Level 4

I hate early morning starts. Nothing is good about 4AM. This morning was no exception. It was cold and damp and dark. Still everyone was in good spirits as we headed to the airport. Check in was painless. The flight is only half full so we all got a full row to ourselves. Sweet. Relaxing in the Koru lounge over a spot of breakfast, I heard my name being called over the PA. Last time this happened it was upgrade time and hello business class. This time was a little different though. The Receptionist says “We’ve just had a call from level 4 about your bag”  “Ah” I replied “if level 4 are calling it must be important”. I must have done a good job of convincing her that I actually knew just what the hell I was talking about as she did not offer any further explanation. “Um, so just what exactly is level 4 then?” I finally asked. “Security” was the answer. It seems that big Dave has a cordless drill and 2 batteries in his bag which is causing much consternation on level 4. For some reason his bag is checked under my name and that’s how I came to visit level 4.

Two lovely young Air NZ ladies escorted me through a maze of corridors, past rooms with signs saying things like “Reconciliation Room” and “Interview Room 3”. It was just like those border security TV shows where people traveling on false passports are taken after being busted. Try as I might, I did not see any “Body Cavity Search Room” anywhere. Even my 2 bodyguards seemed to be a bit disorientated. After going down in one elevator and up in another we finally arrived at Level 4. A quick knock on the door and there stood a stern looking 50ish woman. “Hi, lovely to be here, what’s the problem?”  I said. There on a bench was Dave’s bag. Across from it was a xray monitor clearly showing a cordless drill and 2 batteries. “Is this your bag?” she asked. I so much wanted to say “that’s not my bag baby” but I thought the better of it and settled for explaining that it’s my friends bag. Apparently when you put batteries in bags you must isolate the terminals and never ever actually plug the battery into the device. OK….no biggie. The thing that surprised me was that they will not open your bag or touch any of your things. I had assumed that customs/immigration/Aviation security could tear your bag to shreds, throw all your stuff on the floor and stomp on it all the while laughing hysterically at you with no consequences to them. Not so it seems. The folk at level 4 are strictly hands off. I had to open the bag and show her the batteries which were indeed exposing their terminals. She handed me some special red tape and with some special red scissors I cut and wrapped tape around the terminals. Now judged fit to fly, I zipped up the bag and off we went back through the labyrinth. At some point we must have exited the secure area so we all had to go through the metal detector. Lying in wait with the scanner wand thing was a big blonde Kiwi girl. “Spread em!” she said. I guess that’s her party piece as she seemed to get great amusement from this. “I’m picking that this is the highlight of your day” I said to her. She was good humoured and we all had a laugh. Only in NZ would you get such relaxed and casual banter from airport people. In Japan it is stony faces and scripted conversation. I’ve said it before….Auckland Airport rocks! So that was my trip to AVSEC Level 4. I haven’t event gotten out of the country yet but I’m already meeting people and getting in adventures.