We checked in for our flight, NZ050. This flight had originated in Auckland, and had stopped off in Fiji before flying on to Honolulu and then its final destination was Los Angeles.
The airport was virtually closed down - no open shops or anything. There seemed to be alot of dark panelled wood, and classical music was piped into the terminal. Not a very pleasant experience I can tell you! I had been bored out of my mind in Hawaii, and would be glad to leave. New Zealand had been much nicer.
The departure lounge was very quiet, I think our flight was the only one scheduled at that time. We walked along the pier, and saw a Delta TriStar. Being someone who cannot ever resist a TriStar, I decided to go and have a closer look at it. We walked through a door and along a corridor, which brought us very close to the aircraft, almost within touching distance of the nose! We could see onto the flightdeck, as the cockpit was lit up. I have never been so close to a passenger aircraft without boarding it, and I could really appreciate the size of this superb aircraft.
We went and joined the other passengers for the flight at the allocated gate. Now for the other reason this flight was memorable! A young couple, obviously honeymooners who had obviously had a row and were not speaking to each other, came and sat beside us. The woman carried a balloon, of the variety which you can have twisted into different shapes. I won't describe the shape of this one, except to say it is not suitable for a forum where children visit
I could see this damned balloon all the time out of my eye corner, and it was almost impossible not to laugh, so we got up from our seat and went for a walk. When I turned round, the woman had followed us and she was still carrying the balloon, so no escape from it
Our aircraft eventually arrived. It was Boeing 767-319ER ZK-NCF.
We had been lucky enough to get a window seat on a two abreast side, so that was quite okay on the 767. We were just settling into our seat, when who should come and occupy the seats in front but the young couple and their balloon! We were haunted by that damned balloon!
The pilot made his pre-flight announcement, the safety demonstration video was played (Air New Zealand cabin crew are probably too idle to do the demo themselves). We taxied out towards the runway - a very long ride, as Honolulu seems a very spread out airport. The lights in the aircraft were dimmed, and it was pitch black outside as we began our roll down the runway, before we had a smooth take off. The pilot had told us the flight lasted five hours and five minutes.
The flight was turbulence free and very smooth. We had a typical breakfast of eggs, sausage, yoghurt. The Air New Zealand breakfasts were okay, so I don't know why they always had such serious problems with every other meal type they served.
Soon it was time for the dreaded film. Air New Zealand aircraft become flying torture chambers at film time. The lights are dimmed, and no one is allowed to look through the window, which leaves you with very little choice but to endure whatever rubbish they are showing.
The cabin crew on this flight were ok (which roughly equates to mediocre when you compare them with a proper airline) for Air New Zealand.
It was daylight, and lunchtime, when we approached into Los Angeles. There was the characteristic brown haze caused by car fume smog along the horizon, but we had a smooth landing and taxied to our gate after waiting for a slot to become available. It was great to be in LA again, but we only had an overnight stop before our multi-trip holiday ended with our flight back to Heathrow the following day.
It is interesting to note that the first airline I flew with after the Air New Zealand flights was Sabena. No comparison at all - SN were and still are in a different league!
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