Mini Tour of NZ

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Kaitaia to Auckland (KAT-AKL) on NZ Beech 1900D

It was a nice summer’s day for the short flight the length of the Northland peninsular. The flight was almost full but boarding was completed quickly. A family changed seats from towards the back of the aircraft to the front 3 seats (rows 1 and 2) to save hassle of carrying the two infants past the other pax. I was surprised the pilots were happy with this – apparently no concern for the balance.

We took off towards the north, giving views of the wide sweep of Ninety Mile Beach and its large sand dunes on one side and the many harbours and smaller dunes out the other side, before we turned around. Northland is off the main tourist trail but I am reminded of the many charms as we fly past many favourite spots of mine. The peninsula is narrow enough that we see the harbours, bays and headlands out both sides of the aircraft even at relatively low altitude.

I may have commented before how I enjoy the approach to Auckland from Asia, the South Pacific islands, or (sometimes) Australia with fine views of Northland. This time we get a closer view from much lower altitude and at slower speeds.

The land is dotted with volcanic hills, and the coastline heavily indented. The landscape is varied, ranging from farms and small towns to forests of giant kauri, scrub and wetlands. Many harbours and estuaries have mangroves in the half-land, half-sea boundary as if uncertain where the land ends and the sea begins.

Approaching Auckland the expanse of the city is sprawled out before us filling the isthmus between the sparkling harbours and joining Northland to the rest of the North Island. We descend over the city and land from the east.

What a great day to be flying.
 
Auckland to Blenheim (AKL-BHE) on NZ ATR 72-500

Once again back at the airport. As usual I use the quick check machine to beat the queues. I am puzzled when I check the seating – the layout doesn’t match the small Beech 1900D that is normally used exclusively on this route. Then I realise NZ had substituted the 66 seater ATR for the 19 seater Beech! This immediately put me in a happy mood – the 80 minute flight will be much more comfortable in this larger aircraft, plus I figure the landing will be fun in this larger aircraft in the confines of the Wairau Valley.

So I head through security to the lounge in a good mood. Since it is lunchtime and I haven’t had time to eat I grab some food and drink, and catch up on emails and work while I wait. I get a lot done and the time until boarding passes quickly. When the call is made I head for the prop gates, mindful that this time we have the very farthest possible prop gate – a loooong walk away. Again we get called by name before even close to the prop lounge area.

As it happens another passenger in a wheelchair is being assisted onboard so I’m not holding up the flight again. The aircraft is almost totally full, hence the equipment change, but I manage to get one of the few empty seats beside me. The cabin crew are excited (maybe that is a bit strong, certainly pleased) to be flying somewhere different.

We have a short taxi, wait for a few landing aircraft and then take off over the harbour. As we climb I see the skies are very clear – so some great views to look forward to again, and at much lower altitude and speed than for example the jet aircraft flights down to Wellington, Christchurch or Queenstown all of which follow a similar flight path. We turn and track down the coast, surf beaches and cliffs clearly visible in the foreground, rolling hills and farmland behind.

Further along we see the volcanic peaks in the centre of the island to our left and also Mount Taranaki to our right, surrounded by a belt of bush and a broad circle of farmland on its gentle lower slopes. We then fly along Cook Strait and see a ferry below wending its way through the sounds. Just ahead of Blenheim we encounter a blanket of cloud, but it is so thin we rapidly descend through it and it is still bright below. Now we pass the lagoons and head up the valley – mountains on either side. We fly low over Blenheim and the surrounding vineyards before doing a tight turn in the valley to land back towards the sea. The braking on landing is impressively short for an aircraft of this size, but we use the full width of the wide runway to turn around. The taxi in is short and we park up well away from the new terminal to leave room for a couple other flights landing shortly after us, as well as an NZ Post aircraft.
 
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Blenheim to Wellington (BHE-WLG) on NZ Beech 1900D

Woodbourne airport has a modest new terminal, small café but no koru club (much to the annoyance of mad_atta). The airport has a large runway, a legacy of it’s use as both an airforce base and, in the past, as a major airfreight centre.

But today it’s back on the usual aircraft for Blenheim, a Beech 1900D. The aircraft is full but I still get my preferred seat. The inbound flight is 10 minutes late but some time is made up in the turnaround and we leave only 5 minutes late. The take off roll uses a tiny portion of the runway and we climb steadily over Blenheim and out into Cook Strait.

For this very short flight the cruise altitude is a mere 5,000 feet which means we skim in and out of the thin cloud layer. Below the progress of the strong tides through Cook Strait is marked by the sharp contrast in water colours – dark blue meeting bright bluegreen.

Just minutes after reaching cruise height we are already descending over Wellington’s northern hill suburbs. We ended up arriving early, making up time even on this little 20 minute flight between the main islands of New Zealand.

Arriving in Wellington there are plenty of aircraft everywhere and so no surprise to get a parking position a long way from the prop finger pier.
 
FLYING TOUR OF NEW ZEALAND

Continuing with the increasingly badly titled mini tour of New Zealand I pause for a moment of indulgence.

After lots and lots of international travel in the past few years, my schedule for 2007 was looking like I wouldn’t be able to fit much longhaul travel in. Don’t get me wrong, I still expect to do quite a bit by non-FT standards – say 2 or 3 round the world trips plus some other trips, however this is well down on the past few years. Instead my schedule currently suits short domestic trips.

Having recently flown to the last few of the 26 domestic destinations served by a major airline in New Zealand, I decided to set myself a new goal – to fly all 49 (soon to be 50) current domestic routes. I had previously flown quite a few of them, but the network schedules will pose some challenges to fit into my time constraints (as well as booking engine constraints) – particularly the routes served only once a day.

While I will collect a modest amount of mileage thanks to sector minimums, this is not a mileage run. Fare rules in New Zealand do not permit routings other than the most direct possible, and the cheapest domestic fares on Air New Zealand are non-mileage earning (with Qantas only having 6, soon to be 5, routes almost all flights are on Air New Zealand).

The current routes are listed below, and I’ll mark them off as I go.

From/To Auckland

From/To Hamilton
  • HLZ-PMR first flown 2007 (Hamilton - Palmerston North)
    • NZ Beech 1900C operated by Vincent Aviation

From/To Wellington
  • WLG-WRE not yet flown (Wellington – Whangarei)
  • WLG-HLZ first flown years ago (Wellington - Hamilton)
  • WLG-TRG not yet flown (Wellington – Tauranga)
  • WLG-ROT not yet flown (Wellington – Rotorua)
  • WLG-TUO not yet flown (Wellington – Taupo)
  • WLG-GIS not yet flown (Wellington – Gisborne)
  • WLG-NPE first flown years ago (Wellington - Napier / Hastings)
  • WLG-NPL not yet flown (Wellington – New Plymouth)
  • WLG-WAG route recommences February 2007 (Wellington – Wanganui)
  • WLG-PMR not yet flown (Wellington – Palmerston North)
  • WLG-BHE first flown years ago, and again in 2007 (Wellington - Blenheim)
  • WLG-NSN first flown years ago, and again in 2007 (Wellington - Nelson)
  • WLG-WSZ first flown 2006 (Wellington - Westport)
  • WLG-CHC first flown years ago, and again in 2006 (Wellington - Christchurch)
  • WLG-TIU first flown 2006 (Wellington - Timaru)
  • WLG-DUD first flown 2006 (Wellington - Dunedin)

From/To Nelson
  • NSN-HLZ first flown 2007 (Nelson - Hamilton)
    • NZ Beech 1900C operated by Vincent Aviation
  • NSN-PMR not yet flown (Nelson – Palmerston North)

From/To Christchurch
  • CHC-HLZ not yet flown (Christchurch – Hamilton)
  • CHC-ROT not yet flown (Christchurch – Rotorua)
  • CHC-NPE not yet flown (Christchurch – Napier / Hastings)
  • CHC-PMR not yet flown (Christchurch – Palmerston North)
  • CHC-BHE not yet flown (Christchurch – Blenheim)
  • CHC-NSN first flown years ago (Christchurch – Nelson)
  • CHC-HKK first flown 2006 (Christchurch - Hokitika)
  • CHC-OAM first flown 2006 (Christchurch - Oamaru)
  • CHC-WKA first flown 2006 (Christchurch - Wanaka)
  • CHC-ZQN first flown years ago, and again in 2006 & 2007 (Christchurch – Queenstown)
  • CHC-DUD first flown 2006 (Christchurch – Dunedin)
  • CHC-IVC first flown years ago (Christchurch – Invercargill)
 
AUCKLAND to WELLINGTON (AKL-WLG) on NZ A320 with Biz seats

I found myself heading to Nelson again at short notice. As the fare is the same whether flying direct or via Wellington and the flights with convenient timing would have an A320 to Wellington and thus an excellent chance of getting a business class seat on the all economy domestic flight thanks to my status. So I decided to take the slightly longer way. The extra miles and segment credit is just an added bonus. I head back out to the airport early one morning, get the couple of boarding passes from the quick check in machine, first changing my FFP# to credit to another program, and yes I did get a business class seat, through security and up to the lounge. I have enough time to grab breakfast before boarding is called.

I board and settle into my seat. There is a short delay before push back as the last passengers board one group at a time. Apparently there was some problem with “the computers” which slowed down the check in process. While we wait the captain apologises for the delay and reassures those connecting passengers with short connections that the onward flights will be held for them.

The flight itself is uneventful. Unfortunately little views thanks to the extensive cloud cover, with just the peaks of the volcanoes Taranaki on the right and Ruapehu on the left poking through. We land to a chilly Wellington slightly late, the time saved by a straight in approach from the north lost to the headwinds en route. As I have a long enough connection I head to the nearby lounge while I wait for the onward flight, checking the monitors on my way for the gate which has changed since I checked in.
 
WELLINGTON to NELSON (WLG-NSN) on NZ Q300

This flight is on time. As usual boarding is announced in the lounge late so no wait at the gate – a few steps across the tarmac dodging the rain drops, up the stairs and into my seat. Another passenger was in my seat. When I checked in in Auckland the row in front was empty (indeed as it turns out I was the last passenger to board so the row in front was really empty) and so I volunteered to the FA to take a seat there however she would have none of that and so the other passenger returned to her seat and I took mine. The seat pre-allocation on this flight was rather odd with no passengers in either of the front 2 rows.

There were lots of Air New Zealand aircraft taking up all the airbridge gates and many prop aircraft parked up across the tarmac. On the other side of the terminal was a lone Qantas 737. We had a short wait taxiing to the runway, to allow several flights to land and some to take off ahead of us. While the wait was tiny compared with some major airports (London Heathrow for example) it was still a little annoying on such a short flight to spend so long on the ground.

With the wind in Wellington being a southerly and likely a northerly in Nelson I hoped there was a reasonable chance of the southern routing being in use – directly over the mountains of the northern South Island (as opposed to the more common northern routing over the Marlborough Sounds). I like this routing with the spectacular mountain views (when skies are clear) and the pirouette on descent into the airport. For the first time in many flights between Wellington and Nelson I get the southern routing. Unfortunately the cloud cover is still extensive, so the views are limited to the peaks of the Kaikoura mountain ranges as well as glimpses of mountains and deep valleys below.

On the Nelson side of the ranges the cloud cover is much patchier so we have views of the bays, estuaries, plains and hills. We descend over the ranges and cross the airport. However instead of the expected pirouette to land we head straight across the forested Rabbit Island and the Moutere Hills, a thin layer of ground fog filling the gullies. We then circle to the south, completing a slow lap of the patchwork Waimea plains in nearly as much time as the rest of the flight, with good views of mountains out to the right throughout. On landing the reason for the delay is obvious with 5 aircraft (including ours) landing in a short period thanks to weather delays caused by the low cloud.
 
NELSON to HAMILTON (NSN-HLZ) on NZ Beech 1900C operated by Vincent Aviation

It is an early start to the day but despite the hour the small airport is a hive of activity with full loads on 5 flights taking many commuters to the main cities in the next 50 minutes. I use the quick check machine and get all my boarding passes. On all flights I was offered no choice of seats due to flights being full. With a seat assignment in row 2 I wasn’t happy remembering that on the Beech 1900D this is a non window seat. But I was not so unhappy as to wait in line for the check in agent to ask for a seat swap.

Boarding is called and I take a long walk across the tarmac to one of the farthest possible gate positions. Despite my carry on being easily small enough to fit under the seat in front of me, I am invited to put it in the “closet” (in reality a nook opposite the door with webbing holding the contents in). Thanks – gives me more legroom. I didn’t see anyone else being offered use of the closet, so perhaps the offer was made upon spying the status on my boarding pass? I am pleased to see the layout of Beech 1900C is indeed different to the Beech 1900D and row 2 has windows. Yay.

Once the engines are started and thick condensation wiped off the front windows (dang FT auto-censor :) ), we taxi past the early golfers at the course next door and then take off to the south, banking sharply back towards the north. The mountain ranges have sheltered the bay and so good views of the waters, inlets and even the sandy finger of Farewell Spit which partially encloses Golden Bay. As we head through the skies, the drone makes me sleepy, or is that the lack of coffee? Once over the western expanse of Cook Strait, well away from the mountains, we encounter cloud cover which reduces the views. However there are enough gaps to see the plains of Taranaki and volcano, and we fly a zig-zag course around towering thunderstorms over the hill country. We descend over the farmlands and small towns of Waikato and land at the airport.

A Freedom Air aircraft painted with the Warner Bros colour scheme, is waiting to take off for Australia. Otherwise the airport is quiet. Even the ongoing construction in the terminal is stopped at the moment. With no checked bags I am quickly on my way into town.
 
HAMILTON to PALMERSTON NORTH (HLZ-PMR) on NZ Beech 1900C operated by Vincent Aviation

Back at the airport and despite having my boarding pass already I head to check in counter, in order to get the code for the lounge door. I notice there are a few tables and chairs for the small café which has very ordinary looking offerings, and due to construction there are no power outlets or even inside toilet (instead a row or portapotties outside :td: ). The lounge is small and has minimal amenities - fridge with 4 different beers and 2 different wines, tea, coffee, juice, chilled water, tv and a newspaper and some magazines. No computer and only 3 power points (2 of which used by tv and photocopier). The one desk is hopeless being full with the photocopier, phone and junk.

About the time I expect boarding I head out to pay the newly introduced departure tax (aka renovation slush fund) – NZ$5 for all passengers :td: A choice of either using kiosk (credit card/ATM card only), or paying in cash at the counter manned by 3 airport employees. Add the other airport employee standing around by the gate scanning the receipts and we have 4 employees for the few daily flights just dealing with this new tax - more of an employment generator funding than for the renovations I reckon :mad: There are signs informing that Air NZ has taken the airport to court over legality of the charges and thus be sure to keep your receipt in case it can be refunded (only in person at the airport – fat lot of good that will do for many). The aircraft is late arriving so I wander outside for some fresh air while I wait.

The same aircraft I flew earlier in the day lands, empties and soon boards. The flight is again full. Good to see new services being well patronised. The skies have cleared and we have great views of the Waikato basin and then the hills and mountains of the central North Island. We fly close to Ruapehu, but not quite close enough to see the full crater lake which has been in the news lately for the impending lahar risk as the level nears the top of the soft tephra layer thrown up by the 1995/6 eruptions.

There is quite a contrast in land uses en route, from lush brilliant green farms, to forested slopes and bush/scrub in rugged terrain, to the sparse desert-like vegetation in the acidic soils around the volcanoes, and more bush forest and farms down into the lowlands. As we descend into Palmerston North we see across the ranges dotted with windmills into inland Wairarapa, and before us the floodplains and urban sprawl. When we land it is a busy time with several aircraft of all sizes, including another Freedom Air flight – this time painted in Air NZ colours.
 
PALMERSTON NORTH to AUCKLAND (PMR-AKL) on NZ ATR 72-500

With a little bit of time to kill to my next flight I head to check in to again get the code to access the lounge. I am reminded to pay my departure tax (again NZ$5 payable in $1 and $2 coins only, no change given, at a machine on the wall). Very annoying.

Then up to the nice lounge. It isn’t huge but has a nice outlook over the apron, some tasty nibbles and several different beers and wines. The newspaper is long gone but there are plenty of magazines. Plenty of desks with power outlets for working on, even watching the telly at the same time.

Boarding is called a little late, and with yet another full flight we can’t make up the time. Other than the business seats on NZ’s A320 and selected Jetconnect (QF) aircraft, I think the ATR 72-500 has the most comfortable seats of all the domestic aircraft. Only 2 abreast and seems the same or slightly more legroom as on the 737. It is noisy though and feels like it is travelling very slow, but looks are deceptive. The flight tracks back over the way I just came, passing directly over Hamilton and continuing on to Auckland. Ahhh.

Meeting and work accomplished, nice food and drink, a couple of naps to catch up on much needed sleep, and cross off 2 more routes as flown. Not a bad day out.
 
AUCKLAND to WANGANUI (AKL-WAG) on NZ Beech 1900D

After my meeting in Auckland was rescheduled I dreaded the dash to the airport during rush hour which is never pleasant at the best of times never mind trying to beat the check in cut-off for the only flight of the evening to Wanganui. Fortunately the meeting finished early for the central city resembled a parking lot thanks to incidents both northbound and southbound on the motorway. Even with some aggressive driving it still took 90 minutes, much of this time taken in the first kilometre or so.

So I was relieved to arrive at the airport ahead of the closure of check in. Again no real choices of seating offered by the quick check machine. Through security to the lounge and just barely enough time to sample a couple more of the approx 15 seasonal beers (this on top of near dozen different regular beers!). I’ve been slowly working my way through the offerings but summer is fast running out so I suspect I will not get to sample them all. The food is slightly disappointing – greasy looking sausages, 3 different salads, roasted vegetables, salsa, rolls and fruit. So I give the masses milled around the servery a wide berth and catch up on some emails. Indeed the lounge is the fullest I have seen it in a while, literally standing room only despite the 250 seats.

Boarding is called for several flights in quick succession for this is a very busy time of day with lots of business travellers and commuters returning home. I make my way to the prop gate lounge and then to the furthest gate of all. I was surprised not to be paged en route as I normally am on the prop flights.

As we taxi out I notice Reg Grundy’s private jet is still sitting on the tarmac as it has for the past 2 or more months. We scurry out after a bank of arriving aircraft, quickly take off and bank steeply away to give the following jets taking off some more room. With clear skies most of the way we have great views from 15,000 feet of the varied landscapes below. Our path is more to the east than that used by jets flying between Auckland and Wellington or Christchurch, thus loosely follows the Waikato and Waipa rivers south – along much the same route as taken by the main trunk rail line over which I rode last year. Again I marvelled at the ingenuity of the engineers who plotted the course – even from this height it isn’t obvious that there is an easy way through the rugged hills and plateau.

We had a couple of big bumps coming in low over the hills on the outskirts of Wanganui before turning over the small city and landing at the airport just across the river from the city centre.
 
WANGANUI to WELLINGTON (WAG-WLG) on NZ Beech 1900C (operated by Vincent Aviation)

This route has only very recently restarted and so I’d managed to get a reasonable introductory fare. When I originally booked there was to be a 1 hour connection, however in the interim the schedule had been changed to reduce the connection to 30 minutes. I not only got notified by email but the Wanganui airport agent also called me to make sure I was aware of the change.

When the aircraft arrived from Wellington they offloaded the passengers, no checked baggage and called us to board immediately. A small load with just the 2 pilots and 3 passengers, and no checked bags either. So the flight left early with the aircraft spending less than 10 minutes on the ground including taxi time! Amazing how much more efficient they can be for the last flight of the day. In the end I got to Wellington more than an hour early – more time to enjoy the evening entertainment.

We were warned to expect a bumpy flight along Cook Strait with winds around 50 knots. Sure enough there was a big surf pounding the beach we crossed just after take off, and the sea was full of white caps blown along in the wind. We cut the corner of the broad sweep of the southwest coastline and passed near the rugged Kapiti Island – its seaward cliffs plunging from the ridge in contrast to the lush forested hills rolling down the other side. Flying in across the northern hill suburbs we got a neat rollercoaster ride. Seeing through the forward windows the pilots struggling to keep the runway in line. Then finally a hard landing, making good use of both length and width of the runway. The Lyall Bay surf was crashing up against the road beside the runway. As is often the case at Wellington we had a long walk from past the end of the prop finger pier to arrivals.
 
WELLINGTON to GISBORNE (WLG-GIS) on NZ Beech 1900D

Back out to the airport – a short ride from the central city. With no bags to check I head straight for the lounge and check in using the quick check machine there. Once again there is no choice of seats but the auto-selected seats are good enough.

I grab breakfast and a coffee while I wait for the flight. One coffee machine is broken, so like the Auckland lounge only one machine is in operation. For breakfast there is toast, several different cereals, cold cuts, a selection of fresh fruit, yoghurt, juice, quiche, etc. Not bad at all. I also check my email before heading out to my flight. At the gate I’m asked to wait a moment since the aircraft next door to mine has started its engines. A couple of minutes later it departs and I board last. With one spare seat I put one carry on by that seat and the other under the seat in front of me.

As we take off I notice the surf has subsided somewhat from yesterday but still plenty of white caps. Unfortunately there is an extensive layer of low cloud obscuring all views even though we are in bright sunshine above it. An hour later we descend over the hills behind Gisborne and a break in the clouds in the sheltered Poverty Bay. We fly over lots of vineyards and land short of the railway which crosses the runway.

Another 2 domestic routes down, still quite a lot to go.
 
GISBORNE to AUCKLAND (GIS-AKL) on NZ Beech 1900D

I have enough time to see to some things in the nearby town before heading back to the airport for my onward flight. This time the flight is full and so no room onboard for my second carry on. The pilot stows it in the hold for me, which I collect on arrival directly from the aircraft rather than waiting at baggage claim. Good service.

North of Gisborne the skies are largely cloud free so we have great views of the hills and mountains, from coast to coast. The Taranaki cone in the distance with the central volcanoes in the middle distance and many smaller ones closer. Lakes Taupo and Rotorua looking large nestled amongst the hills, and the smaller lakes dotted amongst the bush nearby. The tranquil blue seas of Bay of Plenty. Even a steam plume on White Island which is currently in a reawakening phase with its crater lake edging closer to boiling point.

The cultivated fields between the Kaimai Ranges and the coast, forested Coromandel Ranges reaching north towards the sun and low farmlands stretching out between the east and west coasts. Ahead lies the sprawl of Auckland city while Hamilton city and other Waikato towns are clearly seen amongst the farmland to our left.

All too soon the we descend and the short trip is over. I am thankful that I have had 4 such good flights. While the aircraft seems slow compared to the normal pace of jets, the low altitude more than makes up for it in my opinion.
 
FLYING TOUR OF NEW ZEALAND

Continuing with the increasingly badly titled mini tour of New Zealand I pause for a moment of indulgence.

After lots and lots of international travel in the past few years, my schedule for 2007 was looking like I wouldn’t be able to fit much longhaul travel in. Don’t get me wrong, I still expect to do quite a bit by non-FT standards – say 2 or 3 round the world trips plus some other trips, however this is well down on the past few years. Instead my schedule currently suits short domestic trips.

Having recently flown to the last few of the 26 domestic destinations served by a major airline in New Zealand, I decided to set myself a new goal – to fly all 49 (soon to be 50) current domestic routes. I had previously flown quite a few of them, but the network schedules will pose some challenges to fit into my time constraints (as well as booking engine constraints) – particularly the routes served only once a day.

While I will collect a modest amount of mileage thanks to sector minimums, this is not a mileage run. Fare rules in New Zealand do not permit routings other than the most direct possible, and the cheapest domestic fares on Air New Zealand are non-mileage earning (with Qantas only having 6, soon to be 5, routes almost all flights are on Air New Zealand).

The current routes are listed below, and I’ll mark them off as I go.

From/To Auckland

From/To Hamilton

From/To Wellington
  • WLG-WRE not yet flown (Wellington – Whangarei)
  • WLG-HLZ first flown years ago (Wellington - Hamilton)
  • WLG-TRG not yet flown (Wellington – Tauranga)
  • WLG-ROT not yet flown (Wellington – Rotorua)
  • WLG-TUO not yet flown (Wellington – Taupo)
  • WLG-GIS first flown 2007 (Wellington – Gisborne)
  • WLG-NPE first flown years ago (Wellington - Napier / Hastings)
  • WLG-NPL not yet flown (Wellington – New Plymouth)
  • WLG-WAG first flown 2007 (Wellington – Wanganui)
  • WLG-PMR not yet flown (Wellington – Palmerston North)
  • WLG-BHE first flown years ago, and again in 2007 (Wellington - Blenheim)
  • WLG-NSN first flown years ago, and again in 2007 (Wellington - Nelson)
  • WLG-WSZ first flown 2006 (Wellington - Westport)
  • WLG-CHC first flown years ago, and again in 2006 (Wellington - Christchurch)
  • WLG-TIU first flown 2006 (Wellington - Timaru)
  • WLG-DUD first flown 2006 (Wellington - Dunedin)

From/To Nelson

From/To Christchurch
  • CHC-HLZ not yet flown (Christchurch – Hamilton)
  • CHC-ROT not yet flown (Christchurch – Rotorua)
  • CHC-NPE not yet flown (Christchurch – Napier / Hastings)
  • CHC-PMR not yet flown (Christchurch – Palmerston North)
  • CHC-BHE not yet flown (Christchurch – Blenheim)
  • CHC-NSN first flown years ago (Christchurch – Nelson)
  • CHC-HKK first flown 2006 (Christchurch - Hokitika)
  • CHC-OAM first flown 2006 (Christchurch - Oamaru)
  • CHC-WKA first flown 2006 (Christchurch - Wanaka)
  • CHC-ZQN first flown years ago, and again in 2006 & 2007 (Christchurch – Queenstown)
  • CHC-DUD first flown 2006 (Christchurch – Dunedin)
  • CHC-IVC first flown years ago (Christchurch – Invercargill)
 
AUCKLAND to PALMERSTON NORTH (AKL-PMR) on NZ ATR 72-500

This day jaunt around the regions will allow me to knock off a couple more unflown (by me) domestic routes. It is a challenge getting too many previously unflown routes on the same day thanks to the network schedules and NZ’s fare structure which precludes roundabout routings thus forcing longer connections. Still, I am not unhappy with my planned trip today. For I will complete an unflown route with few flights and tricky connections. Plus I will get to see some wonderful parts of the country at low speeds from reasonably low altitude – hopefully the weather is clear enough.

Out to the airport for an early start. I pop over to the international terminal first to pick up some more departure cards and restock my supply. I like to have a stash of these so I can fill them out in advance to save time on my many international trips, and am down to the last couple. This travel year, however, is shaping up to be more focussed on domestic so I wonder whether I should have bothered collecting the forms today. Never mind, with luck my international travel shall pick up again later in the year.

Having collected some forms, and knowing that domestic security will not be open too early, I am in no hurry and so walk slowly in the dark across to the domestic terminal. The path is reasonably well lit. There is a procession of connecting passengers making their way across to domestic. I watch them pass me thinking, why the rush, for while the domestic terminal is already open the security checkpoint lounge and most shops will not be open yet. The birds which live in the Pohutukawa trees are noisily waking up and competing with the noise of the rush of early morning longhaul arrivals and departures to Australia. I think the jets win, but the birds try their best.

As expected the quick check machine is unable to check me in due to the number of flights. So I head to the koru club / star alliance gold check in line. It doesn’t take long. I change a seat on one flight (I had been given seat 2F which has no window on that aircraft type), and I ask the agent to force the boarding pass for the final flight of the day which for some reason hadn’t printed out automatically.

A small wait for security to open. Despite being fully manned they were not going to open before 6am. When it opened I was about the fourth person through, yet managed to be the first to leave the security screening station thanks to my well practiced swoop to collect my carry-on without a pause as I walk past. Hence I am first into the lounge. Yay no wait for the coffee machine. I grab one before the lounge fills up.

I have enough time to check emails, read a bit of the newspaper and have another coffee before the flight is called. Sure enough it is the far end prop gate (47), so I walk fast given the lateness of the boarding call relative to departure time. Again I’m last to board, and the flight is full. We leave on time.

As we climb southbound the sun is rising and illuminating the land in a soft light. I notice the extensive fog patches in Waikato – an early start to the winter fog season. The whiteness of the fog in the valleys and basins contrasts against the colours of the low hills and long shadows cast by the low sun.

The FAs do the usual tea/coffee/water/mini biscuit run. They start from the front of the aircraft, so by the time they get to the preferred seats (at the back thanks to boarding being from the rear) the flight is nearly over. If I’d had a hot drink there may not have been enough time to drink it before descent. Just before landing we get boiled sweets, as usual.

The central volcanoes are partly obscured by cloud but the skies are clear enough to see Lake Taupo, the barren acidic lands as well as plantation forests and thick bush. We descend over the hill country north of Palmerston North.
 
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PALMERSTON NORTH to CHRISTCHURCH (PMR-CHC) on NZ Q300

This is a busy time of day at Palmerston North with 3 of the 4 aircraft types of NZ Link (regional flights for Air New Zealand) here – the ATR of Mount Cook Airlines, the Q300 of Air Nelson and the Beech 1900D of Eagle Air. Only the SF3 of Air Nelson, currently in the process of being replaced by Q300s, is missing.

I pay the departure tax of NZ$5 at the shop since I don’t have the right change for the machine (only $1 and $2 coins accepted with no change given). Then pick up the security code for the lounge at check in and make my way into the lounge. I notice, as expected, that the security code has changed since my previous visit. The lounge is empty at first but soon several others visit. Still it is not very full and plenty of room for all. There is toast and yoghurt, biscuits, tea, coffee, water, juice and soft drink. The fridge has wine and beer also. There are a couple of magazines and brochures but no newspapers.

Boarding is called and I head downstairs to the gate. There is a wait thanks to the airport employee who checks the departure tax being away from the gate. C’mon it isn’t that hard to coordinate the calls, surely? I wonder just how worthwhile the exercise is, of collecting departure tax at small provincial airports. Palmerston North has long had it, and more recently Rotorua and Hamilton have succumbed to the allure of extra revenue. In all cases they need to hire extra staff to dispense the tax stickers, as well as checking the boarding passes at the gate. Palmerston North and Hamilton also have machines which dispense the stickers. Given the relatively low numbers of passengers, I would expect a significant proportion of the revenue collected is spent on collection costs (or possibly even more than the revenue in the case of Hamilton with its overabundance of employees involved in the process). Meanwhile they annoy both locals (who already pay for the airport through rates) and visitors alike with the pettiness of it all.

Once the employee pops out from a back door we are allowed to board. Thus we leave a little late (as do the other 2 flights). The flight is very empty so I have an empty seat besides me. In the time on the ground the cloud cover has mostly burned off. We take off and climb across the plains. Nice views over the sand dunes into Cook Strait. But then we turn and fly over the ranges, seeing the wild mountains not too far below us and farmed valleys opening out into lowlands on either side. We fly down the Hutt Valley and over Wellington’s harbour. Below and to the right we see a few aircraft flying in and out of the airport.

The coastal ranges along the northeastern South Island are cloaked in thick cloud, spilling over the summits, but we fly in clear skies. The rugged coastline and deep valleys are clearly visible. As we pass Kaikoura I notice several boats heading out for whale watching and fishing. I look but don’t see any whales!

We cross the northern Canterbury coast and over the low hills before flying over the vast plains. We descend and turn over Burnham army camp. We overfly the Clearwater Golf Course which has recently hosted the NZ PGA.
 
CHRISTCHURCH to BLENHEIM (CHC-BHE) on NZ Beech 1900D

Arriving at a prop gate means I need to go through security to get to the lounge. We arrive at a busy time with both screening lines having a long queue. Once inside I grab a nice lunch while I catch up on some work. Food on offer includes pies, fresh sandwiches with several different fillings, lamingtons and biscuits, cheese and crackers, fruit, rolls. For liquid refreshment the usual array of beers (22), wines, soft drinks, water, juice, tea, coffee etc.

The transit passes quickly and boarding is called with a mention of being final call. I take that to mean boarding has long since started and I am the only passenger in the lounge. So I head to the gate (only a short walk downstairs at Christchurch) to be greeted “Welcome Kiwi Flyer”. Yup I am the last passenger to board again. The flight is again full. Since we are parked at the end of the pier, the taxi is very short and we race out ahead of a pair of taxiing 737s – one Air NZ and the other Qantas.

I was taking this flight which closely retraces the flight path taken not long before. This was not deliberate, for both these flights were firsts for me and just happened to be convenient schedule and price-wise. This flight was lower and a little closer to the mountains. We saw several boats returning to Kaikoura.

The Richmond Ranges provided protection for Blenheim and the Wairau Valley thus they were clear of the clouds. We flew over the dry hill country to the south of Blenheim, past the wineries and turned tightly 270 degrees over Renwick to land.
 
BLENHEIM to WELLINGTON (BHE-WLG) on NZ Beech 1900D

My planned meeting during the transit had fallen through. So I asked if I could switch to the earlier flight which was lightly loaded. Of course you can, if you pay $200. Ah, no thanks. So instead I knuckled down to some work and a walk to stretch my legs.

I wondered why my pre-allocated seat was so far back on this flight, and I was unable to move forward at check in. Once onboard it became apparent that it was for balance purposes as well as keeping 3 single parent families together. At least on this small aircraft deplaning is fairly quick.

We take off towards the east and cross Cook Strait at low altitude. We have barely stopped climbing before we turn to the south and descend across the northern suburbs. I have travelled across Cook Strait more than a hundred times in the air and dozens of times by ferry. The flight time of under 20 minutes is far quicker than the average time by ferry (3 ½ hours, although current ferries can do it slightly faster) and much quicker than the slowest ferry trips in rough weather (some 8 hours!). In fact the flight time is as short as the time it takes to get between airport and city centre in Wellington.

I never tire of the views flying between the main islands of New Zealand. There is a lot of variety within the views out each side. Behind us towering mountains and wide valleys. Off to the left the bush clad hills marking the edges of the drowned valleys of the Marlborough Sounds. The land snaking out in all directions into the Strait like hair been blown by strong winds. A few islands and islets dot the sea past the end of the stands. Most are small but D’Urville Island in the middle distance is big with mountains indistinguishable from the mainland from this angle and distance. Sheltered coves, some with sandy beaches and others rocky, are abundant with lots of yachts the easiest sign to identifying the many baches and lodges they are moored in front of, for the buildings themselves nestle in the bush. Out the other side we have the rugged cliffs of the southwest corner of the North Island. In behind the suburbs of Wellington draped over the hills and gullies. We fly near the northern Porirua Harbour, named for its two branches, low over the hills to Wellington Harbour. The houses built up to the ridge on the western side while the eastern side is a faultline that plunges to the motorway and sea.

We land and pull in to a gate that is familiar, but only when flying jet aircraft. For the airport is so full of prop aircraft at the moment that we park at a jet gate. So the walk across the tarmac and up to the lounge is shorter than I expected.
 
WELLINGTON to AUCKLAND on NZ 737

The transit is short. So short that at the time of entering the lounge there is an announcement to head to the gate to prepare for boarding. I check the time and realise it is still early, so I ignore the announcement. I grab one of the 22 different beers on offer and a quick bite to eat. Soon the boarding is announced, so I head for the gate. At the screening station there is still a reasonable queue despite boarding being well underway. It seems I am not the only passenger to ignore the earlier announcement.

The flight was full. For a while it looked like I would have a row to myself, but the very last 2 passengers to board were alongside me. Oh well. We leave a little late. Being an evening flight there is buy on board drinks and snack food, or free water tea or coffee. A fairly new addition to the service is the screening of an inflight tv programme. However there was no sign of the earplugs mentioned in the magazine as being available for purchase at the gate, nor was there any mention onboard. So we got to watch a program in silence :rolleyes: The monthly inflight magazine has recently been rebranded Kia Ora (hello or welcome in Maori) but other than some style differences is essentially the same as previously.

I catch up on reading some papers but still spend some time looking out the windows at the passing volcanoes, sea and lowlands. We land straight in across the Manukau Harbour in a fine summery evening.
 
AUCKLAND to WELLINGTON (AKL-WLG) on NZ 737

Another day and again out to the airport early. This time I have few enough flights that I can use quick check machine and improve on the seats pre-allocated. For this first flight I had a dilemma. The forward rows where I was allocated were all blocked out. Further back there appeared to be plenty of room – ie the flight was half full at best. Did this mean the seat beside me was blocked but not taken, or did it mean Air NZ had filled up the cabin in the front and therefore a seat further back would be nicer? I decided to play safe and change for a seat further back that I expected would remain an empty row. I probably would have been okay staying where I was.

Again no earplugs at the gate but this time the onboard purchase was announced. I didn’t see anyone buying them. Not a good start, but then the inflight IFE (such as it is – just the same program being shown) has hardly been advertised either.

Today it is cloudier and thus views are not very good. We land on time and I head to the lounge where I meet up with Altair, have several coffees and late breakfast.
 
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