Heading to Hamilton

So, I had earlier blogged about our travels to Japan and how we survived the 7+1 hours flight. To NZ, we had to entertain Heidi for 8+2 hours! T_T

From Singapore, we had a stopover in Melbourne before heading to Auckland - and on our flight back, we stopped over in Sydney.

We flew Qantas to NZ and Heidi's bum cost us 10x more than on ANA to Japan. I still cannot comprehend why we needed to pay S$500 for the little chump when there was neither food provided nor a seat for her! ... You could say she took up a bassinet (ANA also what!) and a seat belt, but I hardly think it should justify the exorbitant cost!

Look Ma! I got meself a touch screen again! 

The spacious bassinet provided for Heidi. There was more space for her as compared to the ANA though (on that flight, Heidi's feet were sticking out of the bassinet as she was sleeping!) 

Me: Heidi, babies should sleep in the bassinets. We burnt a hole in our wallets getting you this bassinet!

Heidi: Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

We entertained her using the tricks from the Japan vaca and it worked well, but still, seemed to take a toil on me because I continued being sick throughout my trip. Sadness. As usual, Heidi fell asleep just before we landed so this was her on arrival at Melbourne -

Tucked nice and cosy in the Qantas pram

She awoke soon enough though, and to our delight, we found a kiddy stop for the children to play at the airport!

Making friends

Mama all pooped out from the excitement!

And that was only at Melbourne! We had around 3+ hours to kill before we could get onto our flight to Auckland ... When the time finally came, we clambered onto the plane cheerily as it was only 2 hours away from our destination!

Heidi continuing her mission of tapping the touchscreen for the gazillionth time

During landing and takeoff, all babies are to be removed from the bassinets and secured to their parent through this baby belt. As you can see, a baby didn't invent this because no baby wants to wear it! They all wriggle and scream but can still stand being harnessed for a bit so it works for the purpose of landing and takeoff I suppose!

Upon arrival at the Auckland Airport, we were greeted by this bin! If you peer closer, you'd notice that the items pictured are all Chinese foodstuffs - Taiwanese sausages, century eggs, birds' nest, jews' ears, red dates, loquat syrup etc.

As you can see, there's a strict fine and penalty for bringing in any foodstuffs into the country - even airline food which you nicked off the flight need to be declared! My mum (being the Geog teacher and expert) explained that this is because NZ relies on agricultural trade and any prohibited foreign food or soil you bring in with you could potentially destroy the industry if there are any viruses or diseases, etc. You can read up more on prohibited items here.

Being the typical KS mum, I was petrified that Heidi's milk and food would be deemed prohibited and confiscated along with her. Alrightttt, that's over-dramatic. Still - we brought along just enough milk and food for the flights as we figured we could buy the rest in supermarkets when we landed. Our fears were unfounded though, because the friendly airport staff simply waved us and the milk/food through upon seeing Heidi! *Phew* So unless you prefer not to lug the tins of milk powder and instant food or are worried that baby milk and food in NZ is not to your baby's liking, you can rest assured that sustenance for your little one is allowed.

We had finally arrived in Auckland! Now, just for Granny, Heidi and me to locate Grandpa and the rented car. Thereafter, only a two-hour drive to Hamilton. Omggggggggggg

I'm tagging this flight a grand total of 5 stars - 2 for Qantas and 3 for the Melbourne Airport. You can tell I'm still sore from forking out that crazy price for Heidi's flight!

WHW

Candy striped long sleeved romper from Carter's, 'I Heart Mom' pants, Socks from Gap, Pale green knit cardigan with multi-coloured fabric buttons, Brown moccasins from Bobux (all gifted except the shoes!)

WBW

Black cardigan from Cotton On, Grey tunic with black stripes and mesh overlay + Jeggings from Uniqlo, Croc patterned pointys from Moda Paolo