#adventure longday cheese beers fun jagerbombs music dance

[theadventuresofamadhatter]

From BHX to QTN. Delayed flights, smelly feet, no sleep and winning a dance competition all in 38 hours...

It all began on 3rd March 2017. The run up to this day, being my first day of my world travelling experience, I have consumed more than enough beer, prosecco, wine and jagerbombs to stock the nearest bar. I didn’t realise actually how many people I had out of sight that I was surrounded by in my life until it was time to say bye. Four alcohol fuelled goodbye sessions later and I wake up still unpacked, not so much as a pair of socks. Not sure whether it just hadn’t sunk in that i’m not just popping overseas for a short vacation to return to normal life, it was in fact leaving home indefinitely, even better starting off as far as New Zealand. I quit my job that I was progressing well in and enjoyed, especially the team I worked with but it wasn’t enough. There was an itch I need to scratch, and now i’m doing it. A cheeky pic of one of the alcohol infused nights with my favourite boys and my mom…

Of course, knowing that everything was all going to plan, I had managed to finish packing in plenty of time, confident that everything had been sorted and i was organised for the 28 hour, 3 flight journey that I was about to endure, I knew something was bound to go wrong. Passport check. Flight itinerary check. Baggage check. Money check. What else could I need? Just to clear up some things I decided to check my emails to the find that my second flight which flew from Dubai to Sydney had been delayed and that I would now be stopping over for 13 hours instead of 2 hour changeover also arriving in Sydney AFTER my connecting flight leaves… why that flight wasn’t rescheduled too is beyond me o.0

Anyway £89 later, and Emirates have put me back on my original flights after I questioned this many times before confirming and the fact I had to pay to change my flight back to it’s original schedule is BEYOND ME. However £89 was a price I was prepared to pay to return back to my overly chilled state of mind.

Finally arriving at the airport with Mom and Dad, Check-in took literally 2 minutes, if that - so I was able to spend the next hour with my parents for some food and chill time before going through security. I’ve done it a fair few times previously so I knew I wasn’t rushed for time. Once it was time to say goodbye I noticed my Dad a little teary eyed and my Mom not really sure how to say bye as she has already had to do it so many times with both me and my sister but at least at these times she knew when she would next see us again.

Past security - all fine. Quick smoke break and then off to my gate to board my flight. It’s still not sinking in. I don’t feel anything other than, do I have my passport and, I hope they have a charger point.

I have never flown via Emirates before so I was surprised to see how huge it was inside, so huge the plane needed two entrances to get passengers on board. I found myself next to a middle aged couple who kept offering me sweets, they probably were being kind as I was alone and look about 5 years old - especially sporting some joggers and a flat peak cap HA. The first meal arrived and as someone who hates cheese, I was greeted with what could only be described as my worst nightmare and it was a good job I had a share bag of Doritos on me.

Cheese everything. Oh I suppose they chucked in a few prawns but even that had feta mixed in it :/

So roughly 7 hours later I land in the beautiful Dubai. So many people have explained how huge this airport is to me and now i’m left feeling a little disappointed. Leading up to my connecting flight out of Dubai I spent 2 hours standing at a Qantas desk as just as I was previously notified, my flight was delayed by 13 hours. Now i’m standing there trying to explain the little debacle and the cost of £89 I had before I even left Birmingham, UK and now i’m being told I’m being flown out to Brisbane, Australia instead of Sydney to follow a flight to Auckland, New Zealand and then another out to finally arrive in Queenstown. My only concern at this point was whether I will be landing the same day as scheduled or not as Sarah and Carly would be waiting for me to arrive in the next 20 hours. 

Completely stressed out and exhausted from the previous week partying and lack of sleep since the morning of my first flight I decide to hunt out the smoking area. This is what I found…

A bloody indoor smoking area with absolutely no ventilation whatsoever. It was a complete hot box, I was already sweating my tits off from running around looking for said smoking area and I am greeted with a huge cloudy stench of a room that can only be related to someones Grandma’s living room. I smoke an electronic cigarette so to me this isn’t pleasant at all when me vaping gives off nothing but a mentholly hint of blackcurrant.

The journey goes on. I board my second flight heading to Brisbane, Australia where I have been seated on an isle seat in the middle of the plane next to 3 other 20 something women. Immediate thoughts were, great i’m gonna make some new friends and have a bit of a laugh - maybe catch a nap at some point as it was a 13 hour journey ahead. No… instead the plane in general was SILENT, nobody was misbehaving, nobody was getting drunk and absolutely nobody interacted with anyone. Now I mean i’ve only ever been on holidays with friends as an adult and I can’t remember any of my flights due to too much alcohol so this was a bizzare experience for me. Anyway, I take the opportunity to enjoy the quiet and try to get some sleep. Putting my head down on the pillow provided by Emirates I close my eyes until suddenly my nose starts twitching and is greeted by an awful cheesy smell. I’m thinking oh here we go again, cheese for breakfast. What is it with Emirates and their obsession with cheese?? No I was wrong, in fact it was the girl next to me - her pongin’ feet had escaped the trainers she had probably been suffocating them in for the god knows how many hours, to be honest it smelt like days….

Put your fucking feet back in bab. Although I was a little grumpy at my journey gaining an extra flight - I wasn’t pissed off enough to tell this girl to sort her wiffy feet out. 13 hours later and the aroma became somewhat bearable. I was living in mature cheddar feet odour.

Brisbane was boiling hot - it was so humid, my hair was straight when I left the plane… 5 minutes in the airport and I looked like Monica off Friends when she went on holiday and had to get it braided to tame it. More waiting around and a FaceTime to my best friend Matt later and I was struggling to put a sentence together even to order a bottle of water before I boarded my next flight. I was officially TIRED. Not only that but I couldn’t get my head around the fact I had left Dubai at 10am yet I arrived in Australia 7am the same day. Baffles me.

Arriving in Auckland, it was SUPER busy. People everywhere, not like the previous airports I had been to which seemed to be deserted. I collect my carry-on, pass through security and get my NZ visitor visa approved and electronically attached to my passport. Moving on from international to domestic departures I get lost! This airport is HUGE. Even following the signs is a struggle. I finally find that they have a green line painted on the floor which you follow to domestic departures - they do provide a bus but it was taking far too bloody long and I was on the verge of falling asleep. Anyway - taking a nice stroll in this beautiful weather after leaving a rainy England only 24 hours before was enjoyable. 

Checked in my bags in plenty of time so i’m looking for the nearest smoking area. All those hours on flights and in airports not being able to smoke was killing me. Nicotine was needed. It wasn’t until this weekend that my addiction was tested. I was thinking to myself…does nobody in this country smoke? Smoking area was around a mile away in walking distance and I didn’t want to miss my flight.

Zonked out soon as I boarded the plane. Sarah had just messaged me to let me know that she would be joining her friend at the airport to pick me up as her friend had somebody arriving in Queenstown too. Perfect. I was so excited to see her after only having spent 2 days with her in 3 years previously it was great knowing we had a whole month ahead together on a beautiful island… never thought this day would come. After dropping off to sleep several times during the flight I awake to an announcement from the pilot that we are now approaching Queenstown and we would be touching ground soon. 10 seconds later, and I couldn’t believe my eyes.

What a beautiful island. Never seen so many mountains with my own eyes and so much greenland. Like actually. Even the water being so blue, BLEW my mind. I thought I was still dreaming to be honest, I mean I hadn’t slept in 2 days.

Arrival was easy, no security to go through - the airport was pretty small and I was greeted straight away by Sarah and her friend. I was so excited but I just couldn’t bring my body to show any expression as I was that exhausted I couldn’t even speak. My first request was that we go for a smoke while we await Stef’s friend arriving from Sydney. Immediately. 

What happened next is the best part of the entire weekend. Back to Sarah and Carly’s where I’d be staying for my duration in New Zealand - first thing I do is jump in the shower, I fucking stink mate. 2 days without showering and running around in 3 different countries is insanity. Anyway, getting out the shower I am greeted with Vodka and Tonics ready to go on a night out??? Yep, that’s right - no sleep and we’re going for drinks to welcome me on my first night here. It was only 8pm so I agreed it was a good idea to ride it out and go to sleep in the night time after some bevvies with the girls. 

They took me to a bar called Loco’s. The music was great, it reminded me of the Nightingale back in the day when it was good - so yeah for anybody that knows of The Nightingale in Birmingham, UK - that means CHEESE. The only kind of cheese that I enjoy. Within 20-30 minutes of being in this bar I am pulled up on to the stage with 3 other people and have been entered for a competition. At first they announce the competition is ‘who can get naked the quickest’. As I was about to immediately walk off the stage - the guy shouts “Just kiddin’” then announces that it is is a dance competition. Now i’ve necked a few Jagerbombs and Desperados already at this point, mixed with a lovely bout of sleep deprivation so - i’m pretty fucking drunk. Bring it on. 2 lads were before me and decided that stripping was dancing? Who knows where they got idea but it was pretty horrific and the crowd didn’t seem to enjoy it. Next up was me. Now I can’t fucking dance - I know I can’t. But if there is one thing I can do, that’s entertain a crowd of drunken people. Slut drops happened, backwards rolls happened, chest pumping and a bit of cheeky shuffling. The more everyone was screaming, the more it encouraged me to be a knob - and I loved it. Next up was a taller girl who decided she would go for the more serious approach and do a more “seductive” kind of dance. While she had a bit of a reception it didn’t really compare - saying that we were both through to a final round which was a dance off. Of course - I took it upon myself, to take her out of serious mode and have some bloody fun. I danced with her, on her around her, and then chucked in a backwards roll… I won before I even knew. Now i’m hyped that was fun - now I can go back to my friends and carry on drinking, completely forgetting about the prize. Until, the guy approaches me and informs me that I have just won a scuba diving course at the Great Barrier Reef in Cairns, Australia. I couldn’t believe it. For any of you that don’t know - google it. It’s just incredible and i’m really pleased.

So that folks was my first weekend/night in Queenstown, New Zealand and yes it was super eventful :)