Up
On a wing and a prayer. En route to Auckland from Christchurch.
Last weekend was my long awaited trip up to Auckland. It’s been over six months since I left to move to Wellington, and it was so nice to be back. I was really frustrated with my situation when I lived there, so going back now that things are so good in my life was such a treat. The weekend was spent catching up with my friends and having great meals (and lots of wine). I also sorted out my Australian visitor’s visa so now I’m good to return to Melbourne in January.
I think I may have mentioned this before, but I really love flying. I get such a thrill seeing the behemoth long-haul planes taxiing about or even better, taking off. I think, “how amazing is that?!” pretty much every time I see one. I love seeing the different carrier colours, and wonder where the unfamiliar names come from (LAN, anyone?). When I was in Hong Kong, I saw a Cathay Pacific plane all done up in dragons; it was amazing. I really wanted to take its picture but in my newbie traveller state of mind, was afraid some kind of Chinese Homeland Security would swoop down and confiscate my camera should I whip it out. Of course, I know now that airport photography is commonplace and that no one would have batted an eye — especially in regards to that plane!
Oh what a beautiful world
Being in New Zealand, the domestic flights are smaller jets and prop planes and so not as glamorous as the big boys, but still — I love it. My flight to Auckland was an evening flight and it was so nice to see the fluffy white clouds and blue skies, and then watching the sky darken as the sun set. Its been nothing but rain and cloud in Christchurch lately, so it was a very poignant reminder that the sky is *always* blue and pristine above the doom and gloom.
Also, and I think Ive mentioned this before too, I love Air New Zealand. Sure, you can fly on JetStar or Pacific Blue domestically here, but no one really does it quite as well as Air NZ. The flights are cheap as ($130 return to ChCh) and even though it was only an hour flight I had a choice of wine and cheese or a hummus plate for a snack. You wont get that on JetStar! I think a big part of the reason I love flying so much is that I dont go for the cheapest of the cheap tickets — especially long haul. I want to be comfortable, have good entertainment, and be attended on by nice and friendly staff. I want a reliable departure time, and an airline with impeccable safety records. Also, food and yes wine is important to me, even more so when flying more than 4 hours. That doesn’t mean I fly first class or on the poshest airline around (Ive yet to fly Emirates), but I do search long and hard for the best prices I can get.
My next flight is in two weeks when Im off to Wellington for the Toast Martinborough wine and food festival. Sadly, my plane will be a prop plane (those make me a little nervous), but I’m looking forward to it all the same.
When I got back to Christchurch the netbook I had ordered from Amazon had arrived. I’d shipped it to my company’s Cupertino CA office, and the CFO brought it back for me on his latest trip. I saved heaps buying it through Amazon, so I got a great deal ($299US/$408NZ vs $895NZ/$655US). A few months ago I talked my friend Roben out of buying one of these so I feel a little hypocritical now (and have told her so!), but for my flashpacking needs this is perfect. The laptop I brought with me to NZ is a 17″ HP Pavilion. It is massive. While it’s been fantastic for working on and watching movies, editing photos and general webgeekery, its just too large and heavy (8lbs!) to carry around in my backpack for three months. After much deliberation (because let’s be honest, I’m not the most spontaneous person around) I bought the HP Mini 110, and am beyond thrilled. It has a 10.1″ screen, 160gb hard drive (more than enough for my photos!), and 1gb of ram running Windows XP. I love that I can tuck it into my purse or daypack and no one is the wiser. It’s super light, and fast. Of course, now I have to ship Lappy home in January, but that’s ok. Ive sussed out prices and it looks like it will cost around $200NZ to courier it — money I saved by not buying the netbook (christened Lilly Puter) in New Zealand.
Possibly related posts:
Leave your response!