Farewell Australia

Matt did join me on my run this morning and we did the same route I did yesterday just backwards. I think he maybe gets a little bored as I'm quite slow but it is a lovely route and I chatted pretty much the whole way round. Back at the hostel we showered, sorted ourselves out and checked out. However, we were still allowed to use the facilities so we went and had breakfast: back to muesli this morning. It did take us some time to find our milk as people had pushed our bag right to the back of the fridge. I thought someone might have stole it but eventually Matt found it. 

Because we'd taken our time we ended up setting out from the hostel at nearly 11 after booking a train to the airport for 2pm. We felt we'd seen most of Brisbane already so just wandered round the local area, not finding much and ended up going into the supermarket to buy food for lunch and tea. We got some fillers for some sarnies that would hopefully keep us going at the airport and found some rock cakes that were on offer so treated ourselves. We ended up eating one on the way back from the supermarket because we're like impatient children. They were pretty yummy and not too sweet. I'll be making some of them when I'm home. I might just have a day of cooking and baking and invite people round to eat all of the food. I may have to charge a couple of quid entry as I'll have no money and mum will have to buy all the food. Thanks mum in advance! 

Back at the hostel we collected our bags and walked down to the station to catch our train. It only took 20 minutes so we were extremely early to the airport but this meant we could check our bags in and Skype home. The airport was pretty empty when we arrived but luckily the baggage check in opened not long after. We'd been told when we booked our flights almost a year ago that we just needed to pay $45 each at the airport for a bag. I'd double checked on this statement at the time as I thought it strange. We thought about looking it up on the internet just in case before we got to the airport but forgot and so when we got to the desk we were told it would cost $120 per bag. I nearly cried. In fact I did cry. Matt was all ready to just pay it because he thought we had no choice until I suggested just checking in one bag. The guy at the desk was helpful but thought we were pretty stupid for not doing it online in the first place. After a 10 minute struggle to get my big rucksack down to 7kg (Virgin Australia are tight when it comes to hand luggage) and fit all the heavy stuff in Matt's we managed it and so only ended up spending an extra $15 each more than we thought we'd have to. Drama over. 

I managed to FaceTime my mummy as she was on her way to Scotland. We were both going to beautiful mountainous countries! After that we went through security and pretty much went straight to our gate, giving ourselves a little bit of time to eat sandwiches (I had tuna as you can get these little tuna pots that are flavoured for a dollar and they fill two sandwiches which would be ideal for my dad's sarnies). The plane set off at 6pm but we weren't impressed with Virgin Australia. Ryanair are just as nice. Although we did get a free cup of tea. 

We made it to Auckland at 11pm (New Zealand time) but had a little trouble getting out of the airport because they don't allow you to bring certain foods through. We'd brought our muesli and nuts and raisins and fruit over with us as we hadn't eaten it yet. They confiscated our satsumas as fresh fruit isn't allowed but they were very friendly about the whole thing. You can get fined $400 if you don't declare foods it was lucky we did! 

Just outside of the airport was the bus that took us to the famous K road where our hostel was. It was Friday night so it was a little busy walking to our hostel. Our first impression of Auckland was a good one. As it was nearly 1am when we checked in we went straight to bed so we'd be fresh for a day of exploring tomorrow. It was also very cold so I just wanted to wrap myself up in my duvet. I may be needing a coat...