Auckland to Tokyo

Just a quick update on the journey.

After all the fun of the Hobbiton Movie Set tour we drove back to Auckland and checked in at the Auckland Airport Novotel, right outside of International Departures as we had an early flight.

At 05:30 the alarms went off - we thought it prudent to set three -  and we got checked out of the hotel and in for the flight. Auckland Airport is great, lots of good concessions and reasonably prided and interesting food, but does involve a lot of queuing to get through passport, but after 45 minutes were in the departure lounge for our 08:00 boarding. We had a great time in New Zealand,  but it is now time for the next installment of our big adventure.

The Air New Zealand flight was about 11 hours, I finished my Game of Thrones marathon and watched The Monuments Men and Edge Of Tomorrow. There were dozens of Japanese students sar near us and it was funny watching them on landing with their arms in the air, whooping and squeeling as if it was a roller-coaster, finally clapping as we taxied in.

At Narita we were through passport and customs quite efficiently,  but just missed our connecting bus so had 90 minutes to kill. We browsed the shopping area and grabbed a cream cheese bagel and then went outside to the bus stop. Wow, it is hot (35C at 7pm) and very humid.

After about an hour on the coach we arrived at The Grand Pacific Le Diaba and were shown to our room on the 24th floor. Fantastic views of Tokyo over the bay.

Just over the way is a shopping centre with loads of activity, there is even a replica Statue of  Liberty.

Overlooking the plaza is a building that plays music and lights in the windows flash in time.

After a browse around the shopping complex we had a couple of drinks in a bar and went back to the hotel and crashed just after 22:00, it had been a long day.