AUCKLAND
We pulled into gate 1 which surprised me as pier B was free. But on reflection perhaps this is because Emirates will need the pier for two of their three widebodies before the Qantas aircraft turns. I sped to immigration. It was deserted. Not only were there no passengers in sight, there were also no officers, at least initially. No problem for me as I use smartgate anyway (it is quicker and avoids prospect of difficult questions over my odd travel patterns).
I sped to customs where again there were no officers initially but one soon turned up. I was waved to bypass the xray machine, which was a lucky break when I checked my bag a few hours later and discovered some apples had been in there the whole trip. That would have been $400 instant fine if I'd gone through xray. I was momentarily detained at the exit to landside as the door was locked.
When I'd booked this sub-trip I originally could only get the late evening flight to Auckland. So I planned to stay in Auckland overnight. Not that that is much hardship when we have new years eve celebrations to enjoy.