The flight

It was an early morning in Auckland when we took off, and a couple of people had come to say good bye. We were all pretty excited, and looking forward to the adventure ahead - but some of us were also a little apprehensive.

The small team of seven of us (Max, Gillian and Ariana Guptill, Jesse, Rodney, Logan and myself) looked like a pretty motley crew, after having woken at 4am to get to the airport in time. We were very fortunate that Ariana recognised one of the check-in operators and so our check-in was all sorted without incident. We would next see our luggage in Nairobi.

For myself, it was a cramped flight to Sydney; though it was over after a very short time, so there weren't many problems. The first flight was completely uneventful, just lots of chatter.

Once we had landed in Sydney, we had to try and decide what to do with the twelve hours until our next flight. Logan and I were hungry, so we went to get food; while Max and the others tried to find bag storage lockers so that we could explore Sydney.

After stowing our bags, we all purchased Opal train cards and went into the Circular Quay area where we joined the throngs of people gathering to celebrate SYD NYE - Sydney New Year's Eve, the celebration of the decade

Logan in front of the Sydney Harbour Bridge

Logan and some of the team in front of the Sydney Opera House

The humid heat was extreme, and so we were constantly looking for shade and water (and consequently, bathrooms).
Ariana very astutely discovered the sun screen station and we had a good chat with the paramedics who were trying to keep the attendees safe.

The team meet Paramedics under the Opera House

Logan standing in front of the Harbour and Sydney Opera House

We briefly visited the Sydney Botanical Gardens, before grabbing some lunch, and heading to The Rocks. We had a great time downtown, but quickly tired and so returned to the airport for a bit of a snooze and some chill out time.

Logan in historic The Rocks

We boarded our flight to Abu Dhabi in the evening, and were immediately impressed at the size and the decor of the A380 Airbus which would carry us for the next thirteen hours.
All was going well watching movies and playing games until about 8 hours into the flight. I was asleep, and out of the blue Logan got sick. He had not thought to prepare himself for such an eventuality, so I spent the next five hours trying to manage Logan and airline staff. The staff were very concerned and kind, but there was paperwork to complete and pills to be taken. I felt that it was made into a bigger deal than it needed to be.
After landing, we were rushed through to the Medical Assessment Centre at Abu Dhabi Airport, and an assessor completed further paperwork and provided an additional pill for the next flight. At this stage, Logan was starting to get quite upset and anxious about his next flight from Abu Dhabi to Nairobi. We could not - and still can't - work out whether Logan simply had travel sickness, or if he had been gluten-ed by one of his meals.
I knew that the next flight was only going to be for five hours, but we decided to take the anti-nausea medication anyway. The take-off was amazing as we passed over Abu Dhabi and saw some of its main attractions. I would like to say that this trip was free of nausea, but Logan did start feeling nauseous again with two hours still remaining for the flight. However, apart from his incessant moaning, nothing else came up. 

Not long later, we landed in Nairobi, and were taken by airport bus to the processing centre where we finally got our Kenyan visas. Karibu Kenya!
Everyone was relieved.