Our journey from Joburg to Timaru started at around 6.30 pm on Tuesday night when we left my parents’ home and drove to the airport. It took us over half an hour to check in as there was some confusion with our visas – the check-in guy misunderstood the itinerary and thought we were stopping over in Sydney overnight which would have necessitated transit visas which we didn’t have, and on my South African passport I would have been denied access. It took him a long time and many phonecalls to sort it out, but eventually we were done and our luggage booked through to Christchurch. Had Wimpy food with our dewelcoming committee comprising Tony and Sue, my mom and dad, Alan, Kate and Zoë, and two friends from Pretoria, Heinrich and Elspeth (they were a lovely surprise). At last it was time to go, with Heinrich praying for us before we said our goodbyes. We did it quickly without lingering too long over tears so it wasn’t too much of a painful parting – certainly not as bad as our initial separation when we left for St Helena four years ago.
(Above - last supper together at home, and below at OR Tembo Int)
Went through the security gates all fine, then had to hang around in the departure lounge for about an hour or so because of the adverse weather conditions. Eventually boarded and got settled. The airplane was lovely (an airbus 380 something or other) - very large and each chair has its own computer/TV monitor with a choice of 600 movies, TV episodes, live news feeds, radio, CDs, and information about the flight, destination, airline, and so on. They change the cabin lighting to match the outside conditions. During the day they had regular fluorescents going, but at dusk and dawn they lit it with pink, orange and blue lights to simulate sunset or sunrise. At night they turned off the main cabin lights and had a starlight effect on the ceiling which was quite pretty. We watched a few movies during the 8-hour flight to Dubai. The boys got a bit of sleep, perhaps two hours, and I dozed off an on for an hour or two as well. Nick stayed up all night, not being much of a chair sleeper. The seats are comfortable enough but not great for sleeping in as you don't want to recline into the lap of the person behind you. They provided a blanket and a pillow. Also, as soon as we had boarded and settled, the boys had their photograph taken with a polaroid camera, which the hostesses stuck into a certificate frame sort of thing. They were also given a super little gift bag containing a sleeping mask and soft toy thing which the boys rather like. So a lot of effort is made for the younger flyers. I didn't see a lot of kids on the flight, perhaps Caleb and Aaron were the only ones. The plane was fairly full but not overcrowded. We landed slightly later than scheduled, so the Dubai airport (at which we really felt like foreigners) was a bit of a rush. Had to walk quickly through the buildings to the security check where I was frisked because I set off the alarm, probably because of jean zips. Then a brisk walk to our departure gate, getting there in time to check straight in. Had a bit of a wait in the departure lounge, possibly half an hour, during which time we brushed our teeth and went to the loo and generally freshened up as best we could. Then we were on the plane again for the 13-hour flight to Sydney. This time we were separated - Nick and Caleb sat right at the back of the plane on the left side, and Aaron and I were about halfway down on the right side. Pity that we couldn't get seats together, but really it was quite fine. We watched more movies and tried to get some sleep in between. Nick and Caleb did not do so well with the sleeping so both were exhausted. Anyway, got to Sydney after a 13-hour flight and were glad to be offloaded at the airport, which is also huge and very lovely - looks more like a shopping mall than an airport! We had time for a cup of coffee and iced teas for the boys, and again a teeth-brushing time, then not too long of a wait before boarding again for the last little 3-hour flight which went very quickly.
We were well fed on all the legs of the journey with gourmet food and about five courses on one tray. During the last flight we had to complete an arrival card for NZ customs, declaring anything and so on. At last we touched down in Christchurch to rainy conditions - didn't get to see the Southern Alps because of extensive cloud cover. Had to stand in queues for luggage checks and then customs so it took at least 45 minutes from disembarkation to actually finally being free of all airports and security (the novelty quickly wears off). When we went through the final doors we were greeted by four happy faces - John and Joan Leevers, Carl Lucas and Rene Kempf. Carl and Ren are the two deacons; John is one of the elders and also a past pastor of MRBC. Hugs all round and then lots of talking on the two-hour drive to Timaru in Carl’s Kia Carnival which carried all eight of us plus our luggage. The boys and I sat in the back row where our six closed eyes were hidden. Got to Timaru around 7 pm? Wasn’t really too focused on the various times which also became rather confusing through 11 time zones. There we met Miriam Lucas and their boys Peter and Harry, as well as Grant and Petru Phillips and their children Erin, Danica, Jayden and Dinae. A bit later Rene popped on with his wife Bronwyn and children Jesse, Samuel and Hannah. Got the boys into bed around 9 pm (around sunset time), then Nick went off to see the church with Carl. I found myself drifting off while talking to Miriam (how rude) so took myself to bed around 10 pm. It was such a blessing to sleep in a comfortable, warm bed (three duvets kept us toasty) and have a shower the next morning, after our extensive travels! We thank the Lord for our safe journey and arrival, and are all very excited to finally be here amongst our new family.
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