Too much time in airports

I landed in Auckland at noon. My connecting flight to Wellington should have got me there by mid-afternoon. My plan was to rest for a bit and freshen up, then go out and explore, find an interesting blip, get something to eat, then get an early night.

My flight to Wellington was delayed for an hour.

Then it was cancelled.

I was moved to another one two hours later. This one took off on time, and we sort of got to Wellington: we did actually touch down on the runway, but we were then blown about so severely by high cross-winds that the pilot aborted the landing - and flew us all the way back to Auckland!

It took me an hour to get my luggage back, then queue at the service desk to see if they could still get me to Wellington today. They managed to get me on a 9pm flight.

And this time - we made it. Though it was one of the scariest landings I can remember: buffeted by wind for the last 15 minutes, and a couple of seconds before touching down, the plane tilted about 30 degrees. Even after we parked at the gate, the wind was still making the plane shake so much it was tricky to stand upright without holding on to the seat backs!

I got to the hotel at 11pm.

So, with all this travel "fun". instead of a scene from Wellington, my blip today is something I spent far longer staring glumly at than I would have liked - the carpet in the departure area in Auckland! But at least it was a swirly, colourful carpet, and I tried to choose one of the more interesting sections of it :)

I just worked out, I got here 42hrs after leaving home, and it's 53hrs since I slept in a bed. That could well explain my mental state in which I find even a picture of some carpet quite pretty! :)