Journey started off with the realisation that we had in fact booked 2 Standard tickets on the Manchester train rather than First Class Carole thought she had secured at an unbelievable price (now entirely believable). The guard very kindly offered us free upgrades but we decided to sit tight as our 2 x 20kgs were by then firmly wedged under other cases.
Flight to Singapore great,Transit hotel a godsend even though we probably only had around three hours sleep. In no time we were bombing our way toward Christchurch. Passage smooth as until we emerged from over the Southern Alps above Canterbury Plain. I must admit that I do spend about 50% of my conscious flying time peering at the aircraft route/position screen, therefore I was aware that at this time we had a tail wind of 150km/hr. Coincidentally the Pilot warned of turbulence ahead and within 20 seconds of that understatement the plane dropped rapidly producing a few short-lived screams.It was obvious it was going to be a tricky landing as we made our first approach with wings dipping as the Pilot attempted to line up. It was actually no surprise when he aborted with the words " turbulence has made it necessary for us to try an alternative approach". The plane did another circuit and touched down quite hard with the brakes applied so firmly that it skewed violently before straightening. The friendly customs lady explained that conditions had forced the aircraft to land on the "short" runway so it's always hairy with a NWesterly - that's alright then!
Conditions in Christchurch hot and blustery.
We passed through the Passport checky bit and proceeded to the luggage collection hall with our coats and hand luggage. Carole's bladder, recognising that a proper toilet was available, immediately flipped into must-go-now mode forcing me to find a parking spot for our trolley. Setting the trolley against a pillar with one of those plastic brochure holders prompted me to bend forward and head butt said holder taking off the usual half a square inch of scalp. "Its nothing" Carole said, meaning it was actually a grotesque open wound on an otherwise featureless baldy wilderness.
Collecting our main bags we joined the X-ray queue and owing to the Chemist shop quantity of tablets in Carole's case we were pulled to one side (That's what I was saying anyway). For a change I was wrong and after a rescan we were free to go and meet Cath and the girls waiting in arrivals.
