We got through our long 13 hour flight from San Francisco to Wellington. The flight was packed, but luckily we were able to sit next to each other and Annemarie had an aisle seat. I was very impressed with Air New Zealand’s creative and gorgeous safety video – it conveyed the beauty and culture of New Zealand (and some basic Māori language) while imparting the needed safety information. I think it’s the first time I’ve actually paid attention to an airline safety film. I wasn’t really impressed with the dinner, though the scalloped potatoes were pretty good. But they were very generous with the wine pours and it was included with dinner so that was a good thing. 😝 I watched a movie I have been wanting to see, Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris, starring Lesley Manville. It was a funny, sweet movie, just the sort of thing that I needed before trying to get some sleep on the plane. Slept on and off during the flight and got a little restless, but overall it wasn’t too bad. There were a couple of babies in our section and they rarely cried, I’m sure their parents were very grateful. Later I watched a few episodes of Our Flag Means Death, a show that Annemarie had been encouraging me to watch. It is very loosely based on the true adventures of an aristocrat who gives up his privileged life to become a ‘gentleman’ pirate. Taika Waititi produces and stars as Blackbeard. It is absolutely hilarious!
Unfortunately getting through customs and Ag took a long time. New Zealand is very strict about anything agricultural related that comes in, including any shoes or equipment that have been taken camping or hiking so a lot of people end up having to be screened. I think it’s great that they are so strict, it’s a small country with stunning natural beauty and could easily be decimated if the wrong kind of parasites got in, but it did mean with only a few staff reviewing customs forms it took a long time to get through and we both missed our flights to Wellington. Because the shuttle bus from the international to domestic terminals was full with a line waiting for the next one we opted to walk – a very kind Air New Zealand employee on her way to work pointed us in the right direction. It’s only a 15 minute walk between the terminals and as it was around 8 AM, the weather was very comfortable. It had recently stopped raining, so it was very nice to spend some time outside. Apparently there had been flights to Wellington that had been canceled and other flight delays so we couldn’t get a flight together unless we wanted to leave at 8:30 PM, so we split up and Annemarie got a 1 PM flight and I got a 5 PM one.
After getting our flights squared away I finally got some coffee! I didn’t want to have any with my breakfast on the plane and then get stuck in long customs lines – that turned out to be a good idea. I got a large latte and when the barista gave it to me I thought they made a mistake because it was in a small cup, but when I looked at the coffee cup samples by the checkout register I realized that a large in New Zealand is what is considered a small coffee in the US. lol, typical US supersizing. It tasted great and had plenty of caffeine so I was happy – it also only cost US$3.50. We hung out in the lounge waiting for our flights – they had a great 80s soundtrack with songs I hadn’t heard in awhile- Paula Abdul ‘Opposites Attract’, Elton John ‘Cold Heart’ (the original, not the Dua Lipa one) Rod Stewart ‘Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?’
Getting used to new terminology-EFTPOS instead of debit, paywave instead of tap for credit card transactions, takeaway instead of to go. I also have to re-orient myself to walking on the left instead of the right, I keep running into people! Probably will get the hang of it just before I head back to the states. Have to say I’m loving not being asked for a tip amount whenever I buy anything. All the airport employees are very friendly, I’m very impressed considering how many cranky people with delayed flights they have to deal with.
While Annemarie and I were waiting for her flight to take off we found a massage chair that was free to use and each gave it a go. It was wonderful, massaging up and down your shoulders, back, butt and legs – exactly what we needed after sitting on the plane for so long. I’ve never tried them out in the US because there is always a charge, now that I know how fantastic they feel after a long flight I would actually consider paying to use one. In fact I think if they had them on long flights passengers would be willing to pay top dollar for five or 10 minutes in them. Much cheaper than a deluxe economy seat!
We both finally made it to Wellington, where the airport is much nicer than when I was last there 18 years ago, lots of Peter Jackson’s creatures were in evidence. We headed to Annemarie’s and had some dinner then I Ubered to the place I’ll be staying the next couple of weeks. We were both ready for bed after a long day and a half of traveling.
