The day before departure

There was a time when you lobbed a few changes of clothes into a case, made sure you had your washing and shaving kit and a paperback book to read.  Packing time back then, about 10 minutes.

On the previous post, I showed a section of my spreadsheet, but a quick check tonight lists no less than 226 individual items, to take out and an expected 208 to bring back! However, that isn’t a classic example of over packing, more of ‘Being Prepared’, as some items I’m packing are only for MIQ on my return, such as a Wasgij’ jigsaw (Google it!) but without the box, and a decent knife and fork, as most MIQ’s issue disposable plastic cutlery. Each individual document has also been listed which includes hotel  and rental car bookings, but also a swag of Covid specific stuff. 

Overall, the biggest change to packing is the technology.  As a youngster, it would have been one film camera and maybe two or three rolls of film.  This time, two DSLR full size camera bodies, two lenses, plus another DSLR with a fixed lens, a compact camera, cables, chargers, spare batteries, memory cards etc. Then there’s the need for a portable hard drive (and cable), external DVD drive – and cable plus the Sat Nav, (and cable), mobile phone, battery pack and so on.

On the outward journey, and most important, is a kilo and a half of NZ’s Whittaker’s chocolate – which won’t be coming back!  Various other odds and sods that will be delivered or abandoned (old socks, a jacket, a sweater etc.), and although not heavy, a pile of the paperwork, some of which is essential - which brings me onto the Covid travel requirements – again.

The first critical sheet was the result of the Covid test, taken Thursday 12 noon (yesterday).  I was promised a result before 8pm and the Dr’s contact details if I hadn’t received it. Luckily, he’d also stated that before panicking and ringing, check the Spam folder. As my usual address is NOT a gmail address, I had to consult Mr Google to find the spam folder.  Sure enough, that was where the result was hiding. A huge sigh of relief.

The receipt for the arrival (Day 2) test from Boots was the next piece of paper. That was easy.

The final pieces of paper were printouts of the UK’s “Declaration of travel”. The wording on some of the information wasn’t exactly crystal clear. Reading some, it was to be filled in up to 48 hours before arrival, and others were within 48 hours of arrival. Opposite meanings.  So after registering and wading through (and the inevitable ‘one time password’ sent to the mobile phone) several pages, it was then obvious that it was WITHIN 48 hours.

So even before I’d found the Covid result, I managed to fill in the form and get it accepted. Once they had been printed out, I could visibly relax.

Ironically, these days, it doesn’t seem to matter if you leave the ticket on the kitchen bench, as the passport is generally all that is required, but this time, I have pasted a copy of the vaccination details in it, just in case.  I also applied for a letter from the ‘Minister of Health’, confirming the vaccination details.

Once those official documents had been printed out and collated into my travel folder, the remaining paperwork was of no real consequence.

Whilst Auckland is in level 4 lockdown, I’m probably luckier than those left behind. Even though the Business Class lounge is closed, I’ll be relieved to getting checked in.  Unfortunately, not only is the lounge at Auckland closed, but due to the closed bubble with Australia, so are just about all the food outlets. Last month, only one was open.

So, all being well, the journey is about to start and the return into MIQ is an arrival time of 8:00am, September 23^rd.  We have no idea where which MIQ facility but thanks to someone tracking the arrivals, let’s see if my prediction of Auckland is correct. More of that when I return.