Up bright and early this morning - 7am! Checked the news etc and unfortunately the train still isn't running. I rang an airport transfer company, but the earliest they could take us was 12pm for our 5.35pm flight and it'd cost $44 (£30) each! The main thing is we want to get there early and much less
about the cost. The roads are clear now so we needed to get there while we could.

Paul had already offered to take us a couple of times but we wanted to try make our own way rather than putting him a risk. Mel and Paul insisted we let them give us a lift, so we took them up on the offer.
We quickly got ourselves ready and made some lunch supplies, after saying a big thank you and farewell to Mel. We've had such a great time with them regardless of the weather. Paul dropped Mel at work and by 9am we were on the road to the airport.

Fortunately, the roads were completely clear and the motorway to the airport is really good and has a huge high bridge going over the river. We were at the airport for 10am thanks to Paul. 7 hours early, but we weren't bothered, we just wanted to get there. We said farewell to Paul and then it was a waiting game in departures. A "king tide" was due at 4pm meaning the water level could rise and flood the landing strip.
Time passed pretty quick - I caught up on the blogs and Therese read her book. Before we knew it, it was time to check in. We passed a bit more time with a beer in the bar...best way to pass time. They has the news on as well with video showing all the flooding in Brisbane from up in a helicopter. The flooding is all around the airport too, but fortunately it's built higher up. The flooding is really devastating though and they say it could take two years to repair Brisbane. They're also saying that the Great Barrier Reef is going to be affected in parts.

We made it! The flight was only slightly delayed but nothing to do with the floods and the king tide caused no problems. RELIEVED!

Had a decent flight with Qantas - nice Thai curry meal, bit of red wine, coffee and toblerone etc. Then sat back and watched Megamind with an ice lolly. Crap little TV like you used to get on those long haul flights though.

We landed in Auckland on time - 23.55pm! Took just over 3 hours and then it's another 3 hours forward on the clocks. We're 13 hours ahead of UK now. Got through security, immigration and past all the rigmarole of "bio-security" where they check if you are bringing any food in or have been hiking in forests - I didn't bother telling them we'd been attacked by leeches, don't fancy being in quarantine!

Walked outside the airport and used the Super Shuttle service into the city - $18.50 (£9.25) each. Everything seemed quite English looking on the drive in - small streets and stuff.
We're staying at the YHA International - $32 (£16) each per night for a 4-bed dorm. Much cheaper than Oz! It was about 1.30am by the time we got to our room and there was a guy asleep. Well, he was until I kicked the metal ladders on the bunk bed - oops.
Not sure we'll have a good nights sleep - seem to be able to hear everything from outside!

So glad we've managed to get out of Oz! Hoping everything goes smoother in New Zealand...