mad_atta

OK, folks – time for my first ever trip report. This has been inspired by some of the great trip reports out there – as someone who regularly flies at the back of the bus, it’s been a joy to read the experiences of tfung, Seat 2A, carfield, Skystar et al flying upfront on some of the world’s best airlines, and it has motivated me to hoard my FF miles so I can do the same! Since this was my first experience in J-class on Air New Zealand, it seemed like a good place to start, especially since there aren’t too many NZ trip reports out there. Please excuse my lack of technical details like aircraft registrations and timing of take-off roll – I’m more into the comfort of the seats, the quality of the champagne, and the view out the window! (Plus the miles, of course…!)

Anyway, this one’s been sitting half-finished on the PC for months now, but the recent flurry of excellent trip reports has inspired me to get on and finish it. Apart from boarding passes, I’m working from memory here, so be prepared for a few gaps. However, if y’all get even half the enjoyment out of this that I get out of the trip reports I read, then it will have been worthwhile. So let me know what you think! (But be gentle with me, since it’s my first time…)

The planning and anticipation

Back in October, my partner Matt and I decided it would be fun to head over to New Zealand for Christmas with my family in the South Island. Matt wanted to conserve his annual leave (saving up for Mardi Gras ) so the plan was to fly on the evening of Friday Dec 21st, and for him to return on Boxing Day while I spent a couple more days with my family and then rejoined him in Sydney in time for New Year. Bookings were already heavy for Christmas, and the Sydney-Wellington flights (the most direct routing for us) were already effectively sold out (with only a few seats left at joke prices) so we decided to fly via Auckland and cash in some HHonors points to stay in the swanky new Auckland Hilton before flying down to the South Island the following day. We managed to find flights for around $900AUD – at least 50% more than I would expect to pay at other times of year but hey, that’s the price of travelling at Christmas.

Then, my tiny brain starts working overtime: being an old pro at coming up with creative justifications for spending lots of money, I reasoned that since economy fares go up so much at Christmas but business fares stay the same, wouldn’t it be a great time to travel in business? Hey, it’s almost good value! So, lacking any NZ AirPoints to use for an upgrade (since I’m a UA MileagePlus member, as a surprise early Christmas present, I paid to upgrade the SYD-AKL leg – this took some creative fare calculations on the part of the phone reservations staff, but as always they were very patient and friendly. Then, only a few days before we were to fly, it turns out that there has been a misunderstanding and that not only is Matt not expected to work between Christmas and New Year, it is in fact compulsory for him to take the time off – so time for another lengthy phone call to reservations to sort it all out – they very kindly waived most of the fee to change his flights, and we eventually managed to end up on the same flights, in adjacent seats all the way, even though it meant giving up the exit row seats which airnzboy had kindly organised for me on my return flights. Finally, a phone call to the Hilton in Auckland confirmed that they will upgrade us to a harbour view room thanks to the gold HHonors card. So far so good.

Time to go!

The day of our departure eventually arrives and I pack at the last minute as usual. At 15:50, ten minutes before we are due to leave the house for a 18:00 flight, I discover that I’m missing my New Zealand passport! Panic ensues, and we spend half an hour searching every nook and cranny – no luck. Luckily I have dual citizenship, so decide I’ll just have to travel on my British passport, and we set off for the airport at 16:20. I am slightly concerned that I’ll be leaving the country on a different passport to the one I entered it on – always a big no-no. In the taxi to the airport, a couple of quick calls to the NZ Passport Office and Australian Immigration confirms that this should be OK, though I’ll need to get a new NZ passport while in New Zealand – which might be a little tricky in between Christmas and New Year when the whole country is more or less shut down, but I decide to worry about that when I get there! I’m cursing my own stupidity, as I should have been sitting in the lounge sipping pre-flight drinks by now, basking in the other half’s happy surprise and gratitude, whereas instead I find myself in a sweaty taxi with a stressed and disbelieving boyfriend… Mental note for New Year’s resolution: be more organised!

NZ106 Sydney – Auckland, 21 December 2001
Dep SYD 18:00; Arr. AKL 23:00
767-200, Seats 3A/3C (Business Class)

We get to the airport around 16:40, and the boyfriend is too stressed to notice that we’re in the Business Class queue. Meanwhile, I am happy to discover that it is manned by Air New Zealand employees, rather than the Qantas ground staff who created such chaos last time I flew Air NZ from Sydney. (As if a Qantas employee could care less if you go away with a bad impression of Air New Zealand – they are the competition!) We got to the front of the short queue, I presented our E-ticket receipts, and explained my passport predicament. The agent was friendly, but uttered those dreaded words “I’m afraid we can’t fly you to New Zealand tonight…” (panic ensued briefly) “…unless you buy a valid onward ticket to somewhere else.” My flight back to Australia wasn’t considered a valid onward ticket, since I didn’t have a visa to get back in on my British passport. Of course by then I would have a NZ passport again and therefore not need a visa, but technically I could be denied entry to NZ and then AirNZ would be fined and have to fly me back again. So I wandered over to the next counter to buy a full-fare one-way ticket from Auckland to Nadi (Fiji) from the reservations desk – the guy there smiled and said they issue 5 or 6 of them a day, and that when I got back I should call buy the desk and get it refunded (minus a $50 admin charge ). Since they always seem to use the Fiji route (presumably because it’s one of the shortest and cheapest international routes from New Zealand) for people in this predicament it must play havoc with their yield management/predicted bookings! Then back to the counter to finish checking in, get our seats (following KoruFlyer’s good advice to go for rows 2 or 3) and off to tackle passport control. Once we’re out of hearing range from the check-in desks, Matt says in his best ‘I’m being discreet’ voice “I think they’ve put us in business class!” Clearly there are no flies on him… “Merry Christmas!” I reply. He grins broadly and I get a big kiss and a thank-you before he remembers that he’s still supposed to be mad at me…

Passport control is the next minor drama – of course it appears from my passport that I am exiting a country which I never entered and never had a visa for! I explain the situation again and am taken off to one side to sit on a plastic chair outside one of their interrogation rooms, feeling like a criminal, while Matt paces up and down muttering “I can’t BELIEVE you could be so stupid!” To my annoyance, I can’t think of an adequate response to that, as I am thinking much the same thing… After only a minute or two the immigration officer emerges smiling and tells me I can go. We proceed at speed to the Air New Zealand lounge, which is a large and palatial place with a fantastic range of alcohol (8 types of beer anyone?) for a much needed drink. As we relax in the comfy chairs with some delicious hot quiche and a G&T each, it finally starts to feel as though the holiday is beginning. I was impressed by the lounge, and in particular by the range of food and drink on offer (it certainly put UA’s RCC at Melbourne to shame), though I noticed all the PC’s had notices on them saying that the ISP they use has just gone into liquidation and they were still arranging a new supplier! So, no FlyerTalk… though Matt already claims to be a ‘FlyerTalk widow’ so perhaps that was no bad thing…

At around 17:45 they announced our flight was boarding – most of the other pax were already on the plane. They didn’t appear to give the option of pre-boarding for *G and premium pax, unless they just don’t announce that from the lounge. The FA offers to take our coats (we don’t have any) and shows us to our seats. The flight is 100% full in J and I heard the gate agent discussing that there were 30 pax in Y on the standby list but “none of them are getting on since we’re full up”. Good to see the load factors are up – but then if the the flight wasn’t full on the Friday evening before Christmas that would be a bit of a worry! I was surprised to note that the aircraft still has the old-style overhead lockers, as did the 763 on our return flight – is this true of all NZ 767’s or just the older ones? Once we were seated we were offered New Zealand newspapers and a pre-take-off champagne (Piper Heidseick NV) or orange juice. We both opt for champagne and get to enjoy that smug feeling of sitting back in comfort with a glass of bubbly while the remaining coach passengers walk past looking envious! We push back right on time, the captain announces a 2.5 hour flying time to Auckland, and we take off directly over the sea, so no interesting views of Sydney for me However, I forget about that soon enough as the FA takes drink orders and we experiment with the seats. These are very comfortable but not as easy to operate as the UA seats, and of course the seat pitch is less (50”), but still more than enough for my 6’2” frame. My only criticisms are that the seats are a little narrow (this applies only to the 767’s – I would prefer the 1-2-2 configuration that QF uses in some of their 767s) - and the legrest doesn’t raise as much as I would like. Overall I found them more comfortable than the QF Dreamtime seat (though I love the Dreatmtime electronic controls!) but I would happily fly long haul in either. I liked the full-size pillow with crisp linen cover on each seat too.

There were 2 FA’s working the J cabin, both women in their forties and extremely friendly and attentive. (NZ seems to have a very high proportion of male FA’s, but not tonight apparently.) I asked what wines they had tonight and she happily showed me the selection:

Champagne
Piper Heidseick NV

White wine
Mt Difficulty Sauvignon Blanc, Central Otago, New Zealand
Babich Winemaker’s Reserve Chardonnay, Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand

Red wine
CJ Pask Reserve Merlot, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand
CJ Pask Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand
An Australian shiraz which I have forgotten – sorry!

They also had a respectable range of spirits, liqueurs, beers and port. I chose the Mt Difficulty sauvignon which was excellent. Menus for dinner were then handed out. Being the greedy type, and having had excellent food on NZ in Y in the past (one recent Sydney-Wellington flight had cod in filo pastry which was fantastic, and by far the best fish meal I’ve eaten on a plane in any class) I was particularly looking forward to this aspect of the flight. As it happened, I ate and drank constantly all the way to Auckland!

appetiser

Rock melon and prosciutto salad
with Danish feta and kalamata olives

main course

Grilled southern ocean salmon
with preserved lemons, creamed spinach and bulgar wheat

Herb chicken supreme
with Cabernet and thyme butter, caraway hash brown, mushrooms and garlic courgettes

Chilled peppered venison
served rare, with sweet potato and pumpkin salad, and radicchio lettuce and orange salad

dessert

Connoisseur ice cream

cheese and fruit

Fine regional cheese and preserved fruit

beverages

Freshly brewed or decaffeinated coffee, tea, herbal tea and hot chocolate

The FA’s came around with white linen tablecloths, and handed distributed the meal trays which had the appetiser, cheese and fruit already on them. The presentation was excellent with nice quality china, cute little glass mini-cups with sea salt and black pepper, and nice cutlery except for the unfortunate plastic knife. A bread basket was brought around several times, with a mouthwatering array of heated specialty breads with the option of extra virgin olive oil rather than butter – I had a delicious olive foccaccia. (One of my pet peeves on planes is unheated bread – on NZ it is always heated, even in Y – QF and others could learn from this!) The rock melon and prosciutto salad was excellent and generously proportioned, and combined well with the flavoursome Babich chardonnay, which I had moved onto by that stage.

Our plates were then cleared away and our main courses brought. I wanted to sample some of the red wine so I opted for the venison, accompanied by the Cabernet Sauvignon. The venison was perfectly cooked – nicely pink in the middle, and the sweet potato salad was a nicely NZ touch (though we call them kumara there). The wine was great too. (Matt had the salmon, which he proclaimed to be ‘restaurant quality’, though I thought it had a hint of that kept-hot-too-long taste. I’ve subsequently noticed the same thing in a restaurant over here, so I guess he was right! It was still very nice, but if anything not quite as good as the fantastic cod in filo pastry of happy memory…) The FA’s were great about letting people eat at their own pace – some people had already finished their mains by the time I finished my appetiser (I’m always talking too much) but this didn’t seem to be a problem. By this time the FA had realised I was obviously interested in trying out the different wines, so she was carefully monitoring my glass and asking me whether I’d like a refill or to try something else. So, I sampled the merlot with my cheeses, even though I was getting fairly full by this stage. I forget the exact cheese range but there was a brie/camembert, a vintage cheddar and a couple of other mild cheeses with Arnott’s crackers. And yes, the merlot was very drinkable too! We then finished off with fantastic Kapiti ice cream. There was no choice of flavours, but the vanilla was a revelation – just ask Skystar! – and a great way to finish off the meal. My only complaint is that the decaf coffee was clearly instant – a surprising and disappointing bit of cost cutting when even UA give you brewed decaf in coach, and given that NZ is such a coffee-mad country these days. Overall, the food was superb, especially for such a relatively short flight, the wines all very enjoyable, and the service was just the right mix of attentiveness, professionalism and NZ casual friendliness. This made an interesting contrast to UA in C, where the seat and pitch was better, but the food, wine and service was more like coach standards on NZ (except that decaf!). The entertainment in NZ could do with improvement too – although there was a reasonable choice of movies, there was no ‘Laugh Lounge’ comedy TV section – this is played on the same channel as the sports programming, and on our flight it was sports only. For someone as uninterested in sport as I am, that was a pity, and even admiring the thighs of the rugby players in the scrums didn’t amuse me for long.

All too soon we began our descent (I was still drinking and munching) and I could see the lights of Auckland below us. We flew almost directly over the city centre – I got a great view of the SkyTower lit up in blue – before looping around to the south and then approaching the airport from the east. After a smooth landing and quick taxi we were disembarking at Auckland around 15 minutes ahead of schedule. Auckland is probably my favourite international airport – small enough to get around easily, large enough to have some decent facilities and shopping, and all shiny and new and spacious. After a quick swoop through duty-free for some last minute Christmas presents – I love being able to do this on arrival, and NZ has particularly generous duty free allowances, plus ‘The Cellar’ wine shop in AKL is excellent – we grabbed our bags (already waiting) and got through immigration (who showed no interest in whether I had an onward ticket or not – grrr!) and customs in record time and were soon in a taxi on our way to the Hilton. Auckland, as always, seemed very spacious and half empty after Sydney, and we were downtown very quickly. The Queens Wharf area (where the Hilton is located) was a hive of activity however, with people queuing up to get into various bars and clubs. We were tucked up in bed in our nautical-inspired harbour view room within an hour of touchdown, happy to be on holiday!

The next morning, after a fantastic brunch with friends on the terrace at White, the sparkling minimalist restaurant at the Hilton which is masterminded by Luke Mangan of Salt fame, it was back to the airport for our domestic flights.

NZ439 Auckland – Wellington, 22 December 2001
Dep AKL 12:30; Arr. WLG 13:30
737-300, Seats 10A/10B (Economy Class)

The Air New Zealand domestic terminal is always a bit of a shock after the swanky new international terminal. Think low ceilings, 70s dιcor, several different carpet patterns (all ugly) and not much space. Check-in was speedy and painless, by a smiling check-in agent, so that is more important I suppose. It was then time for another new experience for me – airport security on a domestic flight in NZ! You may be amazed to hear that pre September 11, there was no security screening at all on any domestic flights in New Zealand. This has now been hastily implemented at the main airports, but is a pretty Heath Robinson arrangement at the individual gates – annoying because you can’t relax while loitering at the shops because you know you still have to go through security, and because I think it would take minimal determination and ingenuity to outwit the system. One gets the impression that they just want to be seen to be making an effort – much like the absurd plastic knives situation – which is irritating. Having said that, NZ is still by far the most relaxing country I know in which to travel by air, and the security check was quick and unintrusive, so I’ll stop complaining now.

By the time we got to the gate, boarding had already commenced, so we joined the orderly queue. On domestic flights NZ has a rack of various magazines by the entrance to the jetway (if my memory serves me correctly, they always used to come around the cabin and distribute these), so we grabbed a couple. I hadn’t previously been on a domestic NZ 737-300 (they are all pretty new – some of the last 733’s ever built, I am told) so I was curious to have a look around. As is usually the case on NZ, the plane was immaculately clean, and the Y-class seats were similar to the excellent Spacemaker seats in international economy. The seat pitch is theoretically 32”, but I’m sure it was more – we both have long legs, but I could get out of my window seat without Matt having to move from his seat, and no we weren’t in the exit row! The business class seats were configured in 2 rows of 2x2, in their own separate mini-cabin. They had proper footrests etc, though I’m not sure the seat pitch (which looked like about 37”) was enough for them to be of much use – but even so, they looked fantastic compared to the joke convertible business class seats you get on QF 737’s or on short-haul business class in Europe.

We took off about 15 minutes late, into a perfect blue sky. I was looking forward to the view of the volcanos in the central North Island, having carefully chosen seats on the left for that reason, but by the time we got to Taupo there was heavy cloud below. By this stage I was distracted by the food service anyway, which consisted of a tasty tuna salad roll, a pre-packed orange juice, and a decent sized chocolate bar. Those hard-working FA’s also managed at least two tea and coffee runs – not bad for a 45 minute flight, serving a 98% full 737! As usual on NZ, they were extraordinarily friendly and full of smiles. Then, once we were well into our descent, the final tradition which really made me feel like I was home – the FA’s had picked out one of the children on the flight, who came around with a basket of boiled sweets (what I think you Americans would refer to as ‘hard candy’) to help your ears pop as we descended. (I remember doing this as a kid and thinking it was a great treat, especially since the FA’s let me keep all the leftover sweets – I was on a sugar rush for days afterwards.

We emerged from the clouds as we passed over the Kapiti Coast (where that fabulous ice cream of the same name comes from!), which pleased me since Wellington is quite a spectacular place to fly into, which Matt hadn’t done before. We flew in from the north, which meant that the fantastic view of the city was out the other side of the window, and came in for an unusually smooth landing for ‘windy Wellington’. By the time we deplaned at the terminal we were 6 or 7 minutes behind schedule, which concerned me slightly since we had only a fifteen minute (yes, you read that correctly) connection in Wellington. AirNZ had assured me this was a legal connection time, and I’ve certainly done it before, but the new security measures make it a bit marginal now, I would have thought. As luck would have it, our connecting flight to Blenheim was delayed by 15 minutes, so we comfortably made the connection, with some time to spare to buy a magazine in Wellington’s swanky new glass-fronted terminal.

NZ2469 Wellington – Blenheim, 22 December 2001
Dep WLG 13:45; Arr. BHE 14:10
Embraer Bandeirante, Seats 7A/7B (Economy Class)

One of the things I love about returning ‘home’ to NZ is the steadily decreasing size of the planes on each sector, culminating in the ‘puddle jumper’ for the short hop across Cook Strait. (Although these days you can fly directly to Blenheim from Auckland or Christchurch, I prefer to do it the old-fashioned way via Wellington – I just love flying in and out of that city! All the little multi-coloured wooden houses on the hillside suburbs by the airport look almost close enough to touch as you fly in… then of course there is always the added excitement of some healthy Wellington winds to make things more interesting.) This time, we were on one of the creaky old Bandeirantes – at only 15 seats, definitely the smallest plane Matt had flown on. In a plane where basically every seat is a window seat, I hadn’t bothered about preassigning seats – so I ended up in the back row, which on the left side has no window due to the loading door. Never mind, I’ve flown that sector probably fifty times, and in a plane that size it’s pretty easy to look out the other side! Matt was a little shocked to discover that there were no FA’s – just a pilot and a co-pilot, who did a great job of getting us underway quickly and off we went. They informed us that there had been some lively weather over Cook Straight all day, so to be prepared for some turbulence, but as it happened it was a fairly uneventful flight – but how much can possibly happen on a 20 minute flight? Well, as it happens, I could tell you a few stories… but since this was Matt’s first time in a puddle-jumper, I was glad that all went smoothly.

Soon we were deplaning in front of the one-room terminal which we affectionately refer to as ‘Blenheim International’… and if you think it’s small, you should see the tiny little converted bungalow which used to be there! The aged parents were waiting, and it felt good finally to have arrived – however, it transpired that our luggage had not. It turns out that due to the wild weather, the planes had been flying all day with a far greater than usual fuel load in case they had to divert to other airports. It being the weekend before Christmas, not only were all the flights completely full, but people were travelling with a lot of luggage. So: full fuel tanks plus full passenger load plus lots of heavy bags doesn’t quite fit into one small Bandeirante, so they were playing catch-up with the baggage. Fair enough, but because the check-in agents kept saying our bags would probably be on the next flight, and because we live over an hour from the airport (the last 10 miles of which are up a narrow, steep, bumpy gravel road on which people frequently get lost), we stayed in the area for a few hours in the hope of them arriving. (Well, it was a good excuse to visit a few of the nearby vineyards, and besides I had to pick up my annual Christmas consignment of Cloudy Bay.) On our final visit to the airport, the agent informed us that our bags, along with many others, were being flown into Nelson and then trucked over to Blenheim, and that they would deliver them to us, despite where we live! They were also very apologetic for the delay, and offered us (unasked for) some lounge vouchers as compensation. I, by now truly hooked on NZ business class, cheekily asked whether we could get a couple of upgrade vouchers instead… and the agent promised to try. With that, we were on our way – and an hour or so after we got home, a very dusty taxi pulled up outside and a smiling driver emerged to unload our luggage. I caught a glimpse of the meter - $NZ145 and climbing – and figured that his smile was not solely Christmas cheer…

For the first time in a decade, the entire family was together for Christmas, complete with other halves, for the last year in our childhood home, which has now been sold. We’d travelled from as close as Christchurch, and as far away as Sydney and Colorado, so we were determined to have a great time, which we did. That Cloudy Bay certainly helped!

Coming up next (once I’ve written it): passports, pigeon-poo, bonfires, bushfires… and of course the return journey to Sydney!

Uli

Wow, this was long! Thank you for the report!

Especially I agree with you that the first sign of a beginning holiday is to sit in an airport lounge with a glass of G&T in your hands!

jongar

Cloudy Bay - **** Kiwi's hoarding it for themselves depriving us Europeans of lifes nectar

Skystar

Thanks for the great report. When do we hear about coming home?

I'm missing the Kapiti ice cream already

Cheers,

Justin

rdd

What a great trip report. I can't wait for my upcoming trip to NZ on NZ

igel

Hi mad_atta/mad hatter,

Thanks for the interesting trip report ! Are you an expat Kiwi living in Sydney ? The food service in C class Trans Tasman on NZ sounds very similar to the QF AKL-MEL that I was on. Cheese is already pre-plated, cf the level of service on a long-haul flight. BTW, I passed through AKL international airport a couple of hours before you did on Dec 21

"as did the 763 on our return flight – is this true of all NZ 767’s or just the older ones?"
AFAIK, all the NZ B767s and the QF 767s have the same sort of cabin interior with the drop-down bins in the middle and the fixed ones at the sides.


" By this time the FA had realised I was obviously interested in trying out the different wines, so she was carefully monitoring my glass and asking me whether I’d like a refill or to try something else. "

On Air NZ, QF and sometimes on UA too, the FAs are very obliging when they realise that I am interested in the wines, and they would pop by constantly especially during the meal service to see if I would like more of the same wine or try a different one, unlike the really dense robotic, sarong kebaya FAs on SQ!

" Kapiti ice cream. There was no choice of flavours, but the vanilla was a revelation"
The Kapiti ice cream is really nice, and I have discovered that the Auckland Uni cafeteria stocks them What is nice about even the plain vanilla flavour is that it has real vanilla beans grinded in it. There is a ginger nut with something (? flavour which is really heavenly.


"the service was just the right mix of attentiveness, professionalism and NZ casual friendliness."
I really like the NZ service, QF is a very close second to NZ. Down on my list is SQ !


" For someone as uninterested in sport as I am, that was a pity, and even admiring the thighs of the rugby players in the scrums didn’t amuse me for long."


"The next morning, after a fantastic brunch with friends on the terrace at White, the sparkling minimalist restaurant at the Hilton which is masterminded by Luke Mangan of Salt fame, "

Salt is the other restaurant in the other building across from the Hilton on Pricess Wharf. It has really cute and very gay waiters

" the FA’s had picked out one of the children on the flight, who came around with a basket of boiled sweets (what I think you Americans would refer to as ‘hard candy’) to help your ears pop as we descended."
I really like this quaint practice on Air NZ. Have never seen other airlines do this.

" (Well, it was a good excuse to visit a few of the nearby vineyards, and besides I had to pick up my annual Christmas consignment of Cloudy Bay.) "
Ah ... Cloudy Bay ....

mad_atta, I may be in SYD in mid-Dec this year !

------------------
UA 1P
I like NZ,NG,NH,UA,SK,LH & QF
I do not like SQ !

trentis

a fantastic and very entertaining trip report. can't wait for the return journey! well done

mad_atta

Thanks guys for the feedback and encouragement.

Uli, I can safely say that was one of the best tasting G&T's I ever had!

Jongar, would you be even more annoyed if I told you that Cloudy Bay only costs NZ$22 (less than 7GBP) and is freely available? Although they could easily sell their entire production overseas for a better price, I think they are conscious of not abandoning the NZ market as a safeguard against them falling from fashion and losing their international markets. Their latest release is 'Te Koko', which is oak-aged sauvignon, released 3 or 4 years after the vintage - absolutely stunning stuff, but very different from the standard model. Also, if you're into Marlborough savvies, you should try Vavasour Single Vineyard s/b (my favourite), Villa Maria Reserve Clifford Bay s/b, or Isabel Estate s/b, all which you can get in the UK these days if you look hard enough.

Skystar, I'll try to churn out part two in a little less time than the 3 months it has taken to squeeze out part one. And I'll be sampling that Kapiti ice cream next week when I head over for easter, so I'll be sure to think of you as I polish it off.

rdd, thank-you. Where/when are you going?

igel, I guess I am an expat kiwi (born in Kenya, grew up in NZ, lived/worked in London for last 5 years before moving here last year... but I consider myself a kiwi even if I don't sound like one). I've been interested to read your reports on SQ - I'll have the chance to try them out next month (SYD-SIN-BKK-SIN-SYD in Raffles) so I'll let you know what I think.

Salt is Luke Mangan's όber-trendy restaurant in Sydney, in Darlinghurst Road. He's 'consultant chef' to White in Auckland, so how much cooking he ever does there I don't know. I don't know about the restaurant you refer to on Princes Wharf.

Worldtraveler36

Wow! What a trip report!!! A+.

I loved the passport scenario. All that stress, then they just let you go. No one ever mentions passport control and customs, yet it is such an integral part of the trip, especially when you have one of those "special experiences." I'll bet you were relieved. They could have kept you, you know.

Thank you so much and for reviving my memories. I sent this on to a good friend who is not on F/T, but is madly in love with NZ. I laughed when you mentioned Taupo-inside story, but was too perfect. He gave himself when we saw the name of the city, a non de plume of Taupo.

Come and check me out next door on the Qantas trip. Sorry, I prefer Qantas , but both are outstanding airlines and both make our US airlines, look, ah, bad...

------------------
Michael
AA PLT,1 MLN Miles+
HH GLD, SCI GLD, MM SIL
LE PRESIDENT ETERNEL DE CAMAIR-CAMEROUN AIRLINES

igel

"I don't know about the restaurant you refer to on Princes Wharf."

I came across Salt (the one in AKL) by chance when I was walking around the Princess Wharf area in Dec last year. Not sure if it has any connections with the Sydney one.

mad_atta, will you be in NZ again this May/June ?

mad_atta

No, I'm heading there next week for Easter, so I can't afford to go again so soon. (Not many cheap fares around at the moment ) Give me a shout if you come to Sydney.

Worldtraveler36, thank-you. I'm sure I'd like Qantas more if I'd flown first class with them! As it is, I've had some excellent service on QF (J-class across the Tasman, plus a couple of international flights 2 years ago), a lot of very average flights, and some really awful domestic flights with them lately - the lack of competition is not improving their attitude, I can tell you - whereas NZ has always been consistently friendly. QF ain't bad, it's just annoyingly inconsistent.

Seat 2A

What took ya so long?!

Bravo mad_atta! This is an excellent trip report for either a first timer or a seasoned veteran. Totally First Class in every way!

I couldn't agree with you more about the Auckland Domestic Terminal Shock (ADTS Syndrome) connecting passengers from international flights experience. I wonder if that terminal goes back to the NAC days?

Also, having just flown back to Oz from NZ; based upon your menu transcript and my recent experiences, I'd have to say that with the exception of the Kapiti ice cream, the Business Class food is a bit better out of Australia than from New Zealand.

I eagerly await posting of your return journey!


[This message has been edited by Seat 2A (edited 03-22-2002).]

luftaom

Great Trip report ... look forward to reading the next one!

Worldtraveler36

Cheers mad-atta,

Again, great report. I can't believe that it was your first!? no way! Too good.

I am seeing the need for the menu. I give them away to a friend in Paris who collects them, but I guess everyone likes the descriptions of the food and drink service!?

I think QF and NZ both have their strengths. I have heard many bad things about QF in coach. As you will see coming up in my report, Business goes down. Kiwi was good in coach, took it last year Wellington to Auckland, very comfortable. I think NZ has compassion upon its coach pax, while on the QF 744, the coach pax looked packed to the gills. Yes, I felt so sorry for them, as normally, I am back there .

Looking forward to the next report back.
Please, give details on the passport situation. I love that stuff so much and no one ever talks about it. Cheers.

Do UK citizens need a visa for NZ and Australia? I think everyone needs a visa for Australia, not that I mind the electronic visa...

ajamieson

Fabulous.