HOME TO INVERCARGILL 1 Dec. '09

HOME TO INVERCARGILL – 01 December 2009 As I pulled the larger of my bags to load into the car, a wheel fell off. No time now to fix it, it would fly 3-wheeled. An omen? Heading back for the third summer (USA winter) in New Zealand , something told me I needed to be prepared for any contingency that might arise: cancelled/delayed flights, overweight baggage, I was prepared for it all … almost. Clean underwear, pajamas, and hygiene products went into the backpack that would be my carry-on. If my bags were overweight, I was prepared to fling open the offending bag right there on the floor of the terminal in front of the check-in desk and transfer the 3 or so pounds to another bag. It wouldn't be the first time. For faster check-in at the airport, I joined the first class line. I struck up a conversation with the man ahead of me and learned that two flights had been canceled and the agents were scrambling to accommodate the displaced passengers, of which he was one. They all seemed to be in this line. It took 45 minutes to get to the agent, while ironically the economy line did not appear to be affected. My smaller bag topped out at 53 pounds (Air NewZealand allows 70), but the agent had more important things to consider. There was a problem with the system that prints baggage tags, so she not only had to register the bags electronically, but then make out old fashioned, hand written paper tags. I made sure they were checked all the way to Invercargill at the southern tip of New Zealand 's South Island . By arrival at LAX (Los Angeles), my least favorite airport in the world, I had been on my way for seven hours. Negotiating LAX was more problematic than it should have been. Misdirection from a uniformed worker sent me the wrong way pushing a luggage cart with my back pack and "personal bag" across several lanes of traffic, through a parking garage, and physically lifting the cart onto the side walk by terminal 2. Then I had to get another set of boarding passes from Air New Zealand and go through security again. I was wanded (I never get through easily since a knee replacement) and sent to wait until boarding. With a 12+ hour flight over the Pacific Ocean , there was plenty of time to eat meals, watch a movie, and get some sleep. I arrived in Auckland but apparently only one of my two bags did. Several persons were missing bags, and we marched as a group to Baggage Services. As the personnel were beginning to write up lost bag claims a shout went up from across the hall, and a large cart of found baggage was shoved in. All missing bags were there. I wonder how they could have lost a whole cart of baggage. Now I pushed my way safely past immigration, where I was scolded for having no arrival address, into biosecurity. I declared the Minnesota wild rice brought as gifts for friends. But the rice packer was not on their list as an approved vendor and that package was confiscated. I chose not to disclose the other two packages of wild rice still tucked my bag. I left Austin, Texas at noon on Tuesday, December 1st, and arrived in Auckland at 5:30AM Thursday, December 3, through the miracle of the International Date Line. I must say it certainly felt like I had been traveling for two days and I wasn't at my destination yet. I changed planes again in Christchurch before landing finally in Invercargill. Emerging from the jetway, I looked for friends who were going to pick me up. No one, so I have time to visit the rest room. Still no one. OK, I will take a taxi to … well, I didn't know where. I went back into the terminal to deal with the ATM machine, but this machine took only local bank cards. I still had credit cards and a taxi could wait while I got money from a more globally oriented machine in town. I stood outside the terminal now alone with my heaped-high baggage cart appreciating a rare warm sunny day and the smell of clean, salty sea air. The commuter bus had left and no taxis were in sight. Had my friends forgotten? Then they were there! Hugs all around from Nicki and Kate . Bags into the car and - oops! The entire retractable handle mechanism on the smaller of my bags fell off. But I was here without serious problems. I felt like I had come home! Cheers from the Kiwi Traveler