Smartgate had just been permanently introduced at AKL a couple of days prior (there was an earlier trial) so I headed there to save time queuing. I got through okay and headed for customs. The smartgate receipt says to use exit A so I headed there.
The officer on exit A took one look at my duty free bag and told me I had to use exit B. Fortunately the lines in exit B were not too long - at least the right hand one was empty while everyone queued like lemmings in the middle line.
The officer I got on exit B took one look at my smartgate receipt and asked why I was here. "I got sent here by your colleague". He ticked my form and I was okay to go to x-ray. I do not understand what the point of all this was. It achieved nothing other than wasting a few moments of my time and a 2nd officer.
Once landside I headed for the airbus. This now operates 24/7 so the days of being forced to take an expensive cab for the middle of the night arrivals or early morning departures is over. Unfortunately I just missed a bus, so I decided to take a cab after all - the next bus being over 20 minutes away. Amazingly there were no cabs, only shuttles!