Isle of Pines
As alluded to above I booked a quick trip to Norfolk Island, being the last of the South Pacific destinations that Air NZ flies to that I hadn't been to. An infrequent schedule by Air NZ and a hectic schedule for me meant that once again it would be a turnaround trip.
NZ flies their all economy 737 from Auckland to Norfolk Island, but service is the same as trans-tasman with the exception of showing tv programs on the screens instead of a movie. The flight is too short for that, with Norfolk Island about the same distance away as Dunedin - ie closer than the other end of New Zealand.
I arrive at the terminal in plenty of time. The main check in area is chaos with 17 international flights leaving within the next 2 and a bit hours. So I was surprised that the NZ premium check in area had no pax at all. Check in was pretty quick and I was assured I would have an empty seat beside me each way - loads are light. Through immigration and security to the lounge for a coffee or two.
2 of the 4 computers are out of order, but I manage to check messages and see to a couple of things. With so many flights to manage, they are announcing flights 10 minutes before boarding will be called in the lounge - so that pax have a chance for final bathroom visit or whatever. Out the windows I see a hive of activity. Not only do all the gates within view have an a/c parked up, but there are at least 9 a/c parked at remote gates, or moving to/from remote gates. Naturally quite a few are NZ a/c, but with all the cutbacks made there are a lot more widebodies parked up than there used to be (no wonder NZ's load factors are high).
About 10 minutes before scheduled departure and still no call for my flight. The monitors say gate closed, but I know this is unreliable. I decide to wander to the gate browsing the duty free as I go. Outside in the terminal the monitors are instead showing 5 minutes until boarding and seconds later an announcement is made for final boarding call! So 3 different systems all having different ideas about when boarding is made
As expected we have a bus gate. 2 of the 4 gate number 4 bus gates are in use, as are 2 of the 4 gate number 5 bus gates. The last few pax are boarding the single bus used for the flight - yup light load (about 30). The drive across the tarmac is short and boarding is very quickly completed. So we start only a couple of minutes late. An announcement is made to stay in our allocated seats for takeoff due to balance issues.
We take off over the city and get good views for the first ten minutes until we reach the cloud sheet. A breakfast is soon served - a choice of continental or bubble and squeak, as well as juice, champagne, water, tea & coffee.
The crew are great.
The IFE shown is Malcolm in the Middle and some other sitcom which we didn't get to see until the end due to playing a Norfolk Island arrival video. The last ten minutes or so we fly low over the entirity of the little island, completing a counterclockwise loop.
It is a clear mild day here, so we get easy view of the low hills, open forest of Norfolk Pines, grass and a few buildings, some cliffs ringing the island. The landscape reminds me of a rural golf course on the outskirts of a small settlement.
The airport is small and yet has 2 runways and a little prop a/c advertising scenic flights is parked up!