Kleo’s trip to Türkiye

Hi, It’s Kleo here.

I’ve decided that Cohen should step aside and let me write a post for the website.
Since it’s almost been a year since we left New Zealand I thought it would be a great idea to write about my experience leaving the country. It was such a crazy time—I’d grown up in the zoo, dreaming of a home and adventures.

On the morning of our departure, I sat watching Cohen finish his packing. Occasionally, I pointed out something he could pack better or might have forgotten. I helped close up the bags and it was all tightly packed away.

It was off to Wellington airport. Was very exciting to see such a busy place with lots of people and wondering where they might be going, what adventures are they having.
It was an emotional wait for the plane, Cohen’s friends and family had come to say goodbye. I’d only known them a short time, but it was nice to have such well wishes before leaving.

Before long we were off walking through security, looking back for one last wave. Cohen had me in his pocket which meant I got to see everything. (Although I didn’t really like the x-ray machine, too dark and it tickled, but apparently he couldn’t carry me through a weird doorway?)

The first flight was a little scary. I mean, I can fly if I want to, of course—but that’s with my own wings. Trusting something made by people who can’t even fly themselves? Very different!

Cohen had to wear a mask on the plane too and for some reason he thought I should too. Honestly it was a bit too big for me and I don’t think Covid-19 affected birds but it made him happy, and hopefully other people too.

When we got to Auckland airport it was very quiet. Not many people were flying anywhere but it did mean we could relax a little. Well we did until Cohen had a scary thought, I didn’t have a passport, what if they didn’t let me through. So he did some googling and decided that no-one said anything about plush toy kereru’s needing a passport so we figured we’d be fine.

Finally it was on to the first big flight Auckland to Dubai (with a boring fuel stop in Kuala Lumpur). I was quite relieved when Cohen decided I didn’t need to wear a mask. It was still good for him to wear one, though. We got comfortable in our seat, and we were lucky because no one was sitting next to us during the first half of the flight..

Arriving to Dubai we were both a bit nervous, Cohen had travelled before but maybe something was wrong. We made our way through security (again with the x-ray) and the airport to our gate where we had several hours to wait. I liked the airport it was busy but there was no loud announcements just the hum and murmur of people.

The wait didn’t feel too long and we were lining up for our last flight Dubai to Istanbul. Slowly making our way through the boarding gates and we settled into the plane. This one was a lot busier, and we’d been travelling for a long time.

I had a sleep on the last flight but decided I needed a few more naps to feel better. I woke up to food or drinks or new things on the entertainment and the flight passed quite quickly until we finally landed in Istanbul. Oh my was this a shock, louder, busier, and faster than Dubai.

Following the crowds of people we got in the long long line for customs and weaved our way back and forth along the path until we got to a border officer. I was surprised how quickly it went, only a couple of questions were asked and then off we went to find Cohen’s bags.

The baggage hall was enormous so many different belts to collect from, exchange offices everywhere and all sorts of other things. It was a little overwhelming especially since we could only read some of it. I was glad to be tucked away in Cohen’s pocket. He found his bags eventually and we got to the main hall. A few ‘scams’ later—like an overpriced mobile plan (still cheap compared to home), an exchange office with bad rates, and a taxi that wasn’t really a taxi—we finally made it to the hotel. It was early evening, almost 40 hours after leaving home.