OZDUCK
Established Member
- Joined
- Aug 1, 2010
- Posts
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As the Trip Reports forum is still, unsurprisingly, pretty quiet I thought that I would post another 'historic' TR.
We booked a trip to NZ in October/November 2014 after Air New Zealand announced a sale. On the way there we travelled in Y but on the way back we had our first taste ever of a more upmarket international cabin by booking Premium Economy. Our flight Perth - Auckland was on a pretty much brand new B787 in the 'All Black' livery. I had booked the "Works Option" which included the seat, checked baggage, meal and drinks. I also paid extra for Exit Row seats. All up it cost $462 each for this leg. This flight was before my AFF days so no pictures of the seat or meals etc. The entire flight was at night so no scenic views either.
This was my first flight on Air New Zealand and on a B787 and unfortunately neither impressed us much on this leg. (The return leg in Premium Economy was in contrast an excellent experience.) As many others have noted, the 9 seat abreast versions of the B787 has very squeezy seats but with the Exit Row seats at least we had plenty of legroom. The other thing that bothered me was how noisy the plane seemed. I had read plenty of articles about how the B787 was super quiet. Perhaps it was because of our location just behind the wing but there seemed to be continuous annoying mechanical noises throughout the flight. The F.A's were ok but not at all memorable and the meal was a poor one even for International economy. It was pretty much a basic dull pasta dish with an accompanying'salad' that was just a combination of onions and capsicums with a oily dressing. My wife found it inedible. The return flight's meal in PE was 100% better.
We only spent a couple of days in a fairly overcast Auckland so we didn't take many photos. I had a strange feeling in Auckland that I couldn't quite figure out for a while and then it hit me. It just didn't feel like I was overseas. Most of the banks and shops were familiar, the accent was also familiar and even the cars looked the same.
Anyway enough talk, on with the TR.
We stayed in an apartment near the Auckland waterfront - Celestion Waldorf Apartments (now the Nasuto Celestion Apartments). It was in a good location and the staff were excellent as they checked us in at about 07:30 and upgraded us to a huge two bedroom apartment. I felt at home as the Customs House was just up the road and the sight of the staff wandering out in uniform for coffee at the local cafes took me back to my 'working' days.
The view from our windows
That day we took a ferry across the harbour to Devonport.
Looking back at the CBD with the ferry jetty in the foreground.
We then walked up to the North Head Historic Reserve.
We passed some nice 'traditional' wooden houses on our way up the hill.
I am pretty sure that this was an 'old' America's Cup yacht doing sailing tours
There were nice views out towards the ocean
The "Disappearing Gun" on the headland. Installed in 1887.
That evening we went out for a walk on Queens Wharf
We booked a trip to NZ in October/November 2014 after Air New Zealand announced a sale. On the way there we travelled in Y but on the way back we had our first taste ever of a more upmarket international cabin by booking Premium Economy. Our flight Perth - Auckland was on a pretty much brand new B787 in the 'All Black' livery. I had booked the "Works Option" which included the seat, checked baggage, meal and drinks. I also paid extra for Exit Row seats. All up it cost $462 each for this leg. This flight was before my AFF days so no pictures of the seat or meals etc. The entire flight was at night so no scenic views either.
This was my first flight on Air New Zealand and on a B787 and unfortunately neither impressed us much on this leg. (The return leg in Premium Economy was in contrast an excellent experience.) As many others have noted, the 9 seat abreast versions of the B787 has very squeezy seats but with the Exit Row seats at least we had plenty of legroom. The other thing that bothered me was how noisy the plane seemed. I had read plenty of articles about how the B787 was super quiet. Perhaps it was because of our location just behind the wing but there seemed to be continuous annoying mechanical noises throughout the flight. The F.A's were ok but not at all memorable and the meal was a poor one even for International economy. It was pretty much a basic dull pasta dish with an accompanying'salad' that was just a combination of onions and capsicums with a oily dressing. My wife found it inedible. The return flight's meal in PE was 100% better.
We only spent a couple of days in a fairly overcast Auckland so we didn't take many photos. I had a strange feeling in Auckland that I couldn't quite figure out for a while and then it hit me. It just didn't feel like I was overseas. Most of the banks and shops were familiar, the accent was also familiar and even the cars looked the same.
Anyway enough talk, on with the TR.
We stayed in an apartment near the Auckland waterfront - Celestion Waldorf Apartments (now the Nasuto Celestion Apartments). It was in a good location and the staff were excellent as they checked us in at about 07:30 and upgraded us to a huge two bedroom apartment. I felt at home as the Customs House was just up the road and the sight of the staff wandering out in uniform for coffee at the local cafes took me back to my 'working' days.
The view from our windows
That day we took a ferry across the harbour to Devonport.
Looking back at the CBD with the ferry jetty in the foreground.
We then walked up to the North Head Historic Reserve.
We passed some nice 'traditional' wooden houses on our way up the hill.
I am pretty sure that this was an 'old' America's Cup yacht doing sailing tours
There were nice views out towards the ocean
The "Disappearing Gun" on the headland. Installed in 1887.
That evening we went out for a walk on Queens Wharf
