Beautiful New Zealand. Lousy Flying.

[kentauros]

So, I'm a day back from my trip to see my online girfriend in New Zealand (immigration requires that we meet before she starts the visa process to move here) and I can't upload any photos. Windows thought it was the perfect opportunity to stop booting and get itself into the shop, so that's why I'm having to post from work ;)

I had a total of seven flights I had to take getting to, across and from NZ, with the singlemost best flight being the little two-engine turboprop run by Air New Zealand being the best flying experience out of the bunch. The rest, worthless.

Does anyone actually like LAX? Other than the International terminal, I was truly unimpressed and even exasperated at times by the lack of knowledgeable help. The International terminal was great and I wondered why the rest of the airport wasn't just like it. I did notice that other than the one-building terminal for the little prop plane, all other airports I went to (Houston Intercontinental, LAX, Sidney, Auckland) were all under some form of construction. Is that normal for big airports the world over?

And, other than my bag getting to Auckland a day late and then staying there while the couriers that were supposed to deliver it decided that their business deliveries had priority over my bag, the trip was great and I did get hundreds of images. Some, no one but myself and Maryanne will ever see but when I have a computer at home again, I'll resize, crop and upload some of the better ones.

We stayed on Waiheke Island for most of the trip and have decided that it's like the Maui of NZ. Crazy drivers but wonderful views, food and atmosphere. Lots of artists, though we didn't have the time to visit any of the galleries. We were spending more time looking at the scenery (and each other) :D

[MorningGlow]

1. Hey you

Glad you had a (mostly) good time! Welcome back! :hi:

[kentauros]

3. Thanks!

The trip within the country was wonderful. I think I'm going to research more about Air New Zealand for flying options next time, though. They've been top-rated by customers over all the others (even Qantas) so I think I'll go with them.

[TZ]

2. Glad you had a good time.

I'm very interested in the travel details as I am planning a trip to Australia (hopefully) for the end of this year...
Looking forward to pictures. I hear NZ is absolutely stunning.

[kentauros]

4. It really is stunning.

I was wondering aloud to my gf when we were taking a short roadtrip from Auckland to Whakatane (pronounced "fok-ah-tah-nee" though it often sounds like "fuckatahnee" lol!) if all the farmers/ranchers appreciated the beauty of the land they're on. I didn't get pics of the whole route as we had left too late in the day to get there until mid-evening. I'll upload pics in another day or so.

You might look into Air New Zealand instead of Qantas. Although Qantas was good, ANZ is supposed to be the best company to fly with. I'll certainly consider them next time :)