The New Zealand Experience

Chapter 3 - The Trip

It was 7:31 am, and Harry was already standing outside waiting for Hermione to arrive. His excitement about getting to go on a holiday was unbelievable. Finally a car pulled up to the curb and Hermione jumped out of the back.

"Hey, Harry, lets get going," she said to him, as she helped him with his luggage, which was not much at all, even though it was everything he owned.

"Yeah, I can't wait," Harry excitedly replied.

-=-=-=-=-=-

Just over one hour later they pulled up beside the entrance to Heathrow Airport. Hermione's parents said good bye to her as she and Harry entered the building. Their attention was immediately drawn to a large group of red heads who were standing in the middle of the room looking lost.

"Hey, Harry! Hermione! You're finally here," Ron called out to them as they approached. "Would you look at all the crazy Muggle things that are here!" he added as he pointed to the automatic-opening glass doors they had just entered.

"Ron! Keep quiet, you are supposed to be acting like a Muggle!" Hermione hissed fiercely at him.

"Hello, Harry, Hermione, where do we need to go?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"To check-in. It's over there," Hermione told them pointing to the Singapore Airlines check-in sign.

"Where are Percy and Charlie?" Harry asked Ron quietly, as they lagged behind the others.

"Percy is still being a prat with the Ministry, and Charlie is busy working."

After waiting for fifteen minutes the large group containing seven Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione reached the front desk. After filling out and attaching their baggage labels they watched as their bags were taken away by the conveyer belt. They walked over to customs where they had their passports checked and were taken through the metal detector. Then they were in the large international departure lounge.

"What's with that empty door frame?" Ron questioned Hermione, pointing behind them at Security.

"It's a metal detector. If you have metal on you it starts beeping, they use it to stop people taking guns and knives aboard," she explained.

"Sounds interesting," Fred interrupted.

"Yes, maybe we should test it out next time," George added.

"No you will not! I won't have you causing trouble," Mrs. Weasley scolded.

"Let's get out of here," Ron whispered to Harry. "We're just going to look in that store," he told the rest as they walked away with Hermione and Ginny following them.

"Well, make sure your back here by... what time do we need to be here Hermione?"

"10:30 should be best," Hermione replied.

-=-=-=-=-=-

At 10:30 they all met and made their way over to the gate. They checked in, and headed down the corridor to the plane. As they entered, Harry was surprised at how flash it seemed. There were three sections separated by two aisles. Down each side were three seats, and in the middle section were four seats. The seats stretched back for what seemed like forever. If Harry was surprised, it was nothing compared to the Weasleys.

"Wow!" was all Ron managed.

They were directed to their seats, and there was a brief fight for the three window seats available. Ron, Ginny and Mr. Weasley won in the end. Mrs. Weasley and Bill joined Mr. Weasley, while the Twins sat with Ginny. Upon seeing this Harry felt a bit disappointed but he sat by Hermione who was beside Ron.

"So what do these little black things do?" asked Ginny pointing to the small object in the back of everyone's' seat.

"They're little television screens," explained Hermione. "Later you will be able to watch movies and other entertainment on them, although you have to put headphones on to hear the sound."

After everyone had finished looking and fiddling with everything in reach (which included the Twins trying out all the positions of their seats) they heard the captain over the speaker system.

"Good morning, this is your captain speaking. Welcome aboard flight SQ317. This is a Boeing 747-400 aircraft. Please read your safety instruction card and watch the demonstration for fitting emergency equipment. We will be arriving in Singapore at 0740 tomorrow local time. I hope you enjoy your flight, and thank you for flying Singapore Airlines."

"What do they mean by 'emergency equipment' and how can we arrive earlier than we leave?" asked Bill.

"The equipment is oxygen masks and life jackets in case the plane has an emergency or ditches into the sea," Harry told them noticing that all the Weasleys looked frightened at this. "But planes hardly ever crash. You're more likely to die choking on a Canary Cream," Harry added.

"That's quite likely," Ginny pointed out as the Twins gave her evil glares.

"Okay, Every Flavour Beans then," Harry replied, giving her a smile. He was rewarded with her returning the smile.

"The plane doesn't arrive earlier either, it's 7:40 am tomorrow in Singapore time that we arrive," Hermione explained to Bill.

"So we are on this plane for hours?"

"Yes, around twelve to fourteen," Hermione told them matter-of-factly.

"Twelve hours! In this seat?" Ron was amazed.

"Yeah, so get comfy."

-=-=-=-=-=-

Five hours later the initial excitement of the take off, seeing things from so high up and playing with all the Muggle objects (including the movies) had started to wear off. Seating arrangements had changed around, and Harry now found himself sitting next to Ginny (who hadn't changed). He was pleased about this, though the only problem he had was that she was asleep. He looked down at her and smiled to himself. "It doesn't matter that I can't be anything else but her friend," he decided, "I will just have to make sure I am a really good friend." He soon fell asleep too.

-=-=-=-=-=-

When Harry awoke, he discovered that Ginny was still asleep, her head was leaning against his shoulder and his head had been resting on the top of hers. Grateful that he had awoken first Harry flicked on his T.V. and looked up how long there was still to go on the in-flight details. He was surprised to find that they were only one hour out of Singapore now. Just then he felt movement by his shoulder as Ginny woke up. He looked down at her as she slowly opened her eyes and looked straight into his. She smiled softly and Harry found himself getting lost in her deep, warm orbs.

Then she suddenly sat bolt upright.

"Harry! I'm so sorry. I didn't know I was leaning on you like that. You could have just woken me up and told me to move," she quickly apologised to him.

"Its okay. I was asleep until five minutes ago too," Harry explained to her, not mentioning where his head had been.

"Do you know how much longer it will be?"

"Using my amazing powers of Divination..." Harry started, then paused for effect. "I have Seen that it will be another hour."

"Really? You Saw huh? So I suppose it has nothing to do with the fact it's written on your screen over there?" Ginny questioned him.

"Oh well, I Saw it written on the screen. I almost had you fooled," Harry laughed.

"Hey Ginny, can I swap you seats?" Bill interrupted. Not realising he was ruining Harry's special moment. "I want to see the landing. And you got the takeoff anyway."

"Oh, sure. See you, Harry," Ginny said as she left so Bill could take the window seat.

"Yeah, bye," Harry said to her as he sadly watched her go.

Soon they had landed and were leaving the aircraft.

"When does our next flight depart?" Harry asked Hermione.

She checked the boards and found that flight SQ297 didn't depart until 11:05 p.m. "It leaves at 11:05, tonight," she told him.

"So what are we going to do all day?" Mrs. Weasley asked after hearing them.

"I guess we can go exploring in Singapore," was Hermione's reply.

-=-=-=-=-=-

Many hours later they were all once again onboard a plane, although it was a Boeing 777-200 this time. They had all slept most of the journey, as they had had such a busy day in the bustling city of Singapore.

Harry had a window seat and was watching the sunrise as they flew on a course that put it directly out his window. It was one of the most amazing things he had ever seen, and the differing colours were unbelievable. Within few hours he could see land below him. Then mountains appeared and they started to descend from their great height. He watched as small towns came into view and then disappeared behind them. He noticed the country in between them was often rough, uninhabitable land and he thought, "It's no surprise there are so few people living on this large island."

"This is your captain speaking. We will soon be landing in Christchurch. The local time is currently 11:30 and we will be on the ground at 11:50. The current temperature is a quite warm fifteen degrees Celsius. I hope you have enjoyed your journey, and thank you for flying Singapore Airlines."

Harry was getting excited now. They were so close, but he could still not see the city they were landing in. Suddenly the plane banked around and out his window Harry could now see the largest city in the South Island. He was amazed that he could see the entire city and at how small it seemed, especially compared to Singapore.

"Are we landing?" asked Fred.

"Yeah, we should be down any minute now," Harry replied as more of the Weasleys woke up.

"About time," a sleepy looking Ron added.

The plane once again banked and then dropped quickly. Harry felt the bump as the wheels hit the ground, then he heard the roar of the engines reversing to slow them down.

"Welcome to Christchurch, New Zealand," the captain said.