My ride to the airport was on time and I soon reached the terminal. The driver asked if I knew where to go to check in. I assured him I did. There was a short wait for check in to open. No one manned the first check-in line and I was slightly annoyed the agent on the business check-in line saw to all the business class passengers first before waving me over. I was checked in quickly once it was my turn and handed a boarding pass, lounge invite card, departures card and express immigration card. No queue at all at immigration (one of the reasons I wanted to check in early) and none at security either - so I saved my express card for another time. Then downstairs to the lounge.
They were just setting out breakfast in the servery. A few hot foods, cereals, toast, fruit, etc. Booze. Tea. Coffee. Juice. Water. Milk. I caught up with some messages and the day's news on Flyer Talk.
The aircraft arrived on time from Dubai and then the lounge started filling up. It seemed despite the light load in first class today there were a lot of continuing business class & elite passengers flying all the way to Auckland (there is just one departing Emirates flight for several hours so easy to tell the destination). Boarding was called. One of the lounge staff was standing by the door with a bowl of mints to save pax from taking two steps to the reception desk.
Onboard I noticed the suite is similar to A380 (and A345) but again some subtle differences - wider side shelf, different placement of the amenity kit on the front shelf, etc. This time as well as menu and newspaper, socks & slippers were handed out, and magazines.
I had the pre-departure date and coffee, but not before finishing off the 2nd glass of Dom. While boarding continued I started the movie I'd selected. With a short flight time from Australia to NZ due to prevailing winds I wanted to be sure I'd get to see the end.
Unlike the flight from Melbourne I'd taken in January, which also departs mid morning and also said to be a brunch meal, the food on offer was closer to breakfast than lunch this time (closer to lunch last time).
The flight was very pleasant, with very good service although not as attentive as the flight over. We landed from the west (so no flying over the city) on time. With the previous arrivals showing on the monitor from almost an hour prior, I expected a quick plane to exit time notwithstanding the longer walk from the new pier. Unfortunately immigration was still backed up from the late morning several longhaul arrivals - it took me about 30 minutes and I was the first off the aircraft. Other passengers will have taken much longer. Customs was even worse - with no carry on baggage I caught up with passengers from the earlier flights who'd waited for their bags. It took about 45 minutes to clear customs (and this without secondary or opening of my carry on).
Outside there was no sign of my driver. Back in January my driver had picked up someone else in error. Had the same thing happened twice (my name isn't that common)? A phone call revealed Emirates had not made the booking for me so I traipsed all the way to the other end of the terminal unhappy. I reminded myself it was not the fault of the agent manning the Emirates desk, got a cab ordered, and traipsed all the way back to the other end of the terminal to be picked up.
It was a disappointing finish to the first part of the trip.