Day 2 and 3 of the trip occurred somewhere during this flight and I also lost a day by crossing the "date line." I am truly grateful to Aerospace line management for approving the premium economy ticket. During this flight I chatted with my seatmate to learn that he was a Vietnam vet; he flew close air support for the Army and retired after a long and successful carrier. He was on a 3-week vacation to celebrate his 65th birthday by both fresh and salt water fishing all around New Zealand. I did not get any long haul flight pictures to share as the flight was all nighttime; including the Auckland arrival. My flight arrived at Auckland International Airport about 40 minutes late due to very slow boarding at SFO. This fact pushed me back from my scheduled 0650 AM flight to Christchurch; I caught the 0710 flight instead. I found the Auckland airport to very small by US standards; something similar to Eppley in Omaha. This airport had 22 gates, 16 of which were dedicated to international travel.
The Auckland to Christchurch flight on Air New Zealand was on an Airbus A319, I was able to snap a silly photo of the seating to show it is very much like flying in the USA. Now that the sun was up I was able to capture some departing pictures of the bay off of Auckland as well as a view of the airport on departure. The island looked lush and green and appeared to be rural farming and ranching outside of the urban and industrial areas. The flight again headed out over open water until we approached the south island; the terrain was snow covered mountains and high desert until we crossed the mountain range. I include a few in flight digital photos as well as some on arrival at Christchurch and their regional airport.
Overall my travels were smooth, uneventful and positive experience. Air New Zealand treated all of us like gold, the service put the US carriers to shame. I appreciated Kathie Hoke's hard work to arrange my travel and her wisdom to keep my layovers to at least 90 minutes. This plan made sure that with any small flight delays (weather or other) kept me on schedule and assured I did not get separated from my baggage.
From the Christchurch airport I called the United States Antarctic Program (USAP) office to notify them of my slightly delayed arrival. They provided me a brief synopsis of what I was to do over the next day and a half and then routed me to my hotel; The Copthorne Commodore hotel (http://www.hotelsone.com/christchurch-hotels-nz/copthorne-hotel-commodore.html?label=ggehoeu-bh43205_commodore+christchurch+airport&gclid=CJGB3uTy5qwCFQYBQAodNBzHIQ). Their shuttle van picked me up promptly and the driver was aware that I was heading to McMurdo and he pointed out the USAP hanger, USAF C17 transport and Extreme Cold Weather (ECW) Clothing Distribution Center (CDC) along our route. After checking in at the hotel counter I learned that no rooms would be available for several hours so I got on-line from the hotel bar/restaurant. I was served coffee and soft drinks until my room came available; the hotel staff took all my bags and set me up nicely in the room. I tried to tip the staff but they did not accept my offer. I made a mental note to research this topic as I wanted to better understand the local customs. After two days of travel I took a two hour nap until my colleague was to arrive by mid afternoon. We met for a beverage and then took a local walk to find dinner. Along the way I took a number of digital photos to share with the audience.
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