going on 25… (week 2 – brisbane and new zealand)

The morning of my birthday was the beginning of my 7day trip to brisbane and new zealand. I had to get up super early (not the best part of my birthday, luckily) but Erna was sweet enough to come and wish me happy birthday before I left. I got on the bus just after 7am and off i went to work…

In the briefing room I was contemplating whether to tell these strangers (that Im going to be working with for the next week) that its my birthday today… the purser gave each of us time to introduce ourselves and off course to answer a safety question, and i took the opportunity to add on an akward “by the way it’s my birthday today’ comment and got some sympathy ‘aaaaws’ as replies (wasnt sure what to make of it)

the crew turned out to be really nice and made me feel special even though I had to spend my birthday in a metal tube at 35000ft and only an 18hour day! the whole week turned into my birthday celebration (whichh I think turned out to be an excuse to drink on every layover, haha)

we got to rainy brisbane early in the morning where we took a quick power nap and off to the city Fady and I went! Fady (who turned out to be my flatmate’s batch mate) and I were the only two brave enough to take on the weather and explore, so we took my girly umbrella and out we went! first stop, starbucks with free wi-fi to check out all my birthday wishes which turned out to be a huge surprise as I didnt think so many people will still think of me, thank you guys!!! I quickly read through all the messages with Fady patiently waiting (luckily he’s just as big of a social media addict as me!) we had coffee and a bite to eat and continued onto south bank. we checked out the beautiful garden there and went on this ferris wheel which turned out to be a bit of a disappointment as I couldnt really take pictures of the view from above as the raindrops spoiled it.

we walked through some markets and then headed back to the city centre where christmas season was slowly starting up with some cute window displays. we got a bit lost (and wet) trying to find our entrance to the hotel, but thanks to Brad Pitt (or his perfume poster) we found our way back!!

Later that afternoon we met up with the captain, purser and one other economy crew for lunch at a cool little place close to our hotel. I had a juicy steak and mashed potaoes with corn on the cob (almost felt like home!) we headed back to the hotel for some much needed rest as we were flying to auckland the next morning

We arrived in auckland… tired, but the purser invited all of us to his room for some drinks to celebrate my birthday 🙂 we had a good time but i got so hungry and they were still going strong, so fady and i excused ourselves saying he’s never been in auckland and that I wanted to show him around 😉 – another good thing of this job, you learn to get out of situations very politely, haha. We met up with another group of crew at the famous occidental restaurant (all crew go there for the best mussels ever!) dinner was good but Fady still hasnt really seen the place so we decided to walk to the harbour, it was freezing!! We walked around looking at the beautiful city, but it was just too cold and we ended up in another coffee shop (with free wi-fi off course!) we will leave the sightseeing for tomorrow 🙂 we jumped on the last bus back to the hotel and went straight to bed.

The next morning the weather was a little bit better and fady, ana and I decided to go down to the harbour again. We took some beautiful pictures and just walked around. The city reminds me so much of cape town and I fell inlove with it, I can easily picture myself living there (maybe not so much on the colder days!!)

on our way back to the hotel we saw all these people standing in the middle of the street, in the rain… At first i thought their all waiting for public transport (which was a stupid thought anyway) but then I suddenly remembered seeing a newspaper heading at the airport saying that members of englands royal family will be visiting auckland. We then decided why not wait with all these people (I kind of think is ridiciolous, as in SA you would never find me doing that) but why not? 🙂 so we stood there in the rain like idiots… One south african, one egyptian and one portugese trying to look like we really care, haha. Around us there was a mother with a baby, she wanted her little boy to meet them as she once met them when she was little (she’s from he UK, must be an english thing then) there was also a lot of old people, and teenagers and even a guy dressed in a giant rat (?!) suit!! People were sooooo excited and even had gifts for them. The royals finally arrived – which turned out to be charles and camilla, each greeting people on different sides of the street. We were on charles’ side, haha and got pretty close to him… He shook the old man’s hand that brought him a present and even talked to the baby, so Im happy to say that those people’s day (or maybe lives) were made! Was an interesting experience….

We rushed back to the hotel got a few hours sleep and then headed back to brisbane.

Arriving in Brisbane a few of us went to the pancake house, definitely the best pancakes Ive ever had!!! The pancake house is inside an old church and the design is just so cool, and special, just like their sweet yummy chocolate pancakes off course!! And i also had a mexican savoury pancake, kind of like nachos in a pancake. It was a good night with good conversation, pancakes and beer!

The next morning we went to explore brisbane again, this time in some better weather conditions. It was a nice sunny day! We chilled a bit at the streets beach, probably what most of the locals do on a sunny day as it was super crowded! Walked around the markets and bought some souvenirs for our families.

On the flight back to dubai the purser came down to the back, he was standing around there for a bit, then asked who wanted to do the camera (meaning taking pictures of all the kids with our onboard polaroid camera) no one replied so he asked me to go get the camera from mid galley. When i came back with the camera the whole crew were standing in he back galley singing happy birthday to me. I was truly surprised!! They decorated a plate for me with some yummy desert and a smoothie and took a lot of pictures. I felt sooo special 🙂 they even gave me a little gift and a card signed by all of them. The best wish was ‘dont let the bastards get you down’ hahaha loved it!!! It was sad saying goodbye to this wonderful crew as you get to know them so well after 6days, they become your friends (even if it is just for that week)

We came back at 5am and even though i was tired i was super excited cause in a few hours i was getting on a plane again… Goin home!!!! (week 3 of bday celebrations – oh yes!!)