The Great Wall and Tension

Day 16
An early start, again!
We organized a taxi to take us to Mutinyau on the Great Wall, she picked us up at 07.00, and we packed all our luggage in the car. By 8.15, we had a sandwich at Subway, then went up in the cable car. We walked up to the highest point possible, it was misty, but the autumn colours were pretty. Not too busy on the way up, but very crowded as we were leaving. Of course, very organized, with police with megaphones moving people on!
The driver took us to the airport. It was 8 hours early, and thank goodness it was. Mr S went very early to check in, he handed over his Swiss pass, they asked for his ETA to travel to NZ. I told them he had an NZ passport, and that was ok. Then, 10 mins later, I realized I didn’t have an ETA, panic ensued. I applied for a rushed application with iVISA, and they said it would take 2 hours. After 2 hours, they said it might take another 48 hours. This was very stressful, I was almost resigned to spending another 2 days there, I booked a hotel. But, at 11.00 pm, I gave it one more try, asking to check in. Believe it or not, he gave me a boarding pass! Somehow the passport was linked to the ETA, but not approved on the APp. After the 3 security checks, everything was ok, and I boarded the blame. This was a very close call, there are lots of countries requiring ETAs now, I didn’t realize NZ was one of them, last time it wasn’t required.