At AKL:

We finally retrieved all of our carry-ons and bid farewell to our FA's and headed to door 2L, where the Y passengers were being held back. I can't understand why the US airlines don't do this. It seems to make perfect sense to me, especially when immigration is involved. We took the long walk towards immigration, although we had a good view of the relatively nice terminal. By around 6:30AM we were in the immigration line, which was a short five-minute wait. The agent was not particularly friendly or welcoming, and asked quite a few questions. He marked our forms with a "T" in red marker, so I assume that put us in for extra screening.

We then headed to baggage claim, where our bags took quite a while to show up. At around 6:50AM we spotted our bags and headed straight through customs. We were told to follow the yellow line, which lead us to extra screening. It was painless and only required us to place our bags on the belt.

Once done with that we headed into the landside terminal and walked outside for some fresh air for a bit. It was still dark outside, but the temperature was very refreshing after such a long flight. I couldn’t help but notice the incredibly polluted smell outside, although that is generally typical for airports, even though there were not many cars.

Shortly thereafter we went back into the international terminal to the domestic transfer desk for our BP’s for the flight to ZQN. Since we didn't want to drag our checked baggage all the way to the domestic terminal we managed to check it in here. After a couple of minutes of waiting, it was our turn, and our bags weighed in at 59.9kg, with a maximum of 60kg! Minutes later we had our boarding passes, which were more like movie theatre tickets, and were directed to the domestic terminal via the white bus.

After sitting in the bus for about ten minutes without a driver he finally showed up and we were on our way. At this time it was around 7:30AM and we were in the domestic terminal after a five minute ride. The terminal itself was rather ugly, as were the interiors. We took a right turn towards security since our flight was leaving from Gate 30. Unlike the TSA, these agents were all friendly, said "please” and “thank you," to my surprise did not ask for an ID, and did not require us to take off our shoes, coats, or belts! Absolutely a painless procedure, maybe even pleasant!

We then took a left turn towards the Koru Lounge, which was located one level up. The Koru Lounge was absolutely fantastic, which I was not expecting for a domestic lounge! We were allowed in immediately and I was floored by the sheer size of the lounge. We got a sitting area near the window and decided to go for another light breakfast. The food spread was absolutely fantastic: all kinds of croissants, breads, spreads, cheese, meat, as well as cereal, incredible muesli, and more. It even had a coffee bar where they had made-to-order coffee. I went with a cappuccino and biscoff, which was the best I have ever had. Furthermore, they had an incredible selection of beverages.

I then headed down to the front of the lounge where there was a business center with several computers. I checked my email and surfed the web for a bit, until leaving at around 9:20AM. On my way out I noticed that the food spread had changed, which was once again incredible! They now had sandwiches, muffins, salads, etc. Between LAX and this lounge I am VERY fond of the Air New Zealand lounges.

At 9:20AM we headed to Gate 30, since our flight was boarding at 9:40AM. I watched as one of the NZ employees was cleaning the outside glass of the cockpit, which I have never seen in the US. At that point they started boarding rows 12-23, which included us. Fortunately I had an exit row seat so had no seat in front of me, which was great. I walked down the jetway and entered my first NZ 737...

Monday, May 28
NZ639
AKL-ZQN
Aircraft: Boeing 737-300
Seat: 12F
Scheduled Departure Time: 10:00AM
Actual Departure Time: 9:58AM
Scheduled Arrival Time: 11:50AM
Actual Arrival Time: 11:59AM
Load: 70%

Immediately upon boarding I was impressed by the immaculate condition of the aircraft, despite it being all coach. I quickly found 12F and stored our carry-ons in the overhead bin. Within less than 15 minutes the plane was loaded and the captain announced that our flight would be longer than usual due to strong southerly winds. Our flight to ZQN would be 1hr35min and we would be cruising at FL340. Fortunately our aisle seat was open, so my mom took the aisle and we had an empty middle seat.

The safety video started right as the door closed, and as it finished up we pushed back. We quickly taxied to the runway and took off midfield at the 2500 meter marker. We had a swift takeoff, and less than five minutes after takeoff the seatbelt sign was turned off. While I was definitely not hungry or thirsty I took a look at the buy onboard menu out of curiosity, since they charged for everything except water, coffee, or tea, this being an Express Service flight. I was feeling somewhat tired at this point, not due to lack of sleep, but just due to lack of movement and boredom. I dozed off for a bit, and woke up around 30 minutes before landing.

The views at this point were absolutely breathtaking! We were quickly approaching Mount Cook and there were an incredible number of tall, snow-covered mountains. We then began our descent and within another 20 minutes were on final approach in what would be the most amazing approach I have ever experienced! We first descended between the mountains, then circled around a tall hill and down into the valley. It's hard to verbalize, so the pictures will have to do here. On short final I saw all kinds of Cessna's at the airport without any other jets, so I could tell that the landing was very "forced," likely due to the length of the runway. We had a very sharp stop with the help of thrusters, spoilers, and brakes. We back taxied the runway and parked right in front of the terminal. We disembarked down the stairs and quickly descended into the terminal on what was a crisp day, around 11 degrees Celsius.

At ZQN:

I could tell that Queenstown was an incredibly scenic place, with the tall mountains in the background. The terminal was very small but nonetheless very modern and with nice shops. We headed over to baggage claim, where the belt began immediately. For once the Star Priority tags did work (take note, United!) and our bags were the first two out! We walked outside the terminal and to the taxi stand, where we immediately got into the first cab. The cab driver was very nice and gave us some information on Queenstown, and within 15 minutes we were at the Crowne Plaza Queenstown on Beach Street.

Crowne Plaza Queenstown review I wrote from IC forum:
Day One:

After taking the opportunity to freshen up we decided to hit the town for a bit. Since it was the first day we took it pretty easy. We just walked all around the relatively small town, seeing as much as we could. The day was very nice, probably because there were no winds. It seemed like there was not all that much to do, but the scenery was nonetheless breathtaking. We walked up towards the skyline. The day just felt totally surreal, since Queenstown is probably the most beautiful place I have ever been!

We headed to The Cow, which was recommended to us by the cab driver for what we thought was dinner, although it was only around 3:30PM. It was a very interesting restaurant: it only had about five tables, a fire place, and was pretty much completely made of wood. We shared a veggie pizza, and then headed to the hotel at around 4:30PM, as the sun began to set. We sat on the balcony watching the sun set behind the mountains, and it was simply the most amazing sight! (THAT PICTURE IS WHY YOU MUST GO TO QUEENSTOWN!) The sun sets especially early in Queenstown largely due to the mountains which block the sun a lot of the day. I did some catching up on my trip report, and went to bed early, at around 7PM, anticipating a full day ahead.

Day Two:

I woke up at around 6AM and turned on the TV. Since the sun only rises at around 8AM and the restaurant only opens at 7AM, I watched a few sitcoms, including an episode of The Simpsons and King of the Hill. Unlike yesterday it was not such a nice day. It was windy and cold outside. At 7AM we headed to threesixty, and as stated in my hotel review, had a fantastic breakfast. Since it was still cold and only around 8AM I worked on my trip report for a few hours and was almost current at around 11AM. We were also trying to decide what to do and had trouble choosing whether or not to rent a car and go to Milford Sound. Milford Sound seemed cool, but was a ten-hour drive roundtrip, something we didn’t want to do.

Instead we walked through the town, did some sightseeing, and at around 1PM decided to take a bus to Arrowtown, which is a small town around 45 minutes away. This is apparently one of the areas where Lord of the Rings was filmed, so was obviously incredibly scenic. Fortunately the weather had gotten better, and it was now around 15 degrees Celsius without any wind, which was pleasant. We went for lunch to a local restaurant and had a Moroccan salad and some dessert, which was very good. It began to rain lightly, so after exploring the small town headed back at around 3PM. The bus took us right by the airport and there was a small rainbow where we could see both the beginning and the end. It was another incredible moment, especially with the huge mountains in the background.

As we headed back to town we decided to walk around a bit longer, and eventually headed back to the hotel at around 5PM. After freshening up we decided to go back to the same restaurant as the night before, namely The Cow. Dinner was once again fantastic, and we headed back to the hotel. While this is most certainly a tourist trap, it's a good one for once!

Day Three:

We started the day once again at threesixty for breakfast, and it was once again fantastic. Today was turning out to be a beautiful day, unlike yesterday, which was much colder and windier. We decided to take the skyline up for some magnificent views of Queenstown, Lake Wakatipu, and the surrounding mountains. Now, I must admit, although I am a pilot myself and am not at all scared of heights, I hate taking gondolas, or whatever you want to call them, up mountains. It really scares the hell out of me! Either way, it was well worth it. The views from up there were simply amazing, and there couldn’t have been a clearer day, not to mention the temperature was so nice up there, much warmer than down below!

Like I said earlier, Queenstown must be one of the most beautiful places on earth! As you can see in the pictures, it’s simply breathtaking. We did plenty of walking around the top of the mountain, and watched some people paraglide and bungy jump from the side of the mountain to the city below. We stayed up there until around 1PM, and it was truly an amazing morning.

When we got down there we decided to once again stroll the town, which is all that there really is to do in Queenstown, and headed back to the hotel early to start packing. Later in the afternoon we once again headed out and had dinner at a sports bar type restaurant in front of the fireplace, which was awesome since it cooled down a lot. When we got back to the hotel we arranged for transportation in the morning, and managed to get the Suppershuttle at 8AM for $15 for both of us, as opposed to the $40 we paid on the way out. I then worked on the trip report for a bit, and went to bed early.

Day Four:

I woke up at around 7:30AM for our shuttle. The first thing we saw was an amazing sunrise. We finished packing up the last minute things and checked out. The shuttle was there a few minutes early, and it was just us and one other person. On the ride there I reflected on how much I really enjoyed Queenstown. It was an amazing town with amazing views, although it was surprisingly expensive for such a small town. We got lucky in a sense, since we visited it when it was still tourist free, before it would be bustling with skiers in a mere two weeks or so. Queenstown was an awesome start to an awesome vacation, and a place I would certainly love to return to. While it was certainly not recommended at large on FT or by anyone else I have talked to, I can’t help but thank Priority Club for having a property there, which is the reason that we went there! We got to the airport at around 8:05AM, and promptly headed to check-in.

At ZQN:

We arrived in a completely deserted check-in area and promptly headed to Star Gold and Business check-in. There was no line and I asked how the agent was doing as we approached, and he said he “could be better.” I handed him my Star Gold card and he asked where we were going. I responded “Christchurch” and he said that the early morning flight had been cancelled, so we would have to be rebooked. I told him we were not on the early morning flight, so that would not be an issue, and he printed our boarding passes within a minute. He tagged our bags with a priority tag and wrote down the code to the Koru Lounge for us, since this one apparently has no agents in the lounge.

ZQN is just a wonderful, small airport. It is modern and just has a great feel to it. We headed right and towards the elevator, which was marked with “Koru Lounge.” A short ride in an incredibly smelly elevator later we were at the door of the lounge. I entered the four-digit code and the door opened at around 8:20AM. The lounge was completely empty, but I was extremely impressed. It was actually surprisingly large for a “remote access” lounge, and had a selection of drinks, cookies, snacks, breads, jams, mints, etc. It also had four computers, which was a great opportunity to check my email and do some FT’ing. I had some breakfast, since I didn’t have anything before, and enjoyed a coffee, juice, and some danishes. I was extremely impressed by the lounge so we stayed there until around 9:40AM. When we left there were a few more people, including a German who was yapping on his cell phone to his girlfriend that he broke up with, which was pretty funny to listen to since he probably thought we didn't speak his language.

We headed towards security, where there was absolutely no line. Again no ID’s were checked, not even BP’s, and the process was friendly, quick, and easy. We sat down in the isolated gate area with only about five other people. Considering that there would be both a QF and NZ flight to CHC at around the same time, I was expecting this flight to be totally empty.

At around 8:50AM a QF 737 landed, and around ten minutes later our NZ 737 landed. Its 60 passengers disembarked, and boarding began shortly thereafter. This time they started boarding rows 11-23 (instead of 12-23) first. We boarded at around 10:20AM, and took the walk across the cold, wet tarmac.

Thursday, May 31
NZ518
ZQN-CHC
Aircraft: Boeing 737-300
Seat: 1A
Scheduled Departure Time: 10:20AM
Actual Departure Time: 10:32AM
Scheduled Arrival Time: 11:05AM
Actual Arrival Time: 11:23AM
Load: 90%

Upon boarding 1C was already occupied, so we filled in 1A and 1B. I mused out the window one last time at the wonderful scenery of Queenstown’s surroundings. At around 10:27AM the door closed, and after watching the safety video we pushed back at around 10:35AM. Much to my surprise the flight had almost totally filled up, despite a deserted gate area before the flight.

We back-taxied runway 23 and after an incredibly powerful takeoff were airborne by 10:42AM. We had a relatively bumpy climb due to the bad weather and I just gazed out the window for the whole flight. Since this flight was just over 30 minutes the FA’s came around with water and asked anyone if they wanted to buy anything, instead of bringing the cart around. The scenery was amazing enroute, and quickly changed from mountainous to relatively flat farmland. Just before before final approach to CHC they brought some candy around and we made a very forced touchdown at around 11:15AM. We managed to take up the whole runway for landing, so I assume that the Emirates A340-500 lands on the perpendicular runway.

We had a quick taxi to the gate and arrived around 20 minutes late.

At CHC:

Upon arrival, this time at a jetway, we quickly walked towards the baggage claim. My first impression of the airport was very indifferent… it was nothing awesome, but wasn’t terrible either. The baggage claim area was incredibly run down, and unlike last time in ZQN where the Star Priority tags caused us to get our bags almost immediately, it took a good ten minutes this time. While most Priority bags came out almost immediately, I guess ours were just not loaded in the right area. We headed outside and instead of taking a cab took a shuttle that a guy was offering for $10NZD to our hotel. It seemed like a good deal, especially since the Crowne Plaza was the first stop, and we were on our way to Christchurch.

Crowne Plaza Christchurch review I wrote from IC forum:
Day Four Continued:

By around 12:30PM we were on the streets of Christchurch. As bad as it may sound, both of our first reactions were “OK… so what?” After coming from a place as nice as Queenstown, this seemed just like any other medium sized city. I have heard so many great things about Christchurch, so I was sure we had just not discovered what really needed to be seen.

We walked towards the city center and had a sandwich for lunch. We immediately noticed that Christchurch was considerably cheaper than Queenstown, which surprised us, since there were essentially no tourists in Queenstown at the time, though that was obviously going to change shortly.

We then bought a two-day pass for the town trolley for $12.50NZD, and took it for a round, which was around 25 minutes. The second time around we decided to get off near the Botanic Gardens, which were apparently among the top ten in the world. It certainly was nice, although I am no garden enthusiast. We walked by the river, which was definitely one of the nicest features of the city. We then just walked through the town for the rest of the afternoon, and at around 5PM headed back to the hotel. While Christchurch seemed nicer than when we arrived, I still didn’t see “it.”

Day Five:

We woke up and started with breakfast in the club lounge. We decided that we wanted to visit the International Antarctic Center, which was fascinating. We headed towards Cathedral Square, which is where The Penguin Express departed from. We boarded The Penguin Express at 10AM and got to the Antarctic Center by 10:20AM, just in time for the 10:30AM penguin feeding. They were all baby penguins, but it was nonetheless extremely interesting. After that we took a ride on the “Hagglund,” which is the rover type that they use in Antarctica. It was a 15-minute ride, and was a bit like an obstacle course. The vehicle drove up a 40-degree incline, through three-meter deep water, and through all kinds of sharp turns. It was a very cool ride.

After that we went through the rest of the exhibition, which was very interesting, including a simulated windstorm of 60kts at –25 degrees Celsius!

We left the exhibition at around 1:30PM and headed back to Cathedral Square. It was on the ride back that I really started to appreciate Christchurch. It’s a medium sized city, but at the same time has a lot of charm. It has a winding river through the city, is extremely clean, and has a bunch of quaint little buildings and street cafes.

There was some live entertainment in Cathedral Square, so we decided to settle down for lunch. We had a “comet bagel,” which was ridiculously expensive! We sat there for about an hour, and then continued wandering the city. We went to the visitors center and they highly recommended the TranzAlpine train, which goes up to Greymouth. It is apparently one of the ten most scenic train rides in the world. Unfortunately it was sold out for tomorrow, which was our last full day in Christchurch, so we decided we would just head to the train station in the morning hoping for some cancellations.

Day Six:

We woke up early and had breakfast in the club lounge at 6:30AM. By 7AM we were downstairs at the concierge, who was going to try calling one more time to get us tickets. He could not get through to them, so we just decided to take the shuttle to the train station and hope for the best. We were a bit worried because we doubted that they actually checked to see if there were empty seats, but would rather call it full for simplicity.

The bus arrived at 7:15AM, and as we boarded the concierge ran outside telling us that he got through to them and they still had open seats, which was a huge relief, since we really wanted to do this. They had a winter special where it was only $109 roundtrip p.p.

We got to the train station by around 7:40AM and received our tickets within minutes. The railway station was bustling, and we almost had trouble getting around. By 9:45 we were in cart Q and had some comfortable seats. We left at 8:15AM, and unfortunately the weather wasn’t looking good. To our surprise there were still dozens of open seats on the train, and actually the seats across from us were empty! Altogether it was a 4.5 hour journey which would get us to Greymouth by means of Arthur’s Pass.

Fortunately as our ride continued the weather cleared up a bit for a while so I tried to take as many pictures of the incredibly scenic areas as possible. Unfortunately the nice weather didn’t last for long, and it began raining, which continued all the way to Greymouth.

Upon arrival in Greymouth we only had around an hour till departure, so walked around as much as possible, although I can’t say that it was incredibly interesting. Unfortunately the terrible weather continued on the way back, and we got back at around 5:30PM, a good 35 minutes early! Someone wanted to get home!

Here are a few more pictures of the scenery.

While the weather definitely hindered any great viewing I can nonetheless see why this is one of the most scenic rides in the world, and would recommend it to anyone else who has the opportunity. I wish the weather would have been nicer, but I nonetheless enjoyed the landscape. Instead of just seeing the cities in New Zealand we really saw some of the incredible countryside, and lots of sheep too!

Day Seven:

We slept in, ate breakfast, repacked all our stuff, and were in the lobby by 11AM for check-out. Although our flight was only at 2:50PM we decided to head to the airport somewhat early, especially because there was a marathon in town, which was blocking some of the streets. We watched the marathon for a bit and I went back into the lobby to work on my trip report. I have to say that I was really starting to appreciate Christchurch. While Queenstown is beautiful, and to be honest I would return there as a tourist any day over Christchurch, I would never want to live there. Christchurch, on the other hand, has 360,000 people, is a nice sized city, and can nonetheless maintain its charm. It really is an awesome city and definitely grew on me since my arrival.

We took the SuperShuttle to the airport and were there by 12:30PM.

At CHC:

We headed to the Star Gold/Air Points Gold check-in and had about a five-minute wait. After a few minutes we realized that the regular line had an even shorter wait, but decided to just wait the few extra seconds since we had a lot of luggage. We got to the counter and the agent could not find our flight. I was worried for a second that we showed up to the airport on the wrong day, but I showed her the itinerary and she said she was just having one of “those” days, which I can totally understand. Surprisingly she asked my mom for ID, which they have not done at any other NZ airport so far, but didn’t ask me.

Within around five minutes we were checked in and headed up the escalator, where we thought the Koru Lounge was located. As we walked up we saw the Emirates A340-500 taxiing by, which was an incredible sight at an airport which is otherwise populated by mostly 737’s and props. We searched for the Koru Lounge for a good five minutes but couldn’t find it. I did notice a viewing deck where we could go outside, but it was a bit too chilly for that at the moment. I asked an agent where the Koru Lounge was, and we had gone the wrong way. We went back down the escalator, and up the next one, which was located after security.

We got there by around 12:45PM, leaving time for lunch in the lounge. Once again we were promptly admitted to the lounge, and I was once again impressed by the Koru Lounge. They are as a whole the best lounges that I know of, even better than the Singapore Silver Kris Lounges.

This club seemed to have a beach club theme of sorts. There were some wicker chairs and wood tables, and it had nice little nooks so felt very private. The lunch selection today was absolutely fantastic, as good as any restaurant buffet that I know of. They had hot dogs, stuffed potatoes, delicious vegetable pastries, soup, a variety of cheeses and rolls, some amazing cake, etc., and plenty of drinks. I settled down for lunch. The views of the tarmac were great, and I also saw a Qantas 767 taxiing in, which was the largest I had seen since the A340.

After that I surfed Flyertalk a bit on their computers, which are fantastic, and at around 2:35PM we were at gate 17, where our aircraft was departing from. By the time we got there everyone was already aboard, and we immediately proceeded down the jetway and into row one.

Sunday, June 3
NZ456
CHC-WLG
Aircraft: Boeing 737-300
Seat: 1A
Scheduled Departure Time: 2:50PM
Actual Departure Time: 2:46PM
Scheduled Arrival Time: 3:35PM
Actual Arrival Time: 3:35PM
Load: 40%

Much to my surprise the flight was extremely empty today, so overhead storage wasn’t an issue. Since 1C remained empty we managed to snag an empty middle seat, which is a lot more comfortable in a relatively tight configuration like NZ has domestically. The purser was not very friendly, and seemed to have a grudge against us (or at least my mom) for some reason, since she was particularly rude to us compared to the other passengers. The door closed a few minutes early and the safety video began shortly, although the purser seemed to have some technical issues with it for a few minutes. We quickly taxied to the runway and were airborne by around 2:55PM. I swear the captain turned the seatbelt sign off within three minutes of takeoff, and it seemed like it wasn’t even 10,000 feet!

This was once again a very short flight so cabin service quickly began with the buy on board cart in front, and a much nicer FA with water shortly behind her. We cruised to a final altitude of 27,000 feet, and quickly began our descent into WLG. The friendly FA then came through with some of the NZ sweets again, which are always nice before landing. We began our smooth descent as we approached the North Island, and had a beautiful approach. The purser made sure my camera was in the overhead, so I couldn’t take any pictures, unfortunately.

After a once again very forced landing we quickly taxied to the gate, where Jeff (jswong) generously offered to wait at the gate to take us to the hotel, and later invited us to dinner.

At WLG:

This airport was much nicer than CHC and had a very modern feel to it. We quickly proceeded down to baggage claim as jswong explained how cold the weather was, although it was quite pleasant by our standards after Queenstown and Christchurch. Our bags quickly showed up, although one of the bags was slightly damaged with the rubber off the track, but we managed to fix it. We headed up a level to the parking area and loaded our luggage in jswong’s car.

Day Seven Continued:

As we drove, jswong educated us on Wellington, New Zealand, and everything else important in this part of the world. Before bringing us to our hotel he took us up to the Wind Turbine, which affords some amazing views of Wellington. As we took the winding roads up, the weather looked like it was going to hold out for just a bit more, but the second we got up there it started pouring. We nonetheless jolted out of the car in hopes of taking some good pictures, but visibility literally shrunk to zero. So much for our luck!

We got to the hotel by around 4:30PM and quickly checked in.

Intercontinental Wellington review I wrote from IC forum:
Day Seven Continued:

It was a cold evening and since the sun sets early here in New Zealand this time of year, it was very cold outside. As a result we decided to hang around the hotel for a while before heading to Logan Brown for dinner with jswong at 8PM.

After enjoying the appetizers at the hotel we headed over to jswong’s place at around 7:45PM, which is only a few blocks from the hotel. He has a great apartment in a great city, and we then headed to Logan Brown. As jswong explained, the restaurant used to be a bank, which is evident from its design. Our table was not ready, I believe, so we sat in the bar area for a while talking miles, points, travels, and whatnot. Whatever it was, jswong definitely did Flyertalk justice in front of my mother, and now she likes the site more!^

Around 15 minutes later we were seated and had a fantastic dinner which lasted until around 11PM! Both my mom and I enjoyed jswong’s company, hospitality, and insight, and then headed back home in the somewhat cool evening.

Day Eight:

We were planning on doing one of those overpriced city tours, but unfortunately overslept and only woke up at around 10AM. Fortunately, since it was a holiday, the club level was serving breakfast until 11AM, which was a huge relief. This really adjusted our times from getting up early and going to bed early to the opposite, which was probably a good thing.

After breakfast we headed towards the Wellington Cable Car, which provided some stunning views of Wellington. Despite Wellington having a relatively small population, it nonetheless has a big city feel. Maybe it’s because of the skyscrapers or that it’s not quite as clean as Christchurch, but I really loved the city. From the top we went to the Botanic Gardens, where we didn’t stay for long since we are not, erm, tree enthusiasts.

We then took the cable car back down and headed to Te Papa, which is the national museum of New Zealand. It turned into a nice day, and it was a pleasant ten-minute walk. The museum is free, and we browsed through the various levels. We stayed for about 45 minutes, I guess mostly because we weren’t in much of a museum mindset. After that we walked along the harbor, which was beautiful, and sat down there for a bit.

We then headed to the hotel for afternoon tea, which was quite good, and then back out to just wander along the streets for a bit. Unfortunately it was almost getting dark, which didn’t leave much time to do stuff in Wellington.

We met jswong in the club lounge for some drinks at around 5:30PM, and then we headed to dinner at around 6:15PM. We went to an excellent Asian fusion restaurant called CHOW, where we had plenty of little dishes, including spring rolls, satay, etc. By total coincidence, Monday’s is buy one get one free, so even more ^!

We got back and headed to bed at a reasonable hour because our flight was in the morning. We had arranged for the hotel car to the airport for 8AM, which actually turned out to be the same price as a cab, if not cheaper.

Day Nine:

We woke up at 6:30AM, had breakfast in the club lounge, and at around 7:50AM were on our way to the airport on a very nice day.

At WLG:

We got to WLG at around 8:15AM, and it is indeed a very nice airport. We went to the Koru Club Gold check-in area where there was one person in front of us. We were promptly waved over to another counter where there was no wait, and were quickly checked in. Again, I was not asked for ID after presenting my Star Gold card, but my mom was. Does anyone know the reason for this?

We went up the escalator and got to the landside Koru Lounge at around 8:30AM, which was once again very nice, although quite full. As I have come to expect from Koru Lounges it had a fantastic breakfast spread! It also had an awesome view of the hilly city surroundings, the airplanes, and the runway! I got the wireless internet username and password for the lounge, which was quite interesting (hint: the username was an aircraft in the NZ fleet, and the password was a slightly modified aircraft in the NZ fleet). I spent a little over an hour checking email, chatting with friends, and browsing FT, as always.

At around 9:30AM we headed to gate 17 since security was located at each gate. I immediately noticed that there were only a handful of people in the “secure” area, which surprised me. It seems like New Zealanders check in extremely late for their flights!

Tuesday, June 5
NZ418
WLG-AKL
Aircraft: Boeing 737-300
Seat: 1B
Scheduled Departure Time: 10:00AM
Actual Departure Time: 9:56AM
Scheduled Arrival Time: 11:00AM
Actual Arrival Time: 10:55AM
Load: 98%

We boarded at around 9:45AM and the plane was almost totally full, including a businessman in the seat next to me. Before the door closed the captain came on announcing we would be cruising at 37,000 feet and the flight time would be 50 minutes. We pushed back on-time and had a very rushed safety video as we made a quick taxi to the runway. Right as the safety video ended we took the active runway and had a powerful takeoff and a bumpy climb. I am not sure if the plane automatically turns the seatbelt sign off as we pass 10,00 feet, but in this case it was turned off around there and after another ten or so seconds was turned back on, which I found a bit strange.

I browsed KiaOra, which is NZ’s in-flight magazine, and saw some interesting articles. One of the most interesting things I saw was that they were interviewing the CEO of some clothing company about travel and he mentioned that his favorite restaurant was Logan Brown, which is where we were just two nights earlier.

Water and buy on board service quickly commenced, and I just took a water. After an uneventful flight we started our descent into AKL and landed around five minutes early. It was extremely uneventful and there were very few planes at AKL, notably only an NZ747 and KE777.

At AKL:

We arrived into the somewhat disgusting domestic terminal a few minutes early and our luggage arrived within a few seconds. Gotta love priority tags that actually work! We asked at information how much a cab would be, and they informed us $70NZD, so we took a shuttle instead, which cost us $32NZD total, a much better deal. After a ride of around 40 minutes we arrived at our hotel in Auckland.

Crowne Plaza Auckland review I wrote from IC forum:
Day Nine Continued:

Besides the absolutely TERRIBLE experience with the hotel (see review above), we had a great day in Auckland. The weather was nice so we decided to start our stay by just walking almost aimlessly around the city to see where it leads us. We walked towards the harbor which is where the Hilton is located, which apparently looks like a ship, or something. Since I have heard so much about this hotel I decided to check it out, and have to say that I was somewhat disappointed. The middle of the hotel was basically a big parking lot, as you can see in the pictures, so the public areas did not seem that great for the high price they were asking. Nonetheless I am sure the rooms are fantastic!

We essentially crisscrossed the somewhat central part of the city, and then headed back to the hotel, since I was going to meet KiwiFlyer for dinner. Kiwi Flyer gave me directions via the bus, which seemed simple enough, so I decided to walk since it was such a nice day. I was close to where I thought I had to be around 30 minutes early, so thought I was in good shape. As it turns out walking uphill for over a mile isn’t “around the corner.” I eventually made it and we settled in for dinner, which was great. I enjoyed hearing Kiwi Flyer’s stories, insight on the industry, New Zealand, etc. At around 9:15PM we headed to the bus station as it started to pour, and I got back to the hotel by 9:30PM.

Day Ten:

We got up at around 9AM and stopped somewhere for breakfast on our way towards the water. We decided to take a ferry to Devonport, which is an island around ten minutes from Auckland. We got there at around 11AM, just missing the ferry that left on the hour, so the next one was at 11:30AM. We walked around for a bit, and I saw the weirdest looking ship I have ever seen! Maybe someone knows what it is, but it sure mystified me for a bit.

The ferry left at 11:30AM and quickly arrived in Devonport, which was beautiful. It was a quaint little town with lots of shops and street cafes. We walked uphill towards Mount Victoria, which is the highest point of the island and boasts great views of Auckland. After marching uphill for around 15 minutes we made it up, and the views were definitely worth it, as you can see from the pictures!

After that we headed back down and just walked through town. Unfortunately it started to rain shortly, so we headed back to the ferry terminal to go back to Auckland.

We got back by 2PM and took the free red bus around town, just seeing what there was to see. We got off around the University of Auckland, and walked downhill from there. I was once again amazed by the size of the Asian population and culture in Auckland. I thought I was in Seoul or Tokyo!

By around 5PM we got back to the hotel and headed to an adjacent restaurant, Little Italy. It was a very nice little place, and we enjoyed the food greatly, although it was expensive by our standards. We headed to the hotel bar, Aria, which was pathetic (see hotel review).