stopped at reception and the manager got on the coach and performed a Maori welcome, which seemed to meet the approval of most on the coach, before handing over to the defence force officer who explained a few rules and regulations and asked that we disembark from the coach, from the centre. I was 3^rd off and we followed the taped lines through the large hall and once again, some basic screening, before being handed a room key and pointed in the direction of the accommodation.

In the first corridor, were all the cases lined up and we were invited to grab our luggage. With no trolleys, two cases and a carry on meant slow progress but after two right turns, I found my room.

The pics should tell the story. A decent sized room with two queen sized beds. More than usual, I embarked on a quick mission to check things out.

Big ticks for the following:

Room:

As above, opening windows.

Large flat screen smart TV at the correct height for watching when in bed – more on that later.

Two easy chairs and a swivel office chair a small glass topped coffee table

Large desk area on which the TV was standing

Excellent bedside lights – one fixed and one LED on a swivel

Large storage area for the cases

In-room safe in a drawer (not that anyone will be entering) plus a hair drier (reputedly good for heating up cold food…)

Plates, cereal bowls and metal cutlery (some MIQ hotels only use disposable cutlery).

Kettle – of course.

Fridge

Decent bathroom with the wash basin at the right height

Shower with glass door (no bath)

I’ll list the supplies and paperwork in a later post.

So far so good, then a knock on the door signalling lunch had arrived. So, close the window, put on the supplied mask, wash hands, open the door and grab the paper bag left outside. A mini (lukewarm) pizza with a side salad and rather good hot chips. (Should be a pic.)

Middle of the afternoon I’d had about three telephone calls including one to order my meal for the Saturday lunch and dinner (more on that later). I also asked if they could supply some raw or brown sugar as there was only white in the room (other than what I’d brought!). A health check. Then a call to say they were coming shortly for the day zero/arrival Covid test and to not go to bed.  Sure enough, they were soon around and you have to stand in the doorway as you aren’t allowed outside the room at all, not even to dump the rubbish, until a negative test result.

The afternoon meant a nana nap and a check/unpack sorting of the luggage – one case had been opened by MAF. They were probably curious as to the several tubes of toothpaste – or maybe the cherry pie filling?

Another knock about 6:15pm and dinner. At this point, I was feeling a bit low, even though I’d chatted to Paula, and for some reason, I didn’t feel very hungry. Chicken and vegetables plus a lamington but I only ate the vegetables and a tiny bit of chicken and put the rest of the chicken in the fridge. The rest of the food I dumped and wasn’t at all impressed that it was a sachet of margarine with the roll.

The evening was uneventful and despite the afternoon nod I was tired, but I did make myself a coffee, using a coffee bag I’d brought.

So that was day zero.  For the next 14 days it will probably be little more than a food blog, though the next one, I’ll go through some of the room supplies. 

The last pic is the view from the room towards reception.  Pleasant and quiet.

           

A catch up before MIQ starts

Although this is being written at silly-o’clock, Friday September 24^th, for the purposes of the blog intent, we have to go back a few days, to Monday the 20^th.

After three tiring days of the Goodwood Revival race meeting, I headed off to Boscombe/Bournemouth early, before racing had finished.  In fact, well before, as due to rolling my ankle and a consequent a fall on the 5^th, leaving the ankle swollen, (not to mention a bruised chest and cut nose!) all the walking had taken its toll and I also wanted to leave before the mad rush.

I was staying the night fairly close to the city centre, prepared for a Covid test at 8:30am Monday, at the Arcade in Bournemouth. This had been pre-booked (£99) weeks ago and luckily for me, I didn’t plan to have it done on the Sunday afternoon, as Singapore changed their requirements from a test within 72 hours, to a test within 48 hours of the flight, even for transit passengers. I also realised that a test result within 36 hours wasn’t going to work either, so I knew that I’d then have to pay an extra £90 to get the results by midnight Monday. Expensive.

There are now test centres at Heathrow and I believe they are much cheaper and can get the results in about 4 hours. I wasn’t prepared to leave it that late.

I duly arrived at the test centre a little early and told them of the time change and they eventually sorted that out. The staff were brilliant.

To say that I was on edge later in the evening would be an understatement. At about 11:15pm, nothing. So I got ready for bed and left the computer on. Sure enough. The negative result came through OK before midnight. A huge sigh of relief and I sent a copy straightaway, to my wife, who was terrified that I wouldn’t be able to get back until next year. Some wives might have been overjoyed at that prospect, but not mine.

Tuesday, about 5:30pm, I dropped off the SixT rental car at the Sofitel Hotel, terminal 5, and their shuttle took me to Terminal 2. Mandatory mask on as soon as you enter the airport. Incidentally, an interesting chat to another shuttle passenger, who is promoting or consulting on ‘District Heating Schemes’, powered by incinerating waste – as per Nottingham’s long running scheme that has been in operation for almost 50 years. 

Before checking in, I did a bit of repacking of the two cases. I had already had two issues with the newest case, bought cheaply at Paddy’s Market in Sydney for the magnificent sum of $32. The first was one of the two handles broke on arrival in the UK, necessitating an attack by myself and my brother, to remove the rest of it. Then in Bournemouth, the built in combination lock on the zips wouldn’t release, so another attack with my other brother to get in.  Then just to round things off, the other handle broke at the airport… I’m not overly enamoured with a lot of Chinese manufacturing.

No queue at the Singapore Airlines check in and they duly checked the Covid test result that a friend had printed out for me on the way through, and of course, the all-important MIQ voucher. I wasn’t expecting any problems and the bonus was that the Singapore lounge had reopened.

The staff bring the food to you and it was a tasty chicken curry though the rice was a mix of OK, or dry and crispy - or undercooked. Picture #1. No cider, so I had to make do with a bitter lemon

A prompt 8:50pm departure from Heathrow.

As with the flight from Auckland, business class was virtually empty and I have to say that of the four SA legs, this was the only one where the food service was up to the normal standard, with each course served separately – and the satay chicken starter was excellent, as was the salmon.  The main of what I think they called chicken biryani was also excellent.

I skipped coffee and dessert and got my head down. About 13 and half hours later, we landed at Singapore, (Changi), gate A10. We were lined up at the exit to the ramp, issued with a wristband, had our temperature’s checked then escorted to B1 X-Ray and literally straight onto the aircraft. At a guess, there would have been about 40 passengers in total.

A prompt arrival at Auckland at just after 8am and then the MIQ officially started at 8:05am.

As you may have gathered from the pics so far, food is very much part of my life!  The final pic was breakfast. I really don't care much for muffins unless full of fruit, so that was left on the plate.        

 A police official boarded the airport coach.  Where were we going to be imprisoned?  My bets were 50/50, Rydges in Auckland or Distinction in Christchurch, based on the hotel tracker spreadsheet that someone had started some months ago.

Read tomorrow’s instalment for the full story on the MIQ experience.

Singapore and on to Heathrow

With the prospect of a 13:25 hour flight rolling over to over 14 hours, I was grateful for the opportunity to at least lie down. Being tall and with a long history of back issues at both ends of the spine, although initially I considered business class a waste of money, flying this sort of distance, it becomes a SKI trip. (Spending Kids’ Inheritance).

I forgot to mention that WiFi on board was available, so I was able to send emails to my wife. She was so surprised. No cost at that travel level either.
At just over 14 hours when a normal night’s sleep rarely even reaches 8

hours, then the meals become a highlight. Whether the fuller section meant better meals or not, I really wouldn’t know, but as my hearing isn’t the best and the flight attendant had a very heavy accent, plus the muffled effect of the face mask, I wasn’t at all sure what I’d selected.  It turned out to be a king prawn starter followed by fish with vegetables which was fine.
Sleep was spasmodic, so I tended to wear my headphones with a built in micro card and dozing to my favourite music, though I was glad when the lights came back on and we could order ‘breakfast’ at 4am local time.

I had to smile when we were crossing Europe and saw ‘Bad Aussee’ as a place.

This time, deciphering the breakfast options was even more difficult, but I suspect it may have been a pancake, noodle bowl or what I thought was chicken omelette.

What I actually got was a slab of lilac coloured rice, a small square of plain omelette, some sort of shredded, toasted coconut and vegetable, something probably tomato based – and chicken curry!

That was a first. It was actually quite delicious. The coffee was quite small and the cold milk in a sachet – but at least this time, it was sachets of raw sugar.

The arrival at Heathrow terminal 2 was straight forward enough at about 6:40 instead of of 5:55.  That didn’t worry me too much as the car rental wasn’t open at Terminal 5, until 7am anyway.

We walked the usual long trip to the smart gates – no queue, so straight through to the luggage carousel. This is when it got a little farcical.
The carousel is fed by two ramps so you stand close to one, but can’t see across to the other, or that side of the carousel. One case came off fairly quickly, but the other one didn’t.

I then noticed that although some cases came up the ramp on our side, nothing seemed to be coming around for another lap. So I wandered up to the end of the carousel, and sure enough, an airport employee was offloading ALL the cases that came past him, including those that had just popped up the ramp.  Needless to say, I found my other case stacked in one of the two lines of about 40 cases each… Not impressed, but it merely emphasises that you often need to be aware of the systems they are operating.
Once retrieved, I headed straight out (no arrival cards, no MAF inspections, no declarations of any sort). Meanwhile, Brits returning to one of the other terminals were queuing for hours.

I’d checked the paperwork for the car rental and in the past, you just had to wait for the shuttle, which was usually up to ten minutes. This time, I’d received an email stating that you had to ring to be picked up – and I hate using a mobile phone, but the number given was slightly different from the one before. My first attempt failed - because the phone was still in flight mode. Dummy. I was just about to try again and the van rolled up anyway. Temperature was around 15.5C, but it rose to the mid- twenties  - and stayed there.

So far, the actually journey aspects have been straightforward, but when I arrived in Nottingham, mid-afternoon, the Boots day 2 test kit was waiting, so before I’d even had a freshen up, I went online to activate the test. Luckily, Microsoft Edge had saved my login details!

The self-test instructions were very clear.  The same swab for the back of the throat where your tonsils are (or were in my case) for five twirls, being very careful not to touch the cheeks or teeth, then right up the nostril for another ticklish 5 twirls. Into the test tube and into the liquid. Sealed up as per the instructions and boxed with a Post Office tracker label and my son took it straight off to the post whilst I had a much needed shower and shave. He’d just missed the 3pm Sunday post so the test should have arrived at Boots Nottingham, not so far away, hopefully Monday morning. (Boots is a Nottingham company and the only real survivor of the big three – Raleigh bicycles and John Player tobacco, no longer part Nottingham’s major employment heritage.)

Tuesday morning, first thing, the negative test result through, so all good.

 

My next bog post will probably be around September 20^th after the pre-departure test.  Fortunately, as it happens, I wasn’t able to get a test on the Sunday, as by the time I expect to arrive at Bournemouth, after three days of Goodwood, places would be closed, so it is 8:30am on the Monday.

Fortunately? Singapore only recently advised that as from September 9^th, transit passengers (including the UK) would need a test within 48 hours, not the previous 72. With test fees not being refunded and already having to commit to an extra £90 just to get the results back in 24 hours, that could have been an issue, but since I booked, there are now several places within the Heathrow area able to do the test quicker – and much, much cheaper.

Ho hum. Some are profiting from Covid and some of us are paying through the nose – literally.     

       

       

Travelling through Covid times

Although this is primarily a blog around the 14 day’s MIQ, I decided it also needed to cover the Covid impact on my travel, or how the travel went, out and return. 

I generally use Super Shuttle to get to the airport, as it effectively means the trip/holiday starts from your front door and there are no painfully long drawn-out airport farewells, where the departing party can’t wait to get away and those left behind try to drag things out to the last minute. The shuttle was booked for 10:40am (they chose the time) and the luggage (two cases and a wheelie bag) were by the front door by 10am.  At 10:10, I looked out of the window to see the van out there, patiently waiting, so it was a rapid farewell to my lovely, lonely wife, stuck at home in lockdown, and I was away.

Mask on.

A good chat with the driver, as I moved up to the front passenger seat once around the corner, and usually, we go via the city and suburbs to pick up from several hotels and private residences. However, as travel of any sort is so restricted, and the one time when a longer drive would have been appreciated, no other pickups. So the journey to the airport was direct, arrival being way too early for a 14:10pm flight..
The airport pickup/drop-off area was deserted and I decided that as I had about 40 hours ahead of me, deprived of fresh air and sunlight, I may as well sit outside in the early spring sun and make the most of it.

Security at the terminal were only allowing in passengers and the only check-in counter open was Singapore Airlines.

I handed over my folder with printouts of the negative covid test, UK pre arrival travel locator and the receipt for the day 2 arrival test.  

The rest of the departure hall was totally empty. I knew the lounge was closed and mentioned it to one of the check in team and she brought me a $35 voucher.

Total baggage weight across the two cases was about 31.5kg, Less than 5% off my estimate.

Up the escalator to the departure level and the shutter was down, so along with other passengers, we sat around until they opened at 12:05. Straight through the E gate and X-ray.

Everywhere was closed! No Duty Free. No magazines. Nothing - except for ‘Vantage’, the bar and food outlet. No hot food on offer, just cold drinks, coffee and sandwiches.

So to use up the voucher, it was a coffee (nowhere near large enough, a bottle of coke and a bottle of apple juice. The sandwich was awful, so I picked out the filling and dumped the bread.

I estimate there were not more than about 40 people on the flight and unusually, we boarded a bus which drove us around the airport and boarded at the tail of the aircraft via the steps. The first row to have anyone on it was row 15. Me. I think there were only about 5 or 6 people in that section of the aircraft.

Departure was on time (and why not?) and lunch was ‘beef cheeks with a cheesy polenta mash. Pity it hadn’t been heated up enough.

A ten hour flight to Singapore and also dinner en route after trying to doze plus watching the 1966 film "Grand Prix". 
That meal was much better and extremely tasty but the slow cooked lamb would have benefitted by an extra half an hour or so, slightly curried, plus okra and other bits and pieces as sides, . As with lunch, the bar of whatever it was for dessert, I ignored. Somewhat surprisingly, for both meals, the bread roll was cold. Generally I rate the AirNZ food better - oh, and no cider on board either.  

Touchdown in a wet Singapore a tad early, and then the restrictions bit in again.

Still masked up – of course, we walked off the aircraft and lined up 1m apart, eventually in two lines and were issued with a green wrist tag. Only when we were all off, were we escorted for the ten minute walk almost as far as the steps down to immigration, where those with business class tickets were diverted to a fenced off lounge area where tables etc. were 2m apart.

Before I left, I’d been on the interweb, and it stated that business class passengers could order food which would be delivered to them. H’mm. I think you had to scan in on your phone for a limited range of options, but I have no idea if the food was complimentary or not.

No toilets. So I asked the attendant where they were and exited the area to join the other passengers. There was a food cart selling snacks and also taking orders for the same food as in the other lounge.  I passed on that and certainly passed on a beer at $13.

When the flight was called, we lined up again in lines but when the marshal led off, there was no one calling 1 line at a time, so within 2 seconds, 1m spacing was out the window.

We were then halted until the queue for the X ray machines had gone (there were plenty of passengers joining us for the next leg).

Bear in mind we’d had no opportunity to purchase anything or acquire anything since the scan at Auckland, we had a slow processing of a more thorough scan, inasmuch as watch off, belt off etc.

Then the usual departure lounge area until we boarded, ready for an 11:30pm flight – masks still on remember – to London, but this time, the flight appeared to be full. Before we’d even started  moving, the captain informed us that the flight would be about 45 to 50 minutes longer than scheduled, at almost 14 hours, possibly to avoid bad weather. Oh deep joy…