mad_atta goes to the Cook Islands (on TG / NZ / GZ) - in instalments
Jun 14, 2003, 9:06 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: SYD
Programs: Too many golds, no plat: OZ*G, AC*G, NZ*G, VA Gold, QF Gold, HH Gold, Bonvoy Gold
Posts: 5,350
mad_atta goes to the Cook Islands (on TG / NZ / GZ) - in instalments
Introduction
With apologies to airnzboy and any others who have been waiting for this trip report for months, here finally is the story of our whirlwind trip to the Cook Islands. I’ll submit this in instalments as I finish them, and hopefully add some photos when I get a chance.
Our story begins in late 2002 with the announcement of UAL entering Chapter 11. Having already switched to other *A programmes for our mileage accrual and with a neat 50,000 UA miles apiece burning a hole in our pocket, the boyfriend and I started thinking of good ways to spend them while they still had some value. We were constrained by a lack of annual leave (saving that for a big trip to Europe later in the year) and a need to keep it cheap (saving $$$ for aforementioned trip to Europe – the ‘Pacific peso’ doesn’t go far when converted to sterling!) so our thoughts turned to the Pacific. We had originally thought maybe a quick trip to Hong Kong or Shanghai might be fun, but that would have meant suffering in economy class – quelle horreur, daaahlings! – and besides, the boyf has a nasty allergy to Singapore Airlines which does limit one’s options a little. On the other hand, we’re both fans of Air New Zealand’s business class service, and 40K UA miles would give us the choice of NZ’s various South Pacific destinations, via their Auckland hub.
As countless coming-of-age movies have taught us, being a man means sometimes having to make hard decisions… like the one we found ourselves facing: which tropical Pacific paradise island destination should we choose? I’d already been to Fiji, and wanted to go somewhere new; Tahiti was out due to cost; New Caledonia was too French for my very English boyfriend; and Norfolk Island was deemed insufficiently tropical and exotic. That left Samoa, Tonga and the Cook Islands – and since I had a long-standing urge to see Aitutaki atoll, and the boyf wanted somewhere not too 3rd world after getting giardia in Thailand last year, we fixed upon the Cook Islands. Finding 2 business class award seats on suitable flights was a whole other matter, however – but after much searching on Galileo I finally found some convenient dates to coincide with Australia Day long weekend, which allowed a 5 day jaunt only using 2 days of leave. The only problem was that there was no business-class availability on the Sydney – Auckland segment, but luckily there was a Thai Airways flight at almost the same time. Having successfully booked this, it then occurs to me that rather than leaving 10,000 ‘orphaned’ miles in our UA accounts, for 50K we could get a first class award. Since Air New Zealand don’t offer first on their regional services, we’d only be getting one sector in first… but after my glowing descriptions of free-flowing Dom Perignon and a spacious orchid-strewn cabin, the boyf happily agreed to part with the extra miles for our first international first class experience.
Finally, the big day dawned, and we rolled sleepily but excitedly out of bed in the pre-dawn gloom and soon found ourselves blearily sitting in the back seat of a taxi en-route to Kingsford Smith, wondering what we’d forgotten to bring. (Any of you who remember ‘mad_atta’s Christmas in New Zealand’ may be pleased to hear that my passport thankfully made it along for the ride this time.) Our first class experience was about to begin…
With apologies to airnzboy and any others who have been waiting for this trip report for months, here finally is the story of our whirlwind trip to the Cook Islands. I’ll submit this in instalments as I finish them, and hopefully add some photos when I get a chance.
Our story begins in late 2002 with the announcement of UAL entering Chapter 11. Having already switched to other *A programmes for our mileage accrual and with a neat 50,000 UA miles apiece burning a hole in our pocket, the boyfriend and I started thinking of good ways to spend them while they still had some value. We were constrained by a lack of annual leave (saving that for a big trip to Europe later in the year) and a need to keep it cheap (saving $$$ for aforementioned trip to Europe – the ‘Pacific peso’ doesn’t go far when converted to sterling!) so our thoughts turned to the Pacific. We had originally thought maybe a quick trip to Hong Kong or Shanghai might be fun, but that would have meant suffering in economy class – quelle horreur, daaahlings! – and besides, the boyf has a nasty allergy to Singapore Airlines which does limit one’s options a little. On the other hand, we’re both fans of Air New Zealand’s business class service, and 40K UA miles would give us the choice of NZ’s various South Pacific destinations, via their Auckland hub.
As countless coming-of-age movies have taught us, being a man means sometimes having to make hard decisions… like the one we found ourselves facing: which tropical Pacific paradise island destination should we choose? I’d already been to Fiji, and wanted to go somewhere new; Tahiti was out due to cost; New Caledonia was too French for my very English boyfriend; and Norfolk Island was deemed insufficiently tropical and exotic. That left Samoa, Tonga and the Cook Islands – and since I had a long-standing urge to see Aitutaki atoll, and the boyf wanted somewhere not too 3rd world after getting giardia in Thailand last year, we fixed upon the Cook Islands. Finding 2 business class award seats on suitable flights was a whole other matter, however – but after much searching on Galileo I finally found some convenient dates to coincide with Australia Day long weekend, which allowed a 5 day jaunt only using 2 days of leave. The only problem was that there was no business-class availability on the Sydney – Auckland segment, but luckily there was a Thai Airways flight at almost the same time. Having successfully booked this, it then occurs to me that rather than leaving 10,000 ‘orphaned’ miles in our UA accounts, for 50K we could get a first class award. Since Air New Zealand don’t offer first on their regional services, we’d only be getting one sector in first… but after my glowing descriptions of free-flowing Dom Perignon and a spacious orchid-strewn cabin, the boyf happily agreed to part with the extra miles for our first international first class experience.
Finally, the big day dawned, and we rolled sleepily but excitedly out of bed in the pre-dawn gloom and soon found ourselves blearily sitting in the back seat of a taxi en-route to Kingsford Smith, wondering what we’d forgotten to bring. (Any of you who remember ‘mad_atta’s Christmas in New Zealand’ may be pleased to hear that my passport thankfully made it along for the ride this time.) Our first class experience was about to begin…
Jun 15, 2003, 6:20 am
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: SYD
Programs: Too many golds, no plat: OZ*G, AC*G, NZ*G, VA Gold, QF Gold, HH Gold, Bonvoy Gold
Posts: 5,350
Part II
Friday 24/1/03 : THAI Airways TG991
Dep SYD 07.55 Arr AKL 13.00
Boeing 747-300, First Class, Seats 2J&K
We reached the airport at about 6:45am and marched excitedly up to the red carpet of the first class counter. Check-in was handled by Qantas and was efficient but not overly personal or friendly. In a couple of minutes we were checked in, received boarding passes for both sectors, ensured our bags were festooned appropriately with the strangely retro circular Thai First Class tags (I discovered later that several had mysteriously found their way into my cabin baggage – can’t think how!) and on our way through security to the Air New Zealand lounge.
The NZ lounge is without doubt the best Star Alliance lounge at SYD – it’s spacious, glassy, has great views of the apron and runways and has an excellent range of food and drink (I once counted no fewer than 9 varieties of beer). I’ve spent many happy hours in it (hey, it’s always happy hour when the drinks are free!). This time, however, we got to walk through the right hand entrance into the First Class section. This is a much smaller, more intimate lounge with extremely comfy black leather recliner chairs grouped around low coffee tables. The food and beverage selection appeared to be the same as the main lounge next door, which is no real criticism since there was an extensive array of breakfast items – fruit salad, cereals, pastries, yoghurt and toast, fresh fruit juices, tea and coffee (from one of those semi-automatic espresso machines – this one seemed to produce much better results than most). I had heard somewhere that NZ First lounges also stocked champagne, but all I could find was the usual Montana Deutz sparkling. Since I was saving my palate for the Dom Perignon on board, I contented myself with some fruit salad, yoghurt, a coffee and lots of mineral water, since I had a suspicion I might be getting some serious drinking in over the course of the day. There were only 3 or 4 other people in the lounge and it was certainly a restful place to pass the time until our departure, which was delayed by about 25 minutes. To complete my investigation I had a peek into the bathroom – there were 4 extremely comfortable and spacious shower suites. The only drawback of the lounge is that the windows face in a different direction to the main lounge, with a far less interesting view of just 2 or 3 gates, and the Korean Air 747 which seems to be a permanent fixture there.
Eventually our flight was called, and we headed out of the lounge, trying to look nonchalant as if we fly first class all the time. About twenty yards ahead of us was a grey haired businessman in a smart suit who had also been in the first lounge and who probably *did* fly first all the time… however he was even less successful in creating the nonchalant look than we were. I can only assume that he had been to the bathroom and put some toilet paper down on the seat, as many people do when using public toilets, and somehow got a 2 metre length of toilet paper caught in his trousers which was trailing behind him and fluttering in the breeze as he strode purposefully towards the gate! One of the lounge attendants spotted this and, unable to leave her post, asked us as we passed if we would be so kind as to let the poor man know about this unfortunate situation, to which my heartless boyfriend replied “hell no, I was just reaching for my camera!” At this she burst into giggles but then tried to look disapproving and pointed out that this was rather unkind, so my good samaritan boyfriend relented and we hurried off after the businessman to put him out of his misery. We caught up with him at the bottom of the escalator and tipped him off, however he didn’t seem very grateful – perhaps he was just embarrassed. I’m sure his embarrassment intensified when he boarded the plane to find that we were sitting just across the aisle!
The boarding process was somewhat chaotic with no pre-boarding for elites or premium customers. However, our reward came when we got to make that satisfying left turn into the hitherto uncharted territory of the front of the 747, where I was surprised to discover that this aircraft had been fitted with the newer style lie-flat seats. The first thing I noticed was how bright and spacious the cabin seemed, since you could see out the windows on both sides, and a profusion of orchids on the central table area were an attractive touch. This classy effect was let down a little by the purply blue velvet of the seat covers, which created a ‘bordello circa 1968’ atmosphere. Still, it made for an interesting change from the usual muted tones of aircraft cabins, and we were pleasantly distracted by the first of many glasses of Dom Perignon ’95, served - rather oddly - from tall crystal tumblers.
Soon we found ourselves climbing into the blue skies over Sydney, marvelling at how quiet it is upfront in the 747 (once the nose wheel has retracted, that is – until then you get lots of interesting clunking noises), and drinking more of the delectable Dom as the flight attendants fussed around us. There were 3 FA’s serving the 5 of us in First, and the service was solicitous and attentive to say the least, though a little more formal than my previous experiences on TG (which have been in economy). Elaborately printed menus and wine lists were passed around, and we passed the time until the breakfast service commenced by playing with the electrically controlled seats (they may not be suites, but I found them extremely comfortable when reclined horizontally – I’m sure I would sleep like a baby in them), perusing the inflight entertainment options (unimpressive, though at least these new style seats have PTV’s), drinking more Dom (though in the name of science I did also try out the other champagne on offer, Cuvée Des Roys ’91, which was fine but not up to Dom Perignon standards) and generally soaking up the novelty of first class. Just to remind myself how lucky I was, I did a little walk-around of the plane – the business class seats looked rather nasty and uncomfortable but economy seemed spacious and colourful – pretty nice as cattle class goes.
About 40 minutes into the flight, our tables were set up with rather queasy coloured peach linen cloths, and breakfast was served from the trolleys. Pastries, bread and preserves were served first along with tea and coffee, which I found a bit odd, though I remember the same thing happening on Singapore Airlines in business class – perhaps this is an Asian thing. The coffee was absolutely vile, so I switched to tea (with a chaser of Dom, of course) and also sampled some watermelon juice (more like puree) for novelty value. We were then offered a choice of fruit salad, yoghurt and cereal – I had fruit salad, which was pleasant though run of the mill airline fare. Then came an extensive selection of hot breakfast items, all in silver dishes on the trolley: scrambled eggs, roast tomatoes, hash browns, chicken sausages, mushrooms, bacon and a vegetable frittata. Again, these were reasonably tasty but I’ve had better food in business, and some of the details let things down – I asked for ketchup and was served it in sachets, McDonalds style. I also found trolley service a little strange and old fashioned, though I know many of you out there love it.
The rest of the flight passed in a happily tipsy haze, and all too soon we were commencing our descent into Auckland, where we were treated to a fabulous view of the city centre as we circled around to land towards the west. I particularly enjoyed the way that the curvature of the nose of the 747 allows you to see slightly forwards as well as sideways. We pulled up to a busy international terminal, which today was featuring Lan Chile’s A340 in its stunning colours, a Malaysia Airlines 747, Cathay Pacific A340, *two* Korean Air 747s (I loathe their ugly turquoise livery), Singapore Airlines 747, Eva Air 767, United 777, plus the usual assortment of Air New Zealand and Qantas 737s, 747s and 767s. Our 2.5 hour first class experience had come to an end! I know many are dismissive of Thai’s first class product, but I found it comfortable and the service excellent, though the food did let it down. We certainly didn’t regret spending the extra 10,000 miles, especially given how grim the business class seats looked, and at around A$1,300 round trip SYD-AKL (compared to approx $A1,100 in business or A$1,900 in business on QF or NZ) it offers pretty good value for money as well.
The flight attendants formed a human barrier to stop the plebs from business class getting off before us, and bowed and scraped as we exited. I could get used to this! There was one last piece of entertainment, when Mr Toilet Paper businessman accidentally toppled his heavy carry-on onto my boyfriend’s foot – I think that’s called poetic justice!
Friday 24/1/03 : THAI Airways TG991
Dep SYD 07.55 Arr AKL 13.00
Boeing 747-300, First Class, Seats 2J&K
We reached the airport at about 6:45am and marched excitedly up to the red carpet of the first class counter. Check-in was handled by Qantas and was efficient but not overly personal or friendly. In a couple of minutes we were checked in, received boarding passes for both sectors, ensured our bags were festooned appropriately with the strangely retro circular Thai First Class tags (I discovered later that several had mysteriously found their way into my cabin baggage – can’t think how!) and on our way through security to the Air New Zealand lounge.
The NZ lounge is without doubt the best Star Alliance lounge at SYD – it’s spacious, glassy, has great views of the apron and runways and has an excellent range of food and drink (I once counted no fewer than 9 varieties of beer). I’ve spent many happy hours in it (hey, it’s always happy hour when the drinks are free!). This time, however, we got to walk through the right hand entrance into the First Class section. This is a much smaller, more intimate lounge with extremely comfy black leather recliner chairs grouped around low coffee tables. The food and beverage selection appeared to be the same as the main lounge next door, which is no real criticism since there was an extensive array of breakfast items – fruit salad, cereals, pastries, yoghurt and toast, fresh fruit juices, tea and coffee (from one of those semi-automatic espresso machines – this one seemed to produce much better results than most). I had heard somewhere that NZ First lounges also stocked champagne, but all I could find was the usual Montana Deutz sparkling. Since I was saving my palate for the Dom Perignon on board, I contented myself with some fruit salad, yoghurt, a coffee and lots of mineral water, since I had a suspicion I might be getting some serious drinking in over the course of the day. There were only 3 or 4 other people in the lounge and it was certainly a restful place to pass the time until our departure, which was delayed by about 25 minutes. To complete my investigation I had a peek into the bathroom – there were 4 extremely comfortable and spacious shower suites. The only drawback of the lounge is that the windows face in a different direction to the main lounge, with a far less interesting view of just 2 or 3 gates, and the Korean Air 747 which seems to be a permanent fixture there.
Eventually our flight was called, and we headed out of the lounge, trying to look nonchalant as if we fly first class all the time. About twenty yards ahead of us was a grey haired businessman in a smart suit who had also been in the first lounge and who probably *did* fly first all the time… however he was even less successful in creating the nonchalant look than we were. I can only assume that he had been to the bathroom and put some toilet paper down on the seat, as many people do when using public toilets, and somehow got a 2 metre length of toilet paper caught in his trousers which was trailing behind him and fluttering in the breeze as he strode purposefully towards the gate! One of the lounge attendants spotted this and, unable to leave her post, asked us as we passed if we would be so kind as to let the poor man know about this unfortunate situation, to which my heartless boyfriend replied “hell no, I was just reaching for my camera!” At this she burst into giggles but then tried to look disapproving and pointed out that this was rather unkind, so my good samaritan boyfriend relented and we hurried off after the businessman to put him out of his misery. We caught up with him at the bottom of the escalator and tipped him off, however he didn’t seem very grateful – perhaps he was just embarrassed. I’m sure his embarrassment intensified when he boarded the plane to find that we were sitting just across the aisle!
The boarding process was somewhat chaotic with no pre-boarding for elites or premium customers. However, our reward came when we got to make that satisfying left turn into the hitherto uncharted territory of the front of the 747, where I was surprised to discover that this aircraft had been fitted with the newer style lie-flat seats. The first thing I noticed was how bright and spacious the cabin seemed, since you could see out the windows on both sides, and a profusion of orchids on the central table area were an attractive touch. This classy effect was let down a little by the purply blue velvet of the seat covers, which created a ‘bordello circa 1968’ atmosphere. Still, it made for an interesting change from the usual muted tones of aircraft cabins, and we were pleasantly distracted by the first of many glasses of Dom Perignon ’95, served - rather oddly - from tall crystal tumblers.
Soon we found ourselves climbing into the blue skies over Sydney, marvelling at how quiet it is upfront in the 747 (once the nose wheel has retracted, that is – until then you get lots of interesting clunking noises), and drinking more of the delectable Dom as the flight attendants fussed around us. There were 3 FA’s serving the 5 of us in First, and the service was solicitous and attentive to say the least, though a little more formal than my previous experiences on TG (which have been in economy). Elaborately printed menus and wine lists were passed around, and we passed the time until the breakfast service commenced by playing with the electrically controlled seats (they may not be suites, but I found them extremely comfortable when reclined horizontally – I’m sure I would sleep like a baby in them), perusing the inflight entertainment options (unimpressive, though at least these new style seats have PTV’s), drinking more Dom (though in the name of science I did also try out the other champagne on offer, Cuvée Des Roys ’91, which was fine but not up to Dom Perignon standards) and generally soaking up the novelty of first class. Just to remind myself how lucky I was, I did a little walk-around of the plane – the business class seats looked rather nasty and uncomfortable but economy seemed spacious and colourful – pretty nice as cattle class goes.
About 40 minutes into the flight, our tables were set up with rather queasy coloured peach linen cloths, and breakfast was served from the trolleys. Pastries, bread and preserves were served first along with tea and coffee, which I found a bit odd, though I remember the same thing happening on Singapore Airlines in business class – perhaps this is an Asian thing. The coffee was absolutely vile, so I switched to tea (with a chaser of Dom, of course) and also sampled some watermelon juice (more like puree) for novelty value. We were then offered a choice of fruit salad, yoghurt and cereal – I had fruit salad, which was pleasant though run of the mill airline fare. Then came an extensive selection of hot breakfast items, all in silver dishes on the trolley: scrambled eggs, roast tomatoes, hash browns, chicken sausages, mushrooms, bacon and a vegetable frittata. Again, these were reasonably tasty but I’ve had better food in business, and some of the details let things down – I asked for ketchup and was served it in sachets, McDonalds style. I also found trolley service a little strange and old fashioned, though I know many of you out there love it.
The rest of the flight passed in a happily tipsy haze, and all too soon we were commencing our descent into Auckland, where we were treated to a fabulous view of the city centre as we circled around to land towards the west. I particularly enjoyed the way that the curvature of the nose of the 747 allows you to see slightly forwards as well as sideways. We pulled up to a busy international terminal, which today was featuring Lan Chile’s A340 in its stunning colours, a Malaysia Airlines 747, Cathay Pacific A340, *two* Korean Air 747s (I loathe their ugly turquoise livery), Singapore Airlines 747, Eva Air 767, United 777, plus the usual assortment of Air New Zealand and Qantas 737s, 747s and 767s. Our 2.5 hour first class experience had come to an end! I know many are dismissive of Thai’s first class product, but I found it comfortable and the service excellent, though the food did let it down. We certainly didn’t regret spending the extra 10,000 miles, especially given how grim the business class seats looked, and at around A$1,300 round trip SYD-AKL (compared to approx $A1,100 in business or A$1,900 in business on QF or NZ) it offers pretty good value for money as well.
The flight attendants formed a human barrier to stop the plebs from business class getting off before us, and bowed and scraped as we exited. I could get used to this! There was one last piece of entertainment, when Mr Toilet Paper businessman accidentally toppled his heavy carry-on onto my boyfriend’s foot – I think that’s called poetic justice!
Jun 15, 2003, 4:42 pm
#6
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: ADL, AKL & SIN
Programs: QF WP/LTG
Posts: 854
Hey mad_atta, thanks for the very interesting 1st installment, hope to see the Air NZ segments too. Care to share with us why the bf is alergic to SQ? I don't like SQ too.
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Qantas - Air New Zealand
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Qantas - Air New Zealand
Jun 15, 2003, 6:18 pm
#7
Join Date: Dec 2001
Posts: 3,046
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by igel:
I don't like SQ too.
</font>
I don't like SQ too.
</font>
I'm not too keen on SQ either. I only fly in Y though, but I really don't find it lives up to all the hype folks in here give to SQ's inflight service.
Given the choice, I would fly NZ Y anyday over SQ Y.
[This message has been edited by kawoh (edited 06-15-2003).]
Jun 16, 2003, 4:16 am
#9
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: SYD
Programs: Too many golds, no plat: OZ*G, AC*G, NZ*G, VA Gold, QF Gold, HH Gold, Bonvoy Gold
Posts: 5,350
Part III
Mucking about in Middle-Earth
As midsize international airports go, I usually find AKL one of the most user-friendly – large enough to have most of the facilities you could ask for, and small enough to ensure that you’re never more than 2 or 3 minutes walk from your departure gate. The quality and pricing of the food outlets put most airport concessions around the world to shame (OK, I admit that’s fairly faint praise) and the shopping is respectable and keenly priced (most importantly of all, it has an excellent wine shop, ‘The Cellar’, towards which we headed forthwith for some vinous purchases to parch our desert island thirst). However, on the last couple of occasions I have passed through I’ve got the impression that Auckland International is resting on its laurels and milking out maximum profits without investing much in future infrastructure: the long single concourse grows more crowded with each visit, and by the time a terminal expansion is finally completed (it’s not even started yet) I fear peak times will become unpleasantly busy. It will be interesting to see how it copes with Emirates 3 daily Australia-New Zealand flights, recently announced, especially given that they all depart within a short time of each other.
For the time being, it’s still a fairly pleasant place to kill some time, especially when you are cheerfully ensconced in the large Air New Zealand lounge where we soon found ourselves, attempting to rehydrate after our Dom-drinking frenzy, and admiring the expansive views of the tarmac and Manukau Harbour. The food selection seemed a little less interesting than Sydney’s and some of the décor is slightly questionable, but it boasted NZ’s usual excellent range of booze, sumptuous shower suites and a decent range of newspapers and magazines. More internet-enabled PC’s would be nice, however – it was quite some time before I managed to snag one of the two on offer, where I discovered that our Rarotonga flight was to be delayed by 45 minutes or so, something the lounge staff neglected to tell us until well after our scheduled boarding time. Speaking of the lounge staff, I had popped out briefly to do some more airport non-shopping (this is where you wander around a Duty Free shop stuffed with merchandise, propelled by some primal acquisitive urge, only to realise there’s nothing there you really need and that you could be spending your time far more enjoyably in the lounge with a G&T) and on my return produced my business-class boarding pass to show the lounge attendant. “No need” she announced cheerfully, “you were in here before – I remember that shirt!” I lacked the nerve to ask whether my shirt was memorable for positive or negative reasons… perhaps if I get around to posting some photos you can all amuse yourselves by voting one way or the other.
Eventually our flight was called, and as we headed to the gate I was gratified to see that our aircraft this evening was ZK-NCG. Now, I’m not one to notice aircraft registrations (for which I apologise to the spotters amongst you – I try, I really do, but I seem to be no more capable of retaining registration numbers than I am of remembering what ‘ontological’ means – explain it to me as many times as you like, but within five minutes I’ve forgotten it), however this aircraft was adorned with the ‘Aragorn’ Lord of the Rings livery. Those of you who, as I do, consider Aragorn to be the sexiest thing in stubble since the dawn of Middle Earth, will understand my enjoyment at the prospect of him bearing me swiftly to the tropical island of my choice. (Little did I know then that things would then depart from my plan, however, for as soon as we arrived in Rarotonga he buggered off to Tahiti without me – but such is the fickleness of men.) Still, it was with a happy heart and a spring in my stride that I boarded the aircraft for the next stage of our journey...
Mucking about in Middle-Earth
As midsize international airports go, I usually find AKL one of the most user-friendly – large enough to have most of the facilities you could ask for, and small enough to ensure that you’re never more than 2 or 3 minutes walk from your departure gate. The quality and pricing of the food outlets put most airport concessions around the world to shame (OK, I admit that’s fairly faint praise) and the shopping is respectable and keenly priced (most importantly of all, it has an excellent wine shop, ‘The Cellar’, towards which we headed forthwith for some vinous purchases to parch our desert island thirst). However, on the last couple of occasions I have passed through I’ve got the impression that Auckland International is resting on its laurels and milking out maximum profits without investing much in future infrastructure: the long single concourse grows more crowded with each visit, and by the time a terminal expansion is finally completed (it’s not even started yet) I fear peak times will become unpleasantly busy. It will be interesting to see how it copes with Emirates 3 daily Australia-New Zealand flights, recently announced, especially given that they all depart within a short time of each other.
For the time being, it’s still a fairly pleasant place to kill some time, especially when you are cheerfully ensconced in the large Air New Zealand lounge where we soon found ourselves, attempting to rehydrate after our Dom-drinking frenzy, and admiring the expansive views of the tarmac and Manukau Harbour. The food selection seemed a little less interesting than Sydney’s and some of the décor is slightly questionable, but it boasted NZ’s usual excellent range of booze, sumptuous shower suites and a decent range of newspapers and magazines. More internet-enabled PC’s would be nice, however – it was quite some time before I managed to snag one of the two on offer, where I discovered that our Rarotonga flight was to be delayed by 45 minutes or so, something the lounge staff neglected to tell us until well after our scheduled boarding time. Speaking of the lounge staff, I had popped out briefly to do some more airport non-shopping (this is where you wander around a Duty Free shop stuffed with merchandise, propelled by some primal acquisitive urge, only to realise there’s nothing there you really need and that you could be spending your time far more enjoyably in the lounge with a G&T) and on my return produced my business-class boarding pass to show the lounge attendant. “No need” she announced cheerfully, “you were in here before – I remember that shirt!” I lacked the nerve to ask whether my shirt was memorable for positive or negative reasons… perhaps if I get around to posting some photos you can all amuse yourselves by voting one way or the other.
Eventually our flight was called, and as we headed to the gate I was gratified to see that our aircraft this evening was ZK-NCG. Now, I’m not one to notice aircraft registrations (for which I apologise to the spotters amongst you – I try, I really do, but I seem to be no more capable of retaining registration numbers than I am of remembering what ‘ontological’ means – explain it to me as many times as you like, but within five minutes I’ve forgotten it), however this aircraft was adorned with the ‘Aragorn’ Lord of the Rings livery. Those of you who, as I do, consider Aragorn to be the sexiest thing in stubble since the dawn of Middle Earth, will understand my enjoyment at the prospect of him bearing me swiftly to the tropical island of my choice. (Little did I know then that things would then depart from my plan, however, for as soon as we arrived in Rarotonga he buggered off to Tahiti without me – but such is the fickleness of men.) Still, it was with a happy heart and a spring in my stride that I boarded the aircraft for the next stage of our journey...
Looking forward to more ...
Jun 20, 2003, 3:05 am
#13
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: SYD
Programs: Too many golds, no plat: OZ*G, AC*G, NZ*G, VA Gold, QF Gold, HH Gold, Bonvoy Gold
Posts: 5,350
Part IV
Friday 24/1/03 : Air New Zealand NZ54
Dep AKL 16.30 Arr RAR 21.20 (Thurs 23/1)
Boeing 767-300, Business Class, Seats 2A&B
Upon boarding I was surprised to find the business class cabin only about half full – I would have thought this would be quite a popular flight for upgrades and had consequently expected a full cabin. Attendants came around offering the usual water, OJ or sparkling wine (they keep the real champagne until you’re in the air) and we supped some bubbles while inspecting the contents of our rather neat amenity kits. These were like those lie-flat travel toiletry bags that fold over and fasten with Velcro, and contained the usual socks / toothbrush / toothpaste / comb / earplugs etc plus a rather neat, good-quality folding hairbrush, a very nice ‘face bra’ (eyeshade) and some amusing Evolu skincare products (the lip balm was excellent). Menus and wine lists were already in our seat pockets – unfortunately I forgot to take a wine list with me, but the menu (NZ’s customary colourful and attractive ‘Flavours of New Zealand’ style, this time created by Tony Adcock of Harbourside restaurant in Auckland) is recreated below.
As usual on NZ, boarding was accomplished quickly and efficiently, but due to our (unexplained) delay, we were about an hour late taking off into the cloudy skies over Auckland. It never ceases to amaze me how quickly the fasten seatbelt sign is switched off on AirNZ flights – often within about 90 seconds of take-off, as was the case today. As a card-carrying window-seat junkie, I’d hoped for some nice views over the Hauraki Gulf and northern Coromandel peninsula, but unfortunately there were only occasional patches of bush-clad shorelines visible through the breaks in the cloud. Not to worry, we were soon being offered drinks (again? Well, if you insist…) and had our dinner orders taken. We opted for champagne (this should not be a surprise to you by now) and did a taste test between the two options available: Piper Heidsieck NV and Nicolas Feuillatte NV – the former had more bracing acidity and perhaps a touch more character, while the latter was a smoother, softer style. Disclaimer: given the altitude, not to mention my rampant alcoholism though the course of the day, I doubt my palette was at its most discerning! Drinks were served with NZ’s usual cassava crisps – I do quite like these, and I suppose they are a point of differentiation from the ubiquitous nuts served elsewhere, but I’m getting a little bored of them now, and the presentation (in a little clear plastic bag) could certainly be improved upon. Besides, I find it remarkably difficult to open those little bags without spraying half the contents across the cabin.
We had two FA’s primarily looking after the business class cabin – a slightly older man (NZ, like QF, has many male FA’s; remarkably, a great many of them seem seem to be straight) who was extremely chatty and friendly, and a very groomed looking younger blonde woman who seemed a little more coldly polite than the usual informal NZ service style. They were both very efficient, and before long our tables were set with teal-green linen, and trays containing cutlery (real metal!) & napkin bound with a red ribbon, butter, a water glass and very attractive little chunky glass tubs containing sea salt and black pepper, with little plastic caps to keep the contents (nice touch!) plus the appetiser, served on stylish blue glass plates.
OK, for the benefit of Carfield, Seat 2A et al, here’s the menu:
I know many of you are not devotees of fish, especially onboard aircraft. However, I’m a fish-eater from way back, and I’ve had some superb fish dishes on NZ (especially in trans-Tasman economy class, for some reason, though of late it seems to be reverting to the old beef/chicken choice, albeit imaginatively served) so it was with some anticipation that I sampled the salmon appetiser. It didn’t disappoint – it was one of the most delicious things I’ve ever eaten on a plane! – and when accompanied with a delightful Marlborough sauvignon blanc I really couldn’t ask for more from inflight cuisine. A bread basket with an interesting range of delicious warmed breads was also brought around regularly, along with little tubs of olive oil to dip your bread into. Dinner was certainly off to a promising start!
For the main course, I opted for the beef fillet steak, primarily because I felt like sampling the merlot from the wine list (which, scandalously, I have forgotten the name of) while the b/f went for his usual chicken / chardonnay combo. The main courses were served in much less attractive white high-sided rectangular dishes with a blue rim – surprising when the rest of the service is so stylish and well-detailed – along with another pass of the bread basket. My beef was good, not great – but then again, I’ve never had genuinely excellent beef on a plane – and was a suitable match for the wine. I usually avoid chicken choices (I find them boring) but in the name of science I stole a little of the boyf’s, and I must admit it was excellent, as was his Marlborough chardonnay.
The food just kept on coming: soon dessert appeared, served from a trolley in funky blue glass bowls. Although my normally gluttonous companion decided that he would forego his dessert in favour of the cheese plate, I informed the FA that in fact he really needed to sample the ice cream (which is a wonderful New Zealand brand called Kapiti – you even get it in economy on NZ flights from NZ to Australia; in the other direction you get some vastly inferior Australian product) while I chose the chocolate raspberry macaroon tart. Of course I just combined the two, and I must say, the result was sensational! I had also requested a decaf coffee to accompany this, which was the only disappointing note – it was clearly instant coffee, and quite revolting, so I sent that back and decided to drown my sorrows with (gasp!) another glass of wine. Well, there was a cabernet sauvignon I hadn’t tried yet and I had to have *something* to accompany the cheese board, didn’t I? Yes, your dutiful scribe also stuffed down a few cheeses (also Kapiti, and also excellent) before calling it a day, and settling back with the dregs of my wine to watch the rest of our chosen movie, The Banger Sisters. This frothy little number, featuring Goldie Hawn and Susan Sarandon, was perfect airline fare – entertaining, undemanding, and it really didn’t matter if you missed a bit of dialogue while chatting to the FA. (This is in marked contrast to my last NZ J trip with the boyf, where I attempted to watch Minority Report. This required plenty of concentration at the best of times, and to make things worse, when I got up to go to the toilet he sneakily changed the channel on my PTV – when I returned to my seat I was mystified by the change of tone and style, not to mention plot and characterisation, and cursed Stephen Spielberg for his directorial experimentation. I regret to say it took me about 10 minutes to figure out what had actually happened!)
Once Goldie and Susan had finished doing their thing, the airshow still displayed just under an hour to go. The boyf reclined his seat to get some shut-eye in the now-darkened cabin, while I sipped my wine, read a Condé Nast Traveller article about the world’s best beaches (smug in the knowledge that Aitutaki, where we would shortly be headed, was far more stunning than most of those featured in the article) and listened to a bit of mindless pop. For some reason, I am particularly vulnerable to melodic, uplifting poppy tunes while onboard a plane – in this instance, I had a little moment of airborne euphoria listening to that cheesy Euro dance cover of ‘Time After Time’ as I watched our little animated plane heading for the green blob of Rarotonga… I couldn’t believe that the place I had anticipated visiting for so long was now so close! As I contemplated the darkened vastness of the Pacific we were flying over, the female FA came and draped a lambswool blanket tenderly over the sleeping boyf and winked at me – she wasn’t so formal after all! – and it may have had something to do with the wine, but I just felt incredibly happy and privileged to be where I was at that precise moment, and that I wouldn’t swap it for anyone or anything. Come on, everybody, let’s hear you say “Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!”
Soon a change in the pitch of the engines indicated that we had commenced our descent into Rarotonga. Cabin lights came back on, seats were returned to upright, arrival forms hastily completed and before we knew it (no ATC restrictions here!) we were touching down on RAR’s single runway. After a U-turn at the end we taxied back along the runway and drew up outside the daggy little terminal building, and a minute or two later we found ourselves descending the airstairs to the tarmac. I was immediately struck by the warmth of the tropical night, and the fact that even a humble 767 is a large beast when you’re standing next to it on the ground.
With a last look over our shoulders at the lovely Aragorn, we strode into the terminal. At long last, we had arrived...
Friday 24/1/03 : Air New Zealand NZ54
Dep AKL 16.30 Arr RAR 21.20 (Thurs 23/1)
Boeing 767-300, Business Class, Seats 2A&B
Upon boarding I was surprised to find the business class cabin only about half full – I would have thought this would be quite a popular flight for upgrades and had consequently expected a full cabin. Attendants came around offering the usual water, OJ or sparkling wine (they keep the real champagne until you’re in the air) and we supped some bubbles while inspecting the contents of our rather neat amenity kits. These were like those lie-flat travel toiletry bags that fold over and fasten with Velcro, and contained the usual socks / toothbrush / toothpaste / comb / earplugs etc plus a rather neat, good-quality folding hairbrush, a very nice ‘face bra’ (eyeshade) and some amusing Evolu skincare products (the lip balm was excellent). Menus and wine lists were already in our seat pockets – unfortunately I forgot to take a wine list with me, but the menu (NZ’s customary colourful and attractive ‘Flavours of New Zealand’ style, this time created by Tony Adcock of Harbourside restaurant in Auckland) is recreated below.
As usual on NZ, boarding was accomplished quickly and efficiently, but due to our (unexplained) delay, we were about an hour late taking off into the cloudy skies over Auckland. It never ceases to amaze me how quickly the fasten seatbelt sign is switched off on AirNZ flights – often within about 90 seconds of take-off, as was the case today. As a card-carrying window-seat junkie, I’d hoped for some nice views over the Hauraki Gulf and northern Coromandel peninsula, but unfortunately there were only occasional patches of bush-clad shorelines visible through the breaks in the cloud. Not to worry, we were soon being offered drinks (again? Well, if you insist…) and had our dinner orders taken. We opted for champagne (this should not be a surprise to you by now) and did a taste test between the two options available: Piper Heidsieck NV and Nicolas Feuillatte NV – the former had more bracing acidity and perhaps a touch more character, while the latter was a smoother, softer style. Disclaimer: given the altitude, not to mention my rampant alcoholism though the course of the day, I doubt my palette was at its most discerning! Drinks were served with NZ’s usual cassava crisps – I do quite like these, and I suppose they are a point of differentiation from the ubiquitous nuts served elsewhere, but I’m getting a little bored of them now, and the presentation (in a little clear plastic bag) could certainly be improved upon. Besides, I find it remarkably difficult to open those little bags without spraying half the contents across the cabin.
We had two FA’s primarily looking after the business class cabin – a slightly older man (NZ, like QF, has many male FA’s; remarkably, a great many of them seem seem to be straight) who was extremely chatty and friendly, and a very groomed looking younger blonde woman who seemed a little more coldly polite than the usual informal NZ service style. They were both very efficient, and before long our tables were set with teal-green linen, and trays containing cutlery (real metal!) & napkin bound with a red ribbon, butter, a water glass and very attractive little chunky glass tubs containing sea salt and black pepper, with little plastic caps to keep the contents (nice touch!) plus the appetiser, served on stylish blue glass plates.
OK, for the benefit of Carfield, Seat 2A et al, here’s the menu:
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Menu – Dinner
Appetiser:
Orange and honey glazed salmon
with citrus pineapple salsa
Main course:
Pan seared beef fillet steak
with tomato and tarragon butter, gratinated potatoes and green beans
Herb marinated New Zealand snapper
with new potatoes, wilted spinach and lemon beurre blanc
Mediterranean chicken supreme
on lentil casserole with chorizo sausage and seasonal vegetables
Dessert:
Gourmet ice cream
of port and prune ice cream and ginger passion fruit ice cream
Chocolate raspberry macaroon tart
With raspberry couli
Cheese and fruit:
A selection of fine New Zealand cheese and seasonal fruit</font>
Appetiser:
Orange and honey glazed salmon
with citrus pineapple salsa
Main course:
Pan seared beef fillet steak
with tomato and tarragon butter, gratinated potatoes and green beans
Herb marinated New Zealand snapper
with new potatoes, wilted spinach and lemon beurre blanc
Mediterranean chicken supreme
on lentil casserole with chorizo sausage and seasonal vegetables
Dessert:
Gourmet ice cream
of port and prune ice cream and ginger passion fruit ice cream
Chocolate raspberry macaroon tart
With raspberry couli
Cheese and fruit:
A selection of fine New Zealand cheese and seasonal fruit</font>
For the main course, I opted for the beef fillet steak, primarily because I felt like sampling the merlot from the wine list (which, scandalously, I have forgotten the name of) while the b/f went for his usual chicken / chardonnay combo. The main courses were served in much less attractive white high-sided rectangular dishes with a blue rim – surprising when the rest of the service is so stylish and well-detailed – along with another pass of the bread basket. My beef was good, not great – but then again, I’ve never had genuinely excellent beef on a plane – and was a suitable match for the wine. I usually avoid chicken choices (I find them boring) but in the name of science I stole a little of the boyf’s, and I must admit it was excellent, as was his Marlborough chardonnay.
The food just kept on coming: soon dessert appeared, served from a trolley in funky blue glass bowls. Although my normally gluttonous companion decided that he would forego his dessert in favour of the cheese plate, I informed the FA that in fact he really needed to sample the ice cream (which is a wonderful New Zealand brand called Kapiti – you even get it in economy on NZ flights from NZ to Australia; in the other direction you get some vastly inferior Australian product) while I chose the chocolate raspberry macaroon tart. Of course I just combined the two, and I must say, the result was sensational! I had also requested a decaf coffee to accompany this, which was the only disappointing note – it was clearly instant coffee, and quite revolting, so I sent that back and decided to drown my sorrows with (gasp!) another glass of wine. Well, there was a cabernet sauvignon I hadn’t tried yet and I had to have *something* to accompany the cheese board, didn’t I? Yes, your dutiful scribe also stuffed down a few cheeses (also Kapiti, and also excellent) before calling it a day, and settling back with the dregs of my wine to watch the rest of our chosen movie, The Banger Sisters. This frothy little number, featuring Goldie Hawn and Susan Sarandon, was perfect airline fare – entertaining, undemanding, and it really didn’t matter if you missed a bit of dialogue while chatting to the FA. (This is in marked contrast to my last NZ J trip with the boyf, where I attempted to watch Minority Report. This required plenty of concentration at the best of times, and to make things worse, when I got up to go to the toilet he sneakily changed the channel on my PTV – when I returned to my seat I was mystified by the change of tone and style, not to mention plot and characterisation, and cursed Stephen Spielberg for his directorial experimentation. I regret to say it took me about 10 minutes to figure out what had actually happened!)
Once Goldie and Susan had finished doing their thing, the airshow still displayed just under an hour to go. The boyf reclined his seat to get some shut-eye in the now-darkened cabin, while I sipped my wine, read a Condé Nast Traveller article about the world’s best beaches (smug in the knowledge that Aitutaki, where we would shortly be headed, was far more stunning than most of those featured in the article) and listened to a bit of mindless pop. For some reason, I am particularly vulnerable to melodic, uplifting poppy tunes while onboard a plane – in this instance, I had a little moment of airborne euphoria listening to that cheesy Euro dance cover of ‘Time After Time’ as I watched our little animated plane heading for the green blob of Rarotonga… I couldn’t believe that the place I had anticipated visiting for so long was now so close! As I contemplated the darkened vastness of the Pacific we were flying over, the female FA came and draped a lambswool blanket tenderly over the sleeping boyf and winked at me – she wasn’t so formal after all! – and it may have had something to do with the wine, but I just felt incredibly happy and privileged to be where I was at that precise moment, and that I wouldn’t swap it for anyone or anything. Come on, everybody, let’s hear you say “Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!”
Soon a change in the pitch of the engines indicated that we had commenced our descent into Rarotonga. Cabin lights came back on, seats were returned to upright, arrival forms hastily completed and before we knew it (no ATC restrictions here!) we were touching down on RAR’s single runway. After a U-turn at the end we taxied back along the runway and drew up outside the daggy little terminal building, and a minute or two later we found ourselves descending the airstairs to the tarmac. I was immediately struck by the warmth of the tropical night, and the fact that even a humble 767 is a large beast when you’re standing next to it on the ground.
With a last look over our shoulders at the lovely Aragorn, we strode into the terminal. At long last, we had arrived...
Jun 22, 2003, 2:47 pm
#14
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Oz, Wales, Fiji. AirNZ Gold Elite, Virgin Australia Platinum, Qantas Gold, Hyatt and IHG Platinum.
Posts: 541
Great report 'atta! I agree with you about the seat belt sign going off so quickly, it seems like the wheels are hardly up before the crew are offering you things (it is really nice, though, as it means you can be sipping your first drinks so much sooner 
). Also, the chicken dish on your menu is exactly the same as on the first class one from LHR-LAX in April (which was very nice)so NZ must be upgrading their food. Hope you had a good time in RAR, I've heard it's almost as nice as Fiji
Cheers, Zac
[This message has been edited by Zaco (edited 06-22-2003).]
). Also, the chicken dish on your menu is exactly the same as on the first class one from LHR-LAX in April (which was very nice)so NZ must be upgrading their food. Hope you had a good time in RAR, I've heard it's almost as nice as Fiji Cheers, Zac
[This message has been edited by Zaco (edited 06-22-2003).]
Dec 1, 2003, 12:32 am
#15
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: SYD
Programs: Too many golds, no plat: OZ*G, AC*G, NZ*G, VA Gold, QF Gold, HH Gold, Bonvoy Gold
Posts: 5,350
Bump
(I am actually planning to finish this report, and it was in danger of being relegated to the Archive. Guess I should just pull finger!)
[This message has been edited by mad_atta (edited Dec 01, 2003).]
(I am actually planning to finish this report, and it was in danger of being relegated to the Archive. Guess I should just pull finger!)
[This message has been edited by mad_atta (edited Dec 01, 2003).]