:: zone3 ::

Getting out of NZ was easy enough, I even got my standby upgrade to business class. Yay, lie flat beds are great on long haul, and you get bubbles as you board.
The landing to transit in Hong Kong was one of the more bumpy, but a good flight otherwise.

I found in Hong Kong that my cellphone (which had been hanging on boot a lot) now refused to boot at all. To get an life out of it I had to restore to factory defaults losing all the data. 
I had a couple of hours to kill until the check in for my next flight, so made use of the free wifi at the airport to get all my apps and contacts back on my phone. Would have been a nightmare a few years back, not so much now with OTA contacts sync, etc.

At checking for my flight to Hanoi the fun started. The airline people couldn't check me in as my visa had expired... It had the wrong dates on it and I never noticed when I checked it...
Ever so helpful they suggested I try the Vietnam embassy in Hong Kong, although they did say they'd be shut until Monday. Was looking like I might need some new travel places.

A quick hunt online I found a place that can send you and invite letter saying your Visa will be provided on arrival for a small fee. Phoned them to say needed it really quick to check in instead of 48 hours and the fee ago a little larger (although not much more than I paid for my visa in the first place).
After a dash to the operate side of the airport to an Internet cafe with a printer I was back at the check in with a very official looking letter (although dated 4 days before I requested it). 
The check in person as stunned I could get a visa in 20min and gave me my boarding pass.

Soon was off to Hanoi with my dodgy official letter wondering if they'd let me in or not. In the end, pretty painless other than my 30min wait to get the visa after I landed followed by a 30min queue to get through immigration. On the plus not waiting at baggage claim....