Saturday 17th - Departing Kathmandu

Finally, a day after the rest of the team, it was time for Mike and Dave to leave. We had breakfast in a restaurant called "New Orleans" - though there was nothing of that city about it except the name. But the decor was good local style and the coffee was the best we had in Nepal.

We managed to hire a van to get all the luggage, plus 4 guitars and Warren's percussion set to the airport.  The van kept stalling but fortunately restarted without too much effort - though one time it did it at a police controlled intersection and created much honking of horns.

We should thank Singapore Airlines, Auckland office, here. They gave us a special discounted return flight for the whole team, return from New Zealand, and a special baggage allowance. We certainly needed that with two trolley loads like this!

At Singapore we had just time enough to get from one terminal to another (you go by train at Changi Airport!) and effectively got straight off one plane and onto another.  The journey, transfers and ultimate drive back from Auckland to Rotorua all went without a hitch. New Zealand seemed empty as we drove home - where were all the cars we wondered! And the air smelt so sweet. We were exhausted - but it was good to be home.