International shuttle
The international shuttle is a domestic flight that operates from the international terminals (daily, but has been cancelled sometimes). In the morning it is Auckland to Christchurch, and in the evening Christchurch to Auckland. You clear immigration and customs at Christchurch instead of Auckland, allowing tighter connection and less hassle. The downside is making sure not to buy duty free liquids before security.
I made my way down the pier to international transfers, which was shut. There is a phone to call someone to open up. There were maybe 20 of us connecting tonight. We were escorted past the transit security to the main security screening by outward immigration (which of course was closed), screened and then let loose inside the terminal.
I first snagged one of the comfy chairs on the upper level but quickly gave it up when it became apparent some inconsiderate passengers were not going to talk quietly. I found a less comfortable but far quieter possie to while away a couple of hours before making my way back to the lounges. The Air NZ lounge opens at 5am but fortunately for me I had access to the QF lounge which opens at 4am(ish) to cater for the LAN flight SCL-AKL-SYD. I was first to enter and thus headed straight for the shower.
Later in the NZ lounge I checked loads for alternative options for my later flight. The schedule change meant that my next connection was unneccessarily long. Unfortunately due to end of school holidays, all flights except one were zeroed out.
The load was much lighter than I expected. Despite this all the elites had been seated together (no seat blocking - grrr) and the overhead bin space gone in the front 1/3 of the aircraft. I ended up swapping for a seat several rows back so as to avoid fighting against the flow on disembarking. We left late due to a couple of passengers who failed to show, requiring their bags to be offloaded. Service was the usual weekend fare of tea, coffee or water; casava crisps, banana chips or lolly mix. I slept much of the flight. Despite sitting further back than normal I was one of the first off the flight. The immigration officer didn't recognise the flight number for the Beijing flight. Another "it's a new flight" explanation and I was through. I was first to customs, which sometimes leads me to getting secondary but not this time.