It was great to see the team off from Auckland Airport on Monday morning. All were bubbly and excited; the uniforms looked very smart. It's nice that there are some in the team who have been on long overseas trips before and can help the others with unfamiliar tasks like filling out departure cards. They were all looking after each other well.
James, the coach and supervisor, exuded calm and confidence, which was exactly what was needed (what I needed, anyway). He told the team that he is not their mother, or their father, and expects them to take care of their own belongings. Even in the short time before going through to the departure area, there was evidence that this was little more than a vain hope on James's part: James had to repeat his instructions about what to do with their two boarding passes, luggage labels and passports half a dozen times at least, and in the process sounded just like a parent!
Josiah was keen to be off and very happy.
We have had first contact: an email posted from Singapore Airport, where the team had a six hour stop:
I am in Singapore now. I enjoyed the flight here and watched mov[i]es on the plan[e].
The team is back in the air now en route to Zurich, Switzerland, where they will spend their first week, training at the impressive Kletterzentrum gyms.
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