From my travel journal: Friday 1 April 2011, 2.19 pm

Christchurch airport, about an hour before my flight boards. All checked in and through (domestic) security. It’s weird sitting here in this lounge, where I’ve sat so often in the last year to wait for flights to Wellington for boring work meetings, but this time what I’m waiting for is anything but boring!

I’m here way too early, of course, because it’s technically a domestic flight, even though I’m transferring to international in Auckland. But I was getting jumpy sitting at home waiting, which of course was making H even more anxious, so I suggested we head out to the airport early and have lunch before he saw me off. That way we had some quiet sitting having a cup of tea and not being anxious time before it was time for me to say goodbye.

It was weird having H see me off at the airport. Normally I’m just going somewhere local (or Australia, which almost counts as local these days), so I tell him not to bother. And last time it was me seeing him off, of course, on his way to the UK.

I’ve already discovered one thing I forgot to do – write down the address of the hostel we’re staying in in San Francisco, in case I get asked by immigration. Luckily I managed to find an overpriced internet kiosk here so I could look it up.