We shouldn't have been on this flight, but for the incompetence of the Air New Zealand reservations staff. When we had originally received our tickets before we set off, we phoned the airline to reconfirm the reservations. We were told that the inept individual who had issued our tickets, marked "status OK", had cancelled the flight reservations as soon as the tickets were issued. The moral of this tale is always reconfirm flight bookings!
We managed to get seats on all our flights, but the one from Auckland which we should have gone on was full. This flight was operated by Boeing 747-200 and stopped off in Fiji (so we missed out on an exotic stop!!) Others operated to Honolulu via the Cook Islands, Samoa and Tonga - all very exotic, but we had been given seats on a non-stop service which was also to be my first ever flight in a Boeing 767.
Auckland was not a great spotting airport, just a small balcony, but we saw our aircraft arrive (which I always enjoy!) Before we boarded the aircraft, some Maori ground staff performed a "haka" war dance.
We boarded the aircraft. I had a window seat, but that was the only positive point. The aircraft clearly had not been cleaned after its previous flight. Down the side of my seat I found several hundred cigarette ends (smoking was allowed on flights out of Japan, where this aircraft had just been). The aircraft was cold and draughty, and the flaps made a loud squealing noise. The take off was smooth, and it was reasonably clear.
Just after take off, leaving New Zealand.
We had a good aerial view of New Zealand, and then we headed out over the Pacific. We had left at lunchtime on Wednesday, and soon we were served our meal. As I pulled the table down, the cover of the seat in front of me fell off, exposing the bare frame of the seat. The meal was quite reasonable - Thai fragrant meatballs with rice and topped with slices of water chestnut. That was the first time I had tried water chestnut, but I liked it.
The flight lasted 8 hours 20 minutes. It was dark when we made a very smooth touchdown in Honolulu. It wa salso Tuesday night, as we had crossed the International Date Line from Wednesday back into Tuesday! We took off on the 20th September and landed on the 19th September!
When we left the aircraft, the hot, steamy, humid air of Honolulu hit us. It was different to the cool, fresh air of Auckland. The distances in Honolulu airport were great, so after the arrivals hall, we were taken by a mini bus to immigration/baggage reclaim/customs. Before we boarded the bus to the hotel, we were presented with a "lei" (flower garland) by a woman in traditional costume.
In the City Guide forum there will be illustrated reports on all the places of this holiday - Los Angeles, Sydney, Auckland and Honolulu.
