Touchdown!

First sabbatical posting: I have arrived at Wanaka. It is in the mid-20s and sunny.

Interesting trip! 11 hours from Heathrow to LA in a packed plane. Then over 12 hours from LA to Auckland. Followed by a 3.5 hour wait for my connecting flight to Queenstown, where I arrived about 32 hours after boarding at Heathrow.

Transiting through LA is not ideal - some Americans have no sense of humour including those that have arranged and man their "Homeland Security" arrangements. Bizarrely, at LA they make you enter the US even if you are a transit passenger, which means that the duty-free malt whisky bought at Heathrow could not be taken onto the plane at LA. My sister Emma and her husband Pete, with whom I am staying, will appreciate as the malt is a present for them that I went back through departures, checked in my hand luggage (the camera still works...), was subjected to the full (pacemaker) intimate rub-down for the second time and just made my flight.

I am blogging this entry shortly after arriving at the lovely home of Emma and Pete. They live about 15k from Wanaka (in a northish direction).

Hoping to get through to normal NZ bedtime - typing this at 4.06 pm - and have already discovered that NZ beer has improved a lot since we were here 13 years ago!