A leisurely breakfast followed by a frantic packing and checking of bags was our start to the day. We headed back to Westfields as we departed our accommodation to pick up some bread for lunch and the all-important morning coffee 😇 Zac and Belle like a babycino, here they are called “fluffies”…

Around the corner from the airport is the Antarctic Experience. We enjoyed three hours there learning about Antarctica, seeing penguins and husky dogs up close, a 4D movie, and riding an all-terrain vehicle called a Haggland. It was a great way to spend our last few hours in NZ, and consolidated for Zac and Sam a unit of work they had done in term three on Antarctica. 

We then returned our bus to the drop-off point and checked in with Air New Zealand. They have reduced staff and introduced self check-in. However, the terminal gave us an extra boarding pass and too few bag tags, and then the scanner at the bag drop stopped working. It took three staff to help me complete the check-in process after all, with the result being I am not very impressed with their system!!

Anyway, we had plenty of time to relax at the airport, near a playground and with free wifi (ie. all ages of our children covered 👍). We even ran into the Bowdens in the retail area, who arrived the same day as we did and are leaving the same day, albeit on a different airline.

It has been a great ten days, and the measure of a successful holiday for me is that everyone has a different list of favourite things (as well as safe travel, no illness and suitable weather of course). The weather has been fantastic – before we left, the weather forecast said Queenstown would rain for the whole week, but we have only seen sprinkling on the way home from Milford Sound, have enjoyed perfect weather and no transport problems. (I didn’t even break Ross on this trip by including too many kms each day!)