Air New Zealand flight 402 (A320 plane) Wellington - Auckland | December 2022.
13Air New Zealand flight 402 Wellington - Auckland. The first flight of the day from Wellington, to Auckland. Departed Wellington 6:00 am. Arrived in Auckland 7:00 am. Aboard an A320 plane. These planes can do the trip in 45 minutes, but operational guidelines allow 1 hour 5 minutes for the trip. One good thing is they're adding new menu items rather than just your standard cookie or crisps option.
Wellington and Auckland are the two largest cities of New Zealand. Wellington is the capital of New Zealand, and has a slightly higher population count than Christchurch. Auckland has over 1.5 million people, and is the largest city of New Zealand.
Air New Zealand is unjustifiably charging a lot for their airfares, especially during Q4 2022, where the average one-way airfare between Wellington and Auckland, has jumped from NZ$69 to NZ$400, no matter how early you book. I'm glad I booked our Sydney flights early only paying NZ$350 instead of now NZ$1,144 average fare price per person per way between Wellington and Sydney. They use COVID and short staff and demand, as an excuse, even though petrol prices in NZ are decreasing throughout Q4 2022. Call Centre wait times average 3 hours to as long as 48 hours. With email responses taking up to a whopping 6 weeks. With the cost of living taking its toll on now middle-class people including myself, we'd expect better from big businesses like Air New Zealand, and for them to stop being greedy and lower their fares to a more reasonable level. New Zealander's have complained to the media and New Zealand Government regarding these complications.
Booked a short weekend to take a break and get away from Wellington. Booked the first flight out on Friday 2 December, and caught the last flight on Saturday 3 December (8:30 pm departing Auckland) back to Wellington for the day. Had a good nights rest Friday night and on Saturday, I visited Auckland Zoo for 2 hours for lunch and the Bird Show, then visited Queen Street, then found out there was gonna be a 5-6 pm Parade event in Browns Bay (Auckland) which I'm glad I attended! The suburb community there reminds me of Island Bay - nice people. Though Browns Bay has a slightly more ethnic diverse community. I was worried about making it back to the airport and Apex Auckland Airport who close at 7 pm but to my surprise while driving back from Browns Bay, the traffic wasn't bad, with only a mild traffic jam between Albany and the harbour bridge, still managing 80km/hr speed. Its more of the weekdays where Auckland traffic is at its worse.
I enjoyed much of my time up in Auckland. Its good to take time away from your bubble. And to do healthy activities to make you happier after a day/week/month/year of stress or busy-ness. One motto which has stuck with me is from Stampey, a popular Minecraft YouTuber "Calm & Composed". When I share that comment with my peers and colleagues, they crack up. But its the impression that you've made someone, and yourself, smile... which counts, and gets you by. And yes, I'll come back to visit Browns Bay next year!
Stay safe, Be kind,
AL.