Sydney to Wellington (SYD-WLG) on Qantas 737-800 in business class
Eventually it was time to board. Our gate was in the non-oneworld pier (i.e. about as far as possible from the lounge), as often is the case for flights to New Zealand. The flight was jammed full - which is not unusual for a Sunday evening. Plenty of business people flying across for work/meetings on Monday morning. We had the third runway, again not unusual for flights to New Zealand.
The first part of the flight was very bumpy, which posed a question when the meal service started early in the flight. Soup or no soup? The soup is usually quite tasty but there is a risk of a mess if turbulence is too much. I chose no soup and kept my liquid intake up by other means
I was slow in eating, so by the time I finished dinner we were closing in on the west coast of New Zealand. The daytime flight on this route has fantastic views of the northern South Island and lower North Island, but the evening flight has no views until very close to landing, and then only if weather permits. Tonight the weather was poor and we only saw lights through the rain a couple of minutes before a bunny hop landing.
There was a short delay at the gate for someone to operate the airbridge. Immigration and baggage claim was busy with passengers from other flights. Smartgate worked fine for a change, and I walked straight past baggage claim with my carry on. I was almost knocked out at customs queue by some one who hadn't realised they were swinging their surfboard around at other people's heads. Customs directed me to bypass xray so I was soon landside and on my way.