AUCKLAND to WELLINGTON (AKL-WLG) on Air New Zealand A320 in economy, space+ seat
I was last to board and pleased to see an empty middle seat on the otherwise full flight. I fell asleep after the safety video and awoke at top of descent into Wellington. There were glimpses of an angry whitecapped sea through the cloud and rain. I thought we were landing from the south & I was seeing Cook Strait on final approach. But we dropped below the cloud at Greta Point (about 1 minute before touchdown), which meant we were landing to the south and the weather was nasty. I thought there was a good chance of a go around, diversion or return to Auckland, but we landed shortly afterwards. As we taxiied into the terminal we could feel the violent wind gusts pushing against the aircraft.