Reading the menus I was glad to have chosen to upgrade the return flight and not the way out. When I put in the request both flights appeared likely to be upgradeable. The other factor for me was pyschological - it is nice to know the next flight will be in comfort instead of spending it thinking about the next flight in discomfort.

As you may guess from the previous post I had fun sampling the wines on offer and it gave the FA a chance to educate herself a bit too. (When I asked what was available the answer was red or white but she couldn't remember names or styles, oh dear!)

After the dvd had finished and I returned the player I looked out the window to see we were just passing by Cape Reinga, the northernmost tip of mainland NZ. While there was plenty of cloud it was all to the west of the Northland Peninsula. The flights from asia often pass by the west coast of Northland and often there is extensive cloud so I appreciate the view (most of the other pacific island flights come from further east and thus cross over the tip of Coromandel Peninsula rather than Northland.

From this height the few kilometers between the vast sand expanse of Ninety Mile Beach in the west and the harbours on the east appears tiny. We have great views the entire length and breadth, passing over Bay of Islands and Whangarei and retracing my path from the previous day. This time we are flying much higher and slightly to the east of yesterday's flight path. Again I see the golf, plus the sprawl of Auckland spread across the isthmus.

We haven't made up any time en route and so pull up to the gate half an hour late. Again I am lucky to get the closest gate to immigration. I rush to make my next flight. Upstairs NZ & Aussie queue looks long so I take a chance with downstairs - unlike the previous time I did this to find an even larger queue this time there are officers waiting for pax. Yay. Despite some scepticism of the officer I seem to answer the questions correctly and avoid secondary this time. There is no queue at xray either so I am soon through and rapidly walking across to domestic terminal.

I wish NZ had a more frequent service to some of these islands which would make taking a break there much more easy, although given the loads I understand why there isn't.