In Sydney, I had a 1h05 connecting time. With my 15 minute delay arriving, Qantas had rebooked me on a flight leaving 1h35 later than the original which meant waiting around for over an hour, which was pretty painless.
Unfortunately, I no longer had access to the Amex lounge here due to the raising of their entry criteria.
Waiting outside, I could hear announcements calling for straggling passengers for my original flight to Auckland. I could have made it but I guess the airline didn’t want to risk having that flight run late.
The continuing flight to Auckland was quick. It was good to have a spare seat next to me (as on the previous sector) but it was a non-recline exit row (which meant it was spacious). Again, the Kiwi crew on Qantas weren’t the happiest bunch (except for a trainee and her trainer).
Landing in Auckland, we touched down at an angle on one wheel. It was pretty hair-raising and I wasn’t the only one that noticed. Disembarking, I said loudly to the captain standing outside the cockpit door “Awesome landing, thanks!”. The conditions outside were calm with no white-caps in the sea and I had seen from my window earlier that the windsock was pointing in the direction of the runway.
It was a good time to arrive in Auckland as the airport was not busy. Traffic home was OK but any later, it would have been tortuous. Home sweet home after another great trip.