Flying from WLG to AKL on the 23rd I had John Key sat in the seat in front of me. We exchanged xmas greetings and had a quick chat whilst waiting for the door to open at the AKL gate.
Over the last year I've seen too many politicians to mention as I fly between AKL and WLG every week.
The day after the RWC, NZ1 was late and with flights being very busy the flight from AKL to WLG was held to get some people from NZ1 on. Gerry Brownlee did an excellent job in helping quite a few people get bags into the overhead lockers.
The day after Waitangi day the Govenor General and his wife sat a couple of rows in front of me. He seemed to be treated just like anyone else apart from the late boarding and having a female naval officer escort who blocked people getting off until the Govenor General and his wife had got off.
The week that Parliment broke up for the holidays, er, elections, there was an end of term mood for most of the MPs and Ministers who were a lot more chatty than normal, even talking with MPs from other parties plus potential voters.
The only place I've seen Stephen Joyce is in the AKL domestic Koru Lounge where he always gets a coffee about 7.10am Tuesday mornings. Just after the Rena grounded it was pretty obvious he'd been working all hours of the day and night.
Early in the year whilst the ACT party was going through it's turmoil it was very interesting to see the body language between Rodney Hide and John Boscawen as they waited to board a flight to AKL in WLG. They were totally ignoring each other, working very hard to not look remotely near the other. Later that day it was announced the John Boscawen had changed his support away from Rodney Hide.
John Boscawen was consistently the best dressed MP, always looking immaculate in his suits. A few other MPs could do well to visit his tailor.
I've recognized a few minor celebs from NZ TV like Nigel Latta looking lost in AKL Koru and Simon Gault almost missing his flight to WLG.
It's also quite likely that I've just not recognized quite a few other people too.