3rd April: Auckland transit tour and NZ040 Auckland – Papeete 19:15-01:30

Auckland Tour

I woke up at about 8am where I called Yourway car rental to pick me up for 1 day car hire (for $23NZ). The courtesy car quickly came and picked me up. Mrs Edison is sleeping at that time.

After she woke up at 9 we had breakfast from Ventura Inn, we quickly checked out and drove towards the city of Auckland. We drove through Newmarket as well as Parnell. Then we drove around Auckland City by going past Viaduct Quay, then go SkyCity, Queen Street, etc. Then we decided to drive to Devenport via Northshore for a change. We stopped at Devenport and took picture of Auckland skyline there. We had a relaxing day by doing walks around Devenport. Then we drove up to Takapuna and drove to the beach side where we had a walk. The weather was good with gentle breeze and soft waves. We had late lunch at a Japanese place at Takapuna centre.
At about 3pm we decided to start driving from Takapuna straight back to the airport, as locals mentioned about traffic jam on Friday afternoon. They were right as the traffic get banked up after crossing the harbour to the city. The traffic was snail pace on the freeway. However we managed to get to the Yourway car rental at 4:30pm to return our car and got a free lift to International Airport, where we head straight towards the checkin.

Auckland Skyline


Auckland Northshore Beaches


The City of Sails!


Auckland Airport Check-in

At first we weren’t sure where the Premium Checkin line for AirNZ flights was as the queues only has economy. Then we realised that there was a completely separate entry for Premium checkin entry separately with dedicated immigration officer. We really liked that. We quickly went there and checked in. There was no one on the queue. Then we went through the immigration and usual x-ray scan, and went to the Koru lounge.

Auckland Airport Premium Checkin


Auckland Koru Lounge

The lounge itself is about the same size as Sydney, however it seems to be a bit old and tired, especially it seems that there were two different themes in different parts of the lounge. There was a lot of people there because there were many flights departing at around the same time, especially to the US. There weren’t that much food in the lounge which was a bit disappointing. In regard to drinks they have usual Kiwi beers and wines but nothing really stands out. So I drank some Steinlagers as well as juice and coke.

At least they are planning to renovate the lounge, as in the proposal being displayed at the entrance of the lounge. As the most important hub for Air NZ, this is really necessary.

Auckland International Koru Lounge


Emirates and Air NZ plane seen from Auckland Airport


Boarding

Once AirNZ announced the boarding for NZ40 we got off the lounge and head towards the gate and onto the plane. The flight is on Boeing 767, and this time, the business class was almost full except 1 empty seat (ie 23 business passengers). Everyone in business class except 1 guy were couples, which is a great contrast to NZ106 I caught earlier. The economy section is quite full also. Which is quite amazing since Tahiti is not exactly the cheapest place to go to, as well as the current economic climate would prevent people from taking luxury trips.

The plane took off without any issues, and soon we began to enjoy long haul business class.

In-Flight Entertainment

The black leather seats and IFEs are exactly the same as the NZ106 as well, and now I really start to appreciate 50 inch pitch seating because my feet had so much room it is so different to economy. Unfortunately, Airshow 4200D is broken, which was really annoying as I do like seeing the Airshow. I raise this point to the FA but they said that there was nothing they can do.

This time, I listened a lot of music, as well as watching “21”, “Leaving Les Vagas”, played some games and Topgear TV series. There was a lot more time to kill as the flight was 5 hours. We were also given amenity kit as well, which is the standard Pacifica amenity kit including eye shades, socks, creams, toothbrushes etc.

Food

Since Auckland Papeete is long haul, they have separate menu rather than Trans Tasman menu. Again it is 4 course meal:

Starter: Trio of poached prawn with pepper salsa, smoked snapper, palm sugar cured tuna and red onion compote; and garlic bread

Main Course: Chicken thigh roulade with feta, confit butternut, potatoes, chicken jus and medley of green vegetables

Dessert: Granny Smith apple, almond and hazel nut crumble cake with pohutukawa honey cream

Cheese and Fruit: A selection of fine New Zealand cheese and fresh seasonal fruit

Beverages: Tea, Ginger Ale, On the Fly (cocktail)

Whilst all of them are delicious, the apple, almond and hazel nut crumble cake was outstandingly delicious. In fact, when I asked for seconds they said it was all gone, and some of the people did not get it at all.

I had a chat with the FA, and she mentioned that Auckland – Papeete flight used to be like a holiday for them because they used to stay in Intercontinental Tahiti to recuperate between flights. These days the FA needs to do both flights as the plane does a straight turn around. Therefore they said that by the time they do the Papeete Auckland leg, they would be quite tired.

There was a small incident where I could not get my attention light to turn off, no matter what the FA and I tried. At the end I just told them to ignore it and if I need something I would come and ask myself.

Landing

The landing to Tahiti Faaa Airport at 01:30 was smooth and quick, even though it was pitch black outside. I have to say that I would have loved to see us arriving in Tahiti during day time so that we could see beautiful Moorea and Tahiti in air before landing. Again, we were the first ones out of the plane, and we immediately felt the warm and humid weather conditions, as there were no aerobridge facilities. Of course, I was wearing jacket as well as full length jeans which didn’t help. There was Tahitian welcome as well as Tahitians playing music. We were amongst the first ones through the immigration which is good because there were only 2 officers working at that time, and we could see the long queues being formed as the economy class passengers start to line up. Custom was a breeze and we immediately exited and hired a taxi to Intercontinental Tahiti for 1700XPF, since both Mr and Mrs Edison is really looking forward the bed. It was an excellent idea that I got some XPF in Australia before the trip.

Tahitian Welcome


Intercontinental Tahiti Resort

The taxi only took us 5 minutes before arriving at IC Tahiti at 2am, which is very quick since the plane only landed at 01:30am. We checked in quickly and were offered a juice. The porter then picked our luggage, and escorted us to the lift. Then something strange happened: he press level 1 (we were level 3) and then left the lift. So we thought he only escorted us to the lift. However, when the lift went down to level 1, he reappeared and picked our luggage! It looked like he ran down the stairs whilst the lift went down. I still don’t understand why he didn’t catch the lift with us, maybe that is the requirement from the hotel.

Once we got to our Garden View room (did not get an upgrade since I was not Ambassador), the porter put in the luggage and left. The room whilst not big, it has a nice and cosy feel, with beautiful bathrooms, as well as Tahitian bed. It actually has a view of the sea, through a few palm trees. So it still has some view but not Panoramic. Both Mrs and Mr Edison enjoyed it, however due to lateness we immediately went to bed and slept.

Intercontinental Tahiti - Garden View Room