Having such a change to your lifestyle certainly allowed you to see where your self-identity lay – to see what was important. While people contracted the virus and died in their thousands, and others furloughed or got laid off and joined the ranks of the millions unemployed, I, a travel blogger, waited for word on when we could travel again.

Don’t get me wrong: I’m grateful that I have my job, if a little jealous of furloughed people publishing accounts of all the skills and projects they were undertaking. I’m also incredibly grateful to have my health, and doing my bit to make sure I’m not an inadvertent vector of transmission (mask? no problem! social distancing? I’m your man).

The tatters of the plans for travel in 2020 look at me accusationally. Will we just slide them all to 2021, or will a year make a difference to the things we want to go and see and do? Will we get all the refunds for everything or will certain airlines need the threat of civil proceedings before they release undeserved cash from their grasping little hands?

Pre-Corona I added a widget to the site to show the upcoming locations we’d planned on visiting. Something to allow others to share the anticipation of the trips, but life, it laughs at the planning of mortals, so I’ve removed that widget.

The plans are dead, so here are their eulogies…

The Baltics

In April we were going to head to the Baltics, taking in the current capitals of Finland (Helsinki), Estonia (Tallinn) and Latvia (Riga), plus the old capital of Russia (St Petersburg).

The medieval old towns and diverse backgrounds would have made a fascinating opportunity to contrast the different cities – especially given their connection to the Hanseatic League.

Normandy

Early May was going to be spent visiting the Normandy beaches, away from the bustle accompanying the D-Day celebrations in June, and accompanied by a trip to the abbey at Mont Saint Michel.

Cornwall

In late May we were to walk the Cornish coast from St Ives to Penzance. Just a snippet of the walk described in The Salt Path _{(not an affiliate link)}, it would have taken a little over a week of between 5 and 10 mile daily hikes.

Staying in AirBnBs, and featuring Lands End, the Wizard of Oz performed in the open air Minack Theatre and ending with a trip to St Michael’s Mount, it was going to require a level of fitness we were well on the way to achieving before the ‘Rona.

Český Krumlov

In June we were going to go to the Five Petalled Rose Celebrations in Český Krumlov. This sleepy bohemian Czech Republic town comes alive as everyone wears period costumes and celebrates their history with a weekend of medieval feasting and fireworks.

The heat of June was going to be alleviated by a leisurely river rafting experience. This is getting taken an hour upriver of town and placed in an inner tube with a box of beer and letting the current take you home as inebriation intensifies.

Manchester & Liverpool

In July we were going to go for a quick trip to Manchester and Liverpool to take in the homes of the Industrial Revolution and the Beatles respectively. Oh and attend a Crowded House concert, as you do!

Africa

In August and September we were planning to go on our first African safari to see the wildlife in Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, ending up at Victoria Falls.

Trying to pack in the Dali-esque Namib Dessert, the Diamond coast, as well as the National Parks and Game Reserves was going to be a challenge, but the prospect of seeing lions, elephants, zebras, giraffes and other wildlife would have made for a once in a lifetime experience. And at those prices they would be once in a lifetime!

New Zealand

And then we would have been heading home to New Zealand for Christmas. We’re still hopeful for that to come off, but nothing is guaranteed. We are, after all, living in unprecedented times.

The post Unprecedented: 2020 Travel Plans Dashed! appeared first on etrip.tips.

And despite having been to many of New Zealand’s gorgeous locations, I had to admit that I had yet to visit the widely-acclaimed best places to visit: Queenstown and Milford Sound.

I elected to rectify this and headed down for a long weekend. I had painstakingly accumulated enough Airpoints with Air New Zealand to get my accommodation paid for and jetted down to do as much as I could in two and a half days.

Flying into Queenstown is just as gorgeous as the videos make it seem. You descend through clouds to be greeted by a picture perfect vision of mountains surrounding a lake – very Swiss or Scandinavian.

A brief taxi ride into town later, I was checking into the Millennium Hotel, which boasts great views of the lake. My brother had given me a free upgrade card for any hotels in the Millennium range. Depending on availability of course! Feeling rather smug I asked at reception if I could redeem it.

The receptionist looked at me like I had two heads, and let me know that they were fully booked and so there were no upgraded rooms available. I nodded sagely as I considered that I had timed my trip for the period between Xmas and New Years, so that it wasn’t the most surprising of situations, and made my way toward my room which faced into a central courtyard rather than out over the crystal blue waters of the lake.

Still, I was here to get a flavour of the town, not to while away the time in a hotel room!

Out I went to the centre of town, to breathe in the heady excitement of the centrepiece of New Zealand tourism. A short walk down hill into town later, I enjoyed the evening sun (Southern Hemisphere, remember, so Xmas time is summer) as I strolled around the harbour.

I paused briefly to watch a guy piloting his drone, stepped aside and let a tour of segways rumble past, admired a dude paddle boarding on the water and generally enjoyed the sounds of people eating at the many lake-side restaurants.

On the way back I passed a burger place with a line which stretched out the door and along the pavement. I didn’t take note of the name of the place, but I thought I might pop back when it was less busy.

I had signed up for a combination ticket which consisted of a bungy jump, a jet boat ride, a helicopter ride and white water rafting. At $733 per person (was $500ish when I did it in 2013) it certainly isn’t cheap, but I figured since they picked you up, dropped you off and handled everything from showers to wetsuits, that I’d be in good hands.

Getting all four activities in one day would be incredibly efficient as well. My hotel was on the list of pickup spots but when I made further enquiries it turned out that the actual point of pickup was the bus stop out the front on the main road. Now that was something that could have gone very wrong! If I hadn’t asked I could have been happily sitting at reception in the hotel, waiting for some sort of bus pickup!

Having spent some time in tourism in Europe, I was now used to accurate pickup times, allocated seats and seamless service, so it took me a little while to reset my expectations back to New Zealand’s “She’ll be right” laidbackness.

The bus that pulled up didn’t go directly to all the activities, instead it took us into town where we were weighed (max weight for the bungy 127kg / 280lbs) and grouped up according to which ticket and activities we were doing.

Bungy Jump

Then we were put on various vans and mine set off towards the bungy jump over the Nevis river just before it meets the Kawarau river, about 30 minutes from town. While I had bought my ticket and wanted to do all the activities, I am not the best with heights, so for me it was good to do the bungy first to get it out of the way, but the 30 minute trip wasn’t long enough and my blood pressure was certainly rising the closer we got to the venue.

When we got there there was a log cabin full of branded mementoes beside the top of the hill and then a small hut suspended on cables out in the middle of the gorge, accessible via a tiny metal gondola.

We were split into smaller groups as the gondola could only take about six or seven of us, and delightfully the order of jumping was set by the weight of the jumpers. Lucky me – first!

To tell the truth I was very happy with this – the sooner it was over with the sooner I could actually enjoy myself. With no delay the efficient team were buzzing around and had me sitting on a metal armchair and strapped my legs together and put a harness on.

I then hobbled over to the other side of the hut where this time I sat in a leather armchair as the team busied themselves attaching the hobble on my legs to the actual bungy.

The bungy was a big thick cable of stretchiness – basically what would happen if someone got a thousand boxes of rubber bands, cut them all and then somehow braided them all together into one long thick heavy cable.

The chair was right beside the gaping hole that was the missing wall of the hut. The tiniest of platforms jutted out over the sheer drop and after I was attached to the bungy cord, I proceeded via the smallest steps possible to make my way towards this little platform. The steps were small because with the hobble I had very limited movement available, but as I got closer to the platform my brain was making them even smaller because there was nothing to hold onto and the sheer drop outside started to become more and more real.

My eyes darted around as I shuffled to the end of the platform and the attendant shuffled the bungy cord around so that it dangled off the endless of the hut. He looked up and said “there’ll be a little tug” and let go of the bungy. The join where the bungy attached dropped away over the edge and then stopped, tugging me forward towards the gaping chasm beneath me. I glared at him. I could have fallen!

He grinned back and, referring to the foreign tourists who had come across in the gondola with me, said “let’s show these guys how Kiwis fly”. Then he pointed out an overhead camera for me to make a quick smile (grimace really) and he counted down from three.

I’d love to say that as he hit zero I leapt gracefully off the platform and made a perfect, silent dive out over the river far below, but what happened was I threw myself off the platform in a half crouch and yelled (not screamed, I hasten to add) all the way down. Kiwis don’t fly.

Falling is quick! My mind flicked through various thoughts and seeing how vivid the experience was, I can still remember the exact thoughts as they happened.

I’m heading for that rock with a red mark on it. Is it blood? The bungy better start slowing me down soon, I’m getting close. There we go, slowing down now, am I going to stop in time. Yes!

The instructions in the hut had been after the jump you can either be pulled back up into the hut upside down or else you can pull a cord on your harness near your ankles which will disconnect the hobble at your feet, which in turn will make the attachment at your waist the connection for the the bungy and therefore you’ll be hoisted up in a seated position. After a couple of attempts I managed to pull the cord and “enjoyed” my hoist up.

There were two things that I took away from me after my bungy. One was the obvious relief. Me and heights don’t get on so it was an achievement for me to actually make it to the little diving board and to jump. Not everyone did it – the guy after me balked. All harnessed and ready to go, but at the last minute did not want to do it.

I chatted quietly with the guy running the show and said that I hoped it wasn’t because of my (manly) screams that put the other guy off. He put my fears to rest and said that frequently he’d get a group of tourists through and some of the group were really committed to doing the bungy, but that some buy the tickets because their mates were doing it, but when it comes to the crunch it’s not for them.

Wow I said – do they get a refund? He grinned and said “Nope, once that rope is on, no refunds”. He looked around and said that if I was a solo traveller, that I might as well head back to the log cabin on the cliff as it would help them cycle through more of the groups, so I thanked him and headed back.

The other thing I took away form the experience was the realness of it. It’s hard to explain, but think about this. In life we put filters up between ourselves and reality. Sometimes it’s the little white lies we tell ourselves or our loved ones, it could be the spin we put on things in our place of work. In the most obvious way it’s the Instagram filters people put on photos to make them look better.

These things were the opposite of the bungy. The bungy was real. The plummeting towards the river at the bottom of the ravine was real in a crispy “everything in focus and crystal clear” way that nothing else was.

Back on terra firma, I got three momentos: a free t-shirt saying that I had bungied over the Nevis River at 134 metres, a small section of the bungy so you could see how it was constructed, and a link to where I could download the video.

Being the first jumper back there was a distinct ratio imbalance between me and the staff and after they found that I worked for TripAdvisor I found myself surrounded by twelve staff asking me questions.

That lasted for about ten minutes and then the other jumpers started to return and they drifted off to do their jobs, and I jumped in the shuttle bus which was heading to the next of the Big Four activities: the Shotover Jet.

Shotover Jet

The Shotover Jet is an iconic experience which consists of a jet boat (huge V8 engine in a very light weight boat) whizzing along a very shallow river.

At a bend in the river, a jetty stuck out into the thin trickle of water. The jetty was a way from where the bus dropped me off and after picking up a life jacket I picked my way over the multitude of grey stones and waited in line for our ride.

Our guide stood on an elevated platform and briefed us on what to expect. Which was basically to keep everything tucked inside the boat. Should they run aground (humiliating for the driver), follow instructions and climb out so that they can reflate the boat. But pretty much keep everything inside the boat and don’t expect to be able to speak because once they got going there would be constant wind which would steal your words.

It was fun, the shallow draft of the boat threatened to run us aground but the driver obviously knew his way around the river and while we may have felt a few stones at times, there was never any danger of us really running aground.

That was until we rounded a bend and saw one of the other boats stopped on a bank. The driver immediately slowed and wryly grinned as he saw the passengers on the stranded boat moving simultaneously while still seated.

He saw me quizzically checking them out and told me that if the driver of the other boat could get himself floated by rocking off the bank then he wouldn’t suffer the indignation of having to have a tractor drive up and tow him off.

After we putted slowly past we saw that it seemed to work and as we gained speed and passed a bend in the river the last thing I heard were the cheers of the passengers in the other boat.

Over too soon, we got off the boat and headed to the large building nearby. This is where they stored the inflatable boats, provided showers and wetsuits for the white water rafting part of the day.

Helicopter

Yet another mini-bus would take us to the starting point of the activity. Maybe a dozen of us had elected to include a helicopter trip in our package, and we would go maybe halfway by bus and then the rest of the way by helicopter.

So! One of the staff loaded up a trailer with the blue and black inflatable boats, tying them securely with many ropes. We all got fitted with our wetsuits and jumped in a minibus to head up the river. The scenery was stunning and with the sun out, and the bungy behind me, I was really relaxed and enjoying the experience.

We turned off the main road after twenty minutes and parked in a non-descript clearing, halfway up the hill. Our driver gave us a briefing on what to do, what not to touch and how to behave in the chopper.

In the distance we heard the chopper coming in and soon after that it popped up from below the road level. We were already briefed on who would sit where and so made our way very efficiently into the helicopter, buckled in and got our headphones on. I was sitting behind the pilot, and he wasted no time at all taking off.

I think that the pilot wanted to make sure that we got our money’s worth – , dropping over hills and generally flicking us around and enjoying himself. All while I glared at the back of his head. I was glad I wasn’t the only one gripping the back of the seats in front!

Eventually we come to the clearing where we would name the the remainder of our party plus the inflatable boats and we replaced our headphones on the right hooks and made our way off the chopper.

We had a little wait for them to catch up, as well as the second half of the group who were choppered in, and then we all collected on the bank of the river and had our team briefing.

White Water Rafting

We were split up into groups and assigned to a skipper who would be in charge of our white water experience down the river. After the briefing we made our way into the after and headed out.

The initial part of the river required a little bit of paddling, steering and otherwise engagement, but then there was a nice section of river where we could just coast.

Our guide even suggested that we could swim if we wanted to, as we wouldn’t be needed in the boat for a little while. There was something very relaxing about floating down the river – the sun was out, there was minimal noise apart from other boats in the distance ahead and astern and the slap and splosh of the water against the boat.

Some people chatted quietly and some actually seemed uncomfortably warm in their wet-suits as the sun baked down. The water was cold but with the wet-suits very comfortable.

After about 20 minutes the guide suggested that everyone get back on the boat and we navigated another section of the river, the rock walls of the canyon uncomfortably close in parts and whizzing by showing the speed the river was travelling at.

Finally we ended up just upstream from a tunnel near the base hut where we had to cross the entire width of the river in order to make the entrance to the cave tunnel.

The river at that point was very wide and half of it went into the tunnel and half of it continued along parallel to the tunnel, joining up further downstream. We had pulled over to the left bank, out of the current while the boat-leader gave us a chat.

We all had to bend our backs and paddle madly across the river to the mouth of the tunnel because the current was very strong and if we couldn’t get over in time we would miss the mouth of the tunnel and be taken down the less fun way to where the branches of the river rejoined.

With a concerted effort we were able to make it across and drift the rest of the way in the dark as the bright spec of light got bigger and we were ejected from the cave in a little water fall which drenched us all and allowed us to casually end up on the shallow rocky beach just beside the hut where we had collected our wet-suits.

The showers were certainly appreciated after all that, and I enjoyed a tasty beverage as I sat and waited for the bus to take us back to into town.

I went past Fergs burgers again and seeing how this was late afternoon on a Saturday in the height of summer, it was absolutely heaving, the line again out the doors. Instead I went for a wander around the waterfront and found a restaurant with a table outside. A lovely steak on mash with a few veg later, I was heading home feeling like I had managed to squeeze as much as possible from my Saturday.

Milford Sound Day Trip

I had purposefully front loaded the trip with adrenaline activities on the Saturday, and planned a slower pace on the Sunday.

An early morning bus would pick me up and drive me to the Milford Sound where a boat would take us for a cruise on the Milford Sound, while for some a helicopter would take them back to Queenstown and for others (like me) the bus would return. A long day trip.

We stopped off at a few scenic photo opportunities on the way, briefed by our guide on how long we were waiting at each spot. My favourite was probably the Mirror Lakes, named for the clarity of the reflection.

Some of the scenery was visible directly from the bus itself, especially as we came up to the valley of the Hollyford River. Snow and the melt joined the rivers which carved their way through the rock making for a stop off at one rapids where you really couldn’t hear yourself think.

In the end we made our way through the Homer tunnel (one way and 1.2km/0. miles long) and out the other side to the lakeside jetty’s on the Milford Sound. Some fishing boats lay anchored but the majority of the craft were small tourist craft built to show visitors the sights.

It was quite stunning the way the mountains disappeared into the lake, and the waterfalls spotted around the sides never lost their grandeur. The wind out on the deck was quite amazing – even though the sun was out and it was a glorious day, the strength of the wind kept most of the people inside.

We made our along the Sound until we hit where the Sound met the Tasman Sea and then the boat did a U turn and headed back in. The skipper made sure to hug the other edge of the Sound this time and we got up close with some seals basking on the rocks.

The skipper also decided we should get up close and personal with one of the waterfalls, nosing the bow of the boat right up to the waterfall so everyone on the deck got wet. Good times!

Before too long our 90 minute cruise was over and we were back at the port. It was there that the people who had arranged a helicopter ride back split off from the rest of us and went over to the helipad, and the rest of us headed back to Queenstown via the same road we had come in on.

I really regretted not spending the extra money on the helicopter trip back because while the scenery had been stunning on the way to the Sound, by this time the light was failing and with the early start I just wanted to go to sleep.

There was apparently some issue with the direct route back to Queenstown also so we had to go the long way back which added even more time to our trip!

Milford Sound has two great maps showing the route from Queenstown to Milford Sound and the various locations on the Sound itself.

The good news was that upon my return to Queenstown there was no line for Ferg’s Burgers! So I was finally able to try what everybody raved about. And yes: a very nice burger.

The restaurant had some humourish decor and I was impressed with the range of offerings – electing to have the calamari as a side instead of fries, because that would be “healthier”.

By that stage I was happy with my weekend – I had done the Awesome Foursome, enjoyed the Sounds and knocked off a burger at Ferg’s – the only thing I hadn’t done was the gondola to the top of the hill and the luge track that was up there.

When I woke up on the last day the rain had come in and everything was wet and miserable. I was tempted to call it a day but there was nothing to do and I wasn’t flying out until the afternoon. So I got the hotel to look after my bags and headed out to the gondola anyway.

I was really glad that I did. The rain wasn’t heavy and eventually started to clear, but had scared away the tourists so that it was almost empty on top of the mountain. The gondola had passed a bungy jump station on the way up the mountain and though it wasn’t as high as the one that I had done I was still glad that I wouldn’t be leaping off.

Amusingly there was a fire risk indicator that, despite the damp, was firmly pointing to the Extreme level – more of an indication of the great weather we’d been having than the chances of sodden undergrowth going up in flames.

The rain stopped entirely by the time I reached the top of the mountain and the sky was hidden behind a low cover of cloud, obscuring the peaks of the nearby. The town below us looked positively lilliputian.

The luge had been closed while it had been raining, but not long after I arrived they decided the rain had stopped for long enough for them to reopen, and so I headed up the ski lift to the starting point.

Amusingly a luge made of jellybeans was at the top, and I marvelled at the obvious event that lead them to need a sign on the luge indicating that the jellybeans were not for consumption!

I went down the luge track a bunch of times and it was surprisingly fun, even for someone on their own – the thrill of speed and trying to stay on the track without hurtling into other people was enough to keep me occupied for a while and I didn’t regret getting six luge tickets.

Before long I had used them all up and decided to head back down the hill and make my way back to the airport. Walking back to the hotel I happened to pass Ferg’s yet again. Still a line out the door and along the footpath outside.

The post Adventure Weekend in Queenstown & Milford Sound appeared first on etrip.tips.

I decided to give it a go. How bad could it be? And business class would ease the pain, or so I figured.

Check-in at Auckland Airport

Keen to make use of the free business class lounge at Auckland Airport I arrived in good time to check-in. The business class check-in had a rug on the floor which I thought was quite funny.

The check-in staff seemed flustered, so much so that after checking me in the woman totally forgot to give me my passport and boarding cards until I reminded her. No harm done, off to the lounge.

Qantas Lounge

Chris had written a review of the Qantas Lounge when he flew with Qatar back in March 2019. He made sure he was hungry enough so as to appreciate all the food offerings. I’d just had lunch with his mum so all I felt like was an orange juice. I did make use of the business centre though until it was time to go the gate.

QSuites – Auckland to Doha

I’d hardly sat down at the gate when it was time for business class passengers to board. Time to mentally prepare for 18 hours of hell! Turns out hell was quite comfortable with a lie-flat seat, finger touch digital controls, a soft blankey and free toiletries.

I had fun trying out all the different seat settings before we took off. The seat was enclosed in its own private cubicle which had a sliding door you could shut at any time, except during takeoff and landing.

I had my own personal steward, who kept dropping by to make sure I knew how everything worked and to give me a hot towel and orange juice.

I also got to choose what I wanted to eat throughout the flight. There was no set time for dinner which my economy class brain struggled with. “Just call me when you want to order,” he said. “But what if I don’t order, will you still give me dinner?”. He looked bemused. “Just call, it’s easy”. I shut up and tried to go with the flow.

I figured I’d mentally break up the 17.5 hour leg into three 5 hour blocks, with two or so hours for breakfast, ablutions and landing at the end. That turned out to work quite well.

The first 5 hours I did some work and ordered dinner, which took around 20 minutes to arrive. To be honest it was a little underwhelming, though there was a lot of it. The soup and strawberry tarts were great but the meat salad was extremely chewy and the fish wasn’t the best.

Dinner over, I watched a movie, changed into the complimentary pajamas and attempted to get some sleep.

I’d mentioned to the steward when he was making up my bed that I couldn’t sleep on planes and he’d looked horrified, “But you must sleep, it’s a 17.5 hour flight! You will have very bad jet lag”. Point taken. I will try.

I think I managed 2 hours of very broken sleep which is a record for me. But I’d discovered another perk of business class, an hour’s free WiFi, so I’d managed to connect with Chris in Edinburgh for a quick chat.

Moving on from sleeping, I checked out the business class toilets and nabbed a free toothbrush and toothpaste.

By this time I was into my second block of 5 hours so I watched a few movies. Qatar had a great selection of new releases and the screen was operable either by touch or remote, I loved the noise cancelling headphones.

I started getting hungry again a few hours before landing and ordered breakfast – a fruit platter, pastries and weetbix – made all the more posh by being served on a linen tablecloth with a candle.

All in all the 17.5 hour flight went reasonably quickly, which is no doubt thanks to being in QSuites. I had space to chill out, watch movies, order food, sleep and do work. It was a little like being stuck at home and you can’t get outside because the weather’s bad.

I also got used to ordering food when I was hungry rather than being forced to eat when I wasn’t. To that end, I didn’t feel stuffed when I got off the plane.

Would I fly with Qatar again?

Qatar’s service is pretty hard to beat. They treat you like royalty from start to finish, and nothing is too much trouble. There’s a lot to love about having your own private room in the sky. Now that I’ve done it I wouldn’t hesitate to fly QSuites again if I ever got the chance.

The post Flying Long Haul: Auckland to Doha in Qatar QSuites appeared first on etrip.tips.

This time in my research I discovered that Qatar Airlines business class had a much vaunted service called Q-Suites which looked pretty good. The only problem was that at the time of booking, the flights in and out of Auckland weren’t an aircraft fitted out with Q-Suites.

So while Qatar Airlines were rolling the new fit-out to all their aircraft, the Boeing 777-200LR assigned to the 18 hour Auckland-to-Doha route was still sporting the old layout. (The New Zealand Herald says the Q-Suites will be introduced on the Auckland-to-Doha route from 1 June 2019).

Qatar is part of the One World alliance, and so in Auckland they share the Qantas Business Lounge.

Auckland to Doha

I hasten to add that the “old” layout was certainly no threadbare, poorly upholstered static seat from the 1970s! Oh no – my first leg was on the right hand side of the middle pair of the 2-2-2 layout, all facing forward. The legroom was astronomical!

The particular plane, A7-BBF, had been in service since 2010 and still looked well looked after.

Boarding was as simple as it gets, rolled out of the lounge and headed over to the gate. A brief scan of the ticket and a two minute wait to get through the door (single door on the 777) and then I’m turning left and checking out the cabin.

The seat is supposed to have 78” of pitch and a width of 22”, but with the acres of leg room it some how feels even longer.

The nooks and crannies carved into the middle console did a largely admirable job of allowing storage space and hiding the features that need hiding (the remote and dinner table), but I must admit that the connection for the (noise cancelling) headphones was difficult to access being tucked away near your hip.

Both myself and the lady travelling beside me couldn’t figure out how to connect, even after being told where the socket was by the attendant.

Speaking of which, I can’t speak highly enough of the staff. All the business class flights I’ve taken have prided themselves on their soft product – the service provided by the flight attendants.

Some (looking at you BA) have been a little lacking, but Qatar certainly went out of their way to welcome me onto the flight, thanking me for flying with them just prior to landing and being attentive during meal times.

I saw the breakfast service starting from the front of the plane and dinged my little call button and instead of just getting to me when she got to me, Tania came by and let me know she’d just finish up the other passenger’s meals and then would be right by. Expertly handled!

During the flight I was able to get a steady stream of snacks and drinks and Tania was most apologetic when they only had a medium in the complimentary pyjamas.

We’d looked from the Medium package to my ample bulk and back again and as a tribute to her training she waited until after I had made the comment that we might just need a larger size before laughing. Bonhomie rather than fat-shaming.

Speaking of freebies, rather than making you wait for the distribution of the amenities kit, they were there sitting on the armrest. I briefly looked inside, snapping a pic for Ange.

Inside were socks, eye mask, earplugs (though the noise cancelling headphones were perfect for keeping out the flight noise), Costello Monte Vibiano Vecchio cosmetics (Anti Ageing Moisturiser, Hydrating Facial Mist and Lip Balm) all in an attractive Nappa Dori fabric bag.

The entertainment system was on from the moment we got on the plane which made waiting for takeoff relaxing, as was the welcome drink and hot towel.

We pushed back pretty much on time and set off for one of the longest commercial flights available: across the Tasman to Sydney, across Australia, then swinging up over the Indian Ocean to brush over India and Sri Lanka before the brief dash to the Red Sea and then the kink to avoid flying over any of Qatar’s neighbours as they’re still not on speaking terms.

This flight was also supposed to have Complientary WiFi, but every couple of hours when I checked it only ever came up with a “temporarily unavailable” page saying the internet was unavailable. Definitely first world problems!

I’ve been largely impressed by the food offerings on the Business class flights I’ve been taking, but the food on the Qatar Airlines business class flight was a half step above the others.

First of all they have an à la carte concept where they make what you want when you want it – so you get to eat when it makes sense to your own body clock.

Just be warned – your best intentions are likely to go out the window when you see other people being served theirs and the delicious smells start wafting towards you!

The prawn appetiser was yum, and they provided a little basket of three breads with a choice of dipping oils which meant that regardless of how small the mains and appetisers were, you wouldn’t be going hungry.

I was particularly impressed by my main of lamb ravioli accompanied by my choice of ketchup or mustard. I’d like to take credit for the tastefully applied mustard but the star of the show was not my condiment application, but the lamb and ravioli.

I think it was the textures that played off each other so well, or it might have been the sweetness of the carbs in the ravioli allowing the slightly saltiness of the lamb to really shine – I’m not sure, but it was really good.

I did try to go to sleep a few times (that’s one of the ways I justify travelling business class to myself – I cant sleep in economy). Tania had prepped my bed with the thin mattress topper and I got the blanket out and made sure the seatbelt was visible, but sleep just wouldn’t come.

I cant blame the bed – though with my size the 22” width did feel a little constricted – as it wasn’t hugely different than any of the other business class flights I’ve taken.

The seat itself lowered from the level used as a seat, but even so the leg section did angle down, making the lying angle less than 180 degrees. I found out later that the trick is to get the seat into bed node (single button for that), then alter the position of the seat back a little followed by raising the footrest – this made it closer to totally lie flat.

With sleep not coming (and again, not blaming the seats for this one), I elected to watch movies and snack. The attendants were most attentive, topping up my crisps and ginger ales plus offering me a wide range of cookies.

Embarrassingly it seems the more space I get for my travels the less sleep I end up getting. Very hard to feel hard done by though, and I’m certainly not complaining!

Eventually after fifteen or sixteen hours of flying I finally felt like I was ready to drift off, and then the lights started to come up indicating we should get ready for breakfast and then landing. Mutter mutter mutter.

At breakfast I asked what the options were and Tania read them out. She was incredulous that I would consider the Arabian breakfast and after checking the menu I can see why.

Feta cheese, cucumbers, tomato and green olives with foul medames and Arabic bread. Foul medames is a dish of seasoned fava beans. Certainly not the full English! I elected for the standard cooked breakfast which was an omelette with hashbrown, mushroom and a sausage. Pretty standard stuff.

We landed not long after and I deplaned with everyone else and noticed that we were a long way from the terminal. Yup, no airbridge, which meant that, yes, a mobile staircase with buses waited below.

We headed down and as I arrived at the bottom the first bus’ doors closed indicating that it was full. I was a little surprised as there weren’t that many people in front of me and all of them were business class passengers.

As I got on to the second bus I could see why so few could fit on: this was not your large people moving bus, this was a leather chaired ample room luxury shuttle.

I was first on and grabbed a seat near the front, and even in my sleep deprived state (awake for 8 hours pre-flight, 18 hours on the flight), I kept an eye out for anyone old, infirm or with baby that needed my seat more than I did. I felt ok – the general out of body experience from lack of sleep aside.

The short trip across to the terminal was frustratingly long – I could see out the front window past the driver and there were traffic lights, other vehicles and frequent usages of the universal hand gestures for “wtf are you doing?”.

Eventually (10 – 20 minutes later) we were released at the doors to the terminal and joined a large mass of humanity ascending escalators to the arrivals area.

Eighteen hours is a long time to be in a plane. I would have liked to have been able to sleep, but failing that my trip was about as good as it could have gone. I also had a great benchmark for comparing the QSuites on my admittedly shorter hop from Doha to London. But first, the Qatar Airlines business class lounge!

The post Qatar Airlines Business Class: Auckland to Doha appeared first on etrip.tips.

Just past the security and duty free on the right before the gates, the escalator promised three lounges catering for all the non Air New Zealand passengers.

The Qantas international business lounge itself was big enough for the guest numbers while I was there, but I worried that during peak times they would run out of seating.

There was a range of seating options from larger tables for families, all the way through to comfortable arm chairs and more cafeteria style seating.

A wide wall of windows allowed a sliver of natural light to shine through and an uninspiring view over the roof of the terminal – the view of the actual planes was blocked by an intermediary building.

But nobody sits in a lounge looking out the window, do they? Well maybe not here – I was more interested in the food situation!

A well stocked fridge sat beside the spirits station, but the single food dispensing island opposite was where I spent most of my time. It wasn’t huge, but there was some thing there for everyone and I particularly liked the fresh plates of coleslaw, cold meats and vegetables and pasta which allowed a healthier option.

Bread and soup meant that you could get something hearty if that was more your style and the prepared snacks included little filled rolls and wraps along with their vegetarian equivalents, along with sweet slices.

My favourite (and I may have gone back for seconds… or thirds) were their little rolls with salami and brie accompanied by caramelised onions. Delicious!

On the way out I popped my head into the business centre which was almost totally empty. The wide curved screens were unattended, and the only noise came from one guy using the room as his telephone cubicle having a very important phone call.

He glared at me as I walked in, obviously wanting privacy. I grinned uncaring as I took my photos and left.

The Qantas international business lounge is pretty nondescript, and in any other airport it would not really be worth writing about. At Auckland Airport due to the lack of seating and construction, it gets bumped up a notch. It’s nice to have a comfy chair and not have construction sounds reverberating near you, so certainly value there!

The post Review: Qantas International Business Lounge Auckland Airport appeared first on etrip.tips.

Perched on the top of the hill with views over Auckland University’s Old Government House on one side and out over the harbour on the other side, perches The Pullman. The 5-star Pullman Hotel Auckland used to be the Hyatt Regency until 2011.

Ange and I checked it out when my mother stayed overnight.

Reception was quite busy when we arrived, but the elegantly attired staff made quick work of checking in all the guests – it was a relief when we saw how many staff they had on because we had inadvertently chosen the busiest time to check in!

Chaos behind us, we headed upstairs to see the room. The furniture and furnishings were as you would expect: large bed, flat screen TV mounted on the wall to save space, desk and comfy chairs.

Checking out the bathroom revealed a nice robe amongst the towels and on the vanity was a box of amenities from Bigelow Apothecaries which is apparently the oldest American Apothecary, established in 1838.

But the pièce de résistance of the bathroom had to be the shower cubicle.

Sporting double shower heads, including the ubiquitous rain forest head, the real drawcard was the frosted glass wall separating the bathroom from the bedroom.

It seems to be quite the rage nowadays to be able to see the main room from the shower: the Pullman deferring to modesty by making the glass translucent instead of transparent.

Back in the main part of the room, the view out the window mainly consisted of neighbouring apartment buildings with a sliver of the harbour poking out.

We could even see our apartment building, nestled in the suburban sprawl. It was cool to turn around after leaving Mom for the night and see her waving from the window.

After checking out the room we went exploring to see the facilities.

On the ground floor there is an enormous gym. Seriously, I’ve seen dedicated gyms with less equipment than this – truly impressive. Above this was an outdoor convention space covered with tent like awnings.

After the walk around we headed to the restaurant for dinner. We’d made bookings for 6pm but needn’t have worried, there were only a couple of other diners at that time. By 6:30pm the place was starting to fill up and by the time we left they were turning people away, so it does pay to book if you’re dining later.

The staff were good – attentive but not overly so and friendly in the Kiwi manner. The food was small – delicious, but I was glad for the side of chips and vegetables that we also ordered.

Not having too much did mean we could enjoy dessert though!

After dinner we headed down to the pool area. I headed to the male changing room, while Ange and Mom disappeared to the female one.

The pool is a very good size but I must admit I don’t know if it’s heated because I didn’t partake – straight to the Jacuzzi for us!

To get there we had to walk past the steam room and sauna, and then up a few stairs but they had a rail beside them to allow access for the less abled. Good bubbles!

The plan was to meet Mom for lunch the next day, but she rang around 10am saying that she’d ordered the full breakfast from room service and couldn’t finish it – did we want to help her out? We nipped over and polished it off – which did make us all too full for lunch! Never mind!

After breakfast we walked Mom down to reception to check out and promptly kicked ourselves for timing our departure just as everyone else was leaving. It took the staff a little while to get through all the crowds, but eventually we were able to head outside to wait for our Uber, which whisked Mom back out to the suburbs.

I was glad Mom decided to stay at the Pullman, it allowed me to check out the hotel that I had walked, cycled or driven past many times. While the service was at times slow (particularly at dinner and check out), I chose to believe that it was a victim of its success – there was never a shortage of guests there. Mom enjoyed herself as per normal – I dont think there’s a 5 star hotel that she hasnt taken a shine to!

The post Review of the 5-Star Pullman Hotel, Auckland CBD appeared first on etrip.tips.

Periodically on the way to or from work, I would glance down there and see a doorman and wonder what shop or apartment in Auckland needed a doorman.

Turns out that was the entrance to the Grand Windsor, a 5-star luxury hotel in Auckland CBD, and fast forward a few years, me and Ange stayed there as part of our Auckland Luxury Hotels series.

The corridor to the hotel proper lets you know you’re going somewhere special. The distance from street level insulates the interior from the street noise and when you ascend the few steps to the entrance area, you’re surprised by the casualness of the check-in process.

Instead of a front desk, there are a number of desks with computers where you sit while the staff member checks you in. The desks are at one end of an extended lounge with suitably posh couches, and a welcome beverage takes no time to be offered and accepted.

Check-in is swift and painless and then we head back out to the chandelier foyer where the lifts are. While you could take the stairs we elect to take the lift up to our room and pause briefly to admire the stylishly laid out chairs on the landing – trés elegant!

The rooms of the hotel are laid out on either side of a single long corridor which winds its way through the building. The building was built in 1928 but the multi-million dollar room by room renovation was carried out in 2017 – keeping the Art Deco design touches and reinvigorating the decor with opulent touches harking back to its previous glory.

The story behind the decor decisions was laid out on a page in the booklet in the room, referring to the gems bought by Edward VIII for Wallis Simpson, but apart from sharing the name Windsor, I found the linkage a little tenuous.

Nevermind – the interior design was lovely and the colour scheme incredibly complementary. The lounge sported the usual amenities you’d expect to find in a luxury hotel: big screen TV, desk for getting some work done, mini bar goodies etc.

But the thing which really caught our eye was the striking colour of the tea pot and cup and saucer set. Perfect to go with our welcome slice of cake!

The bedroom was an OK size and the bed enormous, but it kind of had to be with the number of pillows that sat on it!

It was dreamy sleeping on it – very difficult to get out of in the morning! Blackout blinds were an addition that made the room perfect for sleep, but for me the room shone because of the bathroom.

The Grand Windsor had really gone all out in the bathroom: a lovely white and gold colour scheme giving the impression of great space in a room which was already a really good size.

The toiletries were Floris of London and there were two sets: one by the sink and one in the shower. And oh! The shower – dual heads including a luxurious rain forest head which rained the water down almost like a scalp massage. Delightful!

We’d mentioned to the staff on the way back from dinner that we would like a sauna and they’d looked surprised, but rallied to the task. They let us know it might take 30 minutes for it to warm up and we watched a bit of TV in our room while we waited.

On the way down we went exploring and discovered the small gym with a few pieces of equipment (treadmill, pair of exercycles, some weights and a Swiss ball) and then headed down the stunning stairs to the sauna.

The sauna was small – just enough for the two of us, and needed a separate swipe card to access, so perfect for privacy. There was also a Jacuzzi which turned out to be a bit bigger than we expected, with an eerie blue light shining up from under the water.

As we sat enjoying the bubbles we looked up at the frosted window. You couldn’t see through it but because of a trick of the light from the neighbouring building we could see the silhouettes of two people standing at the window of the neighbouring building as they had a smoke.

No noise or scent got through the window but it was peculiar watching so clearly the shadow of the person smoking with the wafting clouds of smoke so clear. The light behind them must have been very bright for the details to be so clear in shadow. Ange had her back to the window and so when the two silhouettes had disappeared I mentioned it to Ange.

She turned to see where I was talking about and at that moment one of the smokers came back, looming even larger. The sudden appearance was quite startling and Ange yelped sending me into hysterics.

The next morning we went down for breakfast, which was served in the lounge area on the ground floor. Space was limited but they had pretty much everything you could have wanted, plus you could order anything made to order.

It took a little while for ours to arrive, but we busied ourselves with reading the complimentary newspapers and grazing on the continental offerings. It was certainly worth the wait – quite delicious!

Pros and Cons

Would I Return?

Definitely! There was no noticeable street noise so even though you were staying right in the centre of town, it was a relaxing and enjoyably night’s sleep.

The post Review: Grand Windsor – Luxury Hotel in Auckland CBD appeared first on etrip.tips.

So when Ange mentioned trying the Air NZ Skycouch on our trip from Auckland to San Francisco, I was definitely keen to find out more.

What is the Air NZ Skycouch?

The Skycouch is basically a row of three seats in economy class which have been slightly modified to allow the foot rests to pop up horizontally in line with the seat. You do this with the touch of a button on the armrest to make a lie flat sleeping surface.

They give you a thin mattress to even out the gaps between the seats and the arm rests fold up nicely to allow a continuous surface.

They also give you an additional safety seatbelt which allows a flexible arranging of passengers in various lying/sitting positions.

Skycouch Cost

So how does the cost stack up versus the alternatives? To give context, an economy class seat one way on Air New Zealand currently costs $699 (search on AirNZ website on the 7th May 2018, for flight one way AKL-SFO for the 29th October NZ$).

To get a single Air NZ Premium Economy seat on the same flight costs $2,183 and Business Class would cost $4,283.

When we flew we managed to get a special and so got our two tickets for $1,143 and the SkyCouch extra seat for $649 for a total Skycouch cost of $1,792.

I would imagine the standard fare for a SkyCouch row if there was no sale on would be about $2,097 (3x$699).

So effectively your three seats for two people are setting you back a little less than one Premium Economy seat or half a Business Class seat.

Skycouch Comfort

So is it any good? Like most things it depends. But with the Air NZ Skycouch it depends purely on how tall you are, and how bendy you are.

I’m tall (6’4″/193cm) and obviously was never going to fit on the SkyCouch in full extension – some form of body folding would be required.

I assumed that I would be able to lean against the bulkhead and just have my legs going across the seat, having Ange using me as a pillow.

That didn’t work because the bulkhead is not uniformly curved and padded and nice to lean against. Its got windows in it.

I tried to get comfortable with a lower head position, effectively only having my neck and head on the bulkhead, but all that did was make my body like a torque wrench attempting to twist my head off my neck.

Finally I jammed my head into the corner of the seat where it joined the bulkhead – not comfortable, but at least some support. I thought that if I concertinaed my legs then Ange could kind of fit around them, but all that happened was I ended up taking way too much of the space and leaving Ange with no room to relax.

We did try every combination of positioning, but even with our combined tetris abilities, we couldn’t make it work.

In the end I squashed myself into two of the seats with my knees up in the air and Ange sat on the third seat in normal configuration and powered through the flight watching movies and reading her kindle. I got some sleep, but I’m not sure how much.

I owe Ange one for that I think!

A travel agent friend of mine had an important pointer as well:

One thing to also note, the seats in front of you still recline. Never lie curled up with your head near the seats in front, if they recline you get quite a headache. Learned that one from experience.

Skycouch Amenities

With Skycouch you get standard Economy food, you board with the Economy passengers, you don’t get any lounge access. No amenity kit either.

Summary

Is the Air NZ Skycouch worth it? No – not for me. If you’re travelling with a tall person or as a tall person, forget it. If you’re travelling as a couple and are both “normal” sized, then… maybe? If either of you are tall or not whippet thin, then you’ll probably find it difficult to get any sleep. If you don’t want sleep and just want more leg room space or to spread out a bit more, it’s perfect!

The post Air NZ Skycouch: Flying Cuddle Class to San Francisco appeared first on etrip.tips.

Prior to being bought by the Langham it was a Sheraton, so has long enjoyed existence as a premium hotel. In 2017 it was rebranded as the Cordis and my mother went along to see what staying there was like.

As you’d expect from a 5 star hotel, the service begins as soon as you arrive with Mom’s luggage being pounced upon by the doorman as soon as we got out of the Uber at the front door.

The entrance foyer is suitably flash with a chandelier above the waiting couch and checking in goes smoothly. The staff are friendly and efficient, adjusting quickly once they realised my mother was checking in and not me.

The Room

Formalities over we headed upstairs to check out the room. Mom and Ange sat at the table and chatted while looking out the window while I flicked the big screen TV on and flopped onto the bed. The bed was absolutely huge and super comfortable – like lying on a cloud.

Mom backed that up in her post-stay debrief: she said that the bed “was not too soft nor not too hard, just right”.

After a quick look through the channels I got bored and had a look around the room.

The mini bar was actually squirrelled away in large drawers which pulled out to reveal glasses and snacks. A bottle opener and power adapter were nice additions, as were the comprehensive array of coffee, teas and hot chocolates in the neighbouring drawer. The cupboards revealed the usual amenities: iron, ironing board, safe and robes etc.

The Bathroom

The bathroom was very brightly lit with a two headed shower over a full bath. My favourite rainforest shower head alongside one which could be hand held.

Mom said “it was easy to use, and easy to get the right temperature”.

Tasteful marble lined the bathroom, and a little black box revealed individual packs of Cordis name brand toiletries.

Each power point in the room was accompanied by a USB port – continuing a pattern I had seen in other top end hotels. Another feature I’d noticed recently was the pillow menu, and the Cordis had a selection of seven to choose from.

The Chuan Spa

We had a little time before our High Tea appointment, so we went out to scope out the on-site Chuan Spa where Mom had booked herself in for a massage the following day.

We found the Spa beyond sliding glass doors and up a long flight of stairs. Just around the corner was the lift so I hit the call button and waited. And waited. I pushed it again, but still no lift.

Ange went back around the corner and up the stairs to send the lift down but discovered that it was broken (why no sign?). She mentioned to the receptionist that Mom would need it for her appointment the next day.

As she left to join us for the High Tea she heard the receptionist talking to someone on the phone, arranging something special for Mom.

High Tea

I’ve had a few High Teas with Mom in London (dutiful son that I am), so I was keen to discover how the High Tea by Cordis stacked up.

High teas began in the 1840s to fill the gap between breakfast and the evening meal and the custom has been taken over by high-end restaurants and hotels in an attempt to discover just how much people will pay for a cucumber sandwich with the crusts cut off.

Our server was very knowledgeable and had the gift of the gab. She walked us through what was on offer for the $74, including making a fuss of Mom and upgrading her to the package which included a glass of champagne when she found out that Mom was a guest at the hotel.

The High Tea in the Lobby Lounge consisted of two drinks (tea by the pot or a non-tea beverage), soup, some scones, sandwiches, and desserts.

The teas on offer were extensive and exotic, and some so exotic that they would attract a $5 surcharge per pot!

The food was served on a tray of multiple levels, attractively presented for two. Ange had to make do with hers on a normal plate, not nearly as regal!

The offerings I’d had in London had been basic but done well and unlimited repeats allowed – but the Cordis offered very haute couture versions of things: beetroot jelly, salmon custard, that sort of thing.

When they were good they were very good, but very often they…weren’t to my taste. Impossible to fault the service or presentation though. I did manage to sweet talk my way into another ham sandwich though!

After we’d eaten our fill we headed back up to drop Mom off at her room and headed home. Waiting under the door was a letter, plus an electronic version on the TV, apologising that the lift to the Spa wasn’t working and that special arrangements had been made to escort her to the Spa. Could she please make herself known at reception and a staff member would assist her to the Spa.

Mom reported back that she’d enjoyed the room service dinner of a chicken wrap with wedges (“most delicious”), but hadn’t gone to the breakfast because it cost $45 pp.

I guess it wasn’t too much more than £15-17 I would expect to pay in the UK, but it’s very hard to eat enough to justify that. I found out that the breakfast went on for quite a few hours so maybe making a morning if it and reading the newspapers while grazing on the buffet for a few hours might begin to approach cost effectiveness.

Dinner

We’d arranged to catch up with Mom for dinner on her last night and find out how everything had gone.

Our table was beside the piano overlooking the bar where we’d had high tea, and while we waited for a waiter Mom told us about the Spa experience.

Apparently she’d been escorted through some of the bowels of the hotel to a different lift which ferried her up to the Spa where she enjoyed a great full body massage, followed by a swim and laying by the pool and then some room service, very relaxing! When she was done they lead her back to reception for her to make her own way back to her room.

We had plenty of time to ask questions as it was difficult to get the waiters attention. When we finally did, we managed to get some cocktails, though at $20 a pop they were a bit watery and disappointing.

Ange’s one was difficult to drink with the amount of fruit pulp in it. Thicker straw perhaps? Mom loved hers though! Lush!

The slowness of the service was the only downside of what was a quite lovely dinner. I had the burger, while Ange had the mushroom roulade with a side salad which she praised glowingly.

My burger came with a small stack of thick cut chips, arranged in a similar fashion to a game of Jenga, so I didn’t know if I was to eat them or try and extricate them one at a time as in the game.

Mom had the sliders and sweet potato fries and loved it too. Presenting them in the little deep fryer basket went down well.

The dessert was great: I had the shortcake with honeycomb and apparently the flowers adorning it were edible too. Mom had the trio of ice creams.

Burping gently to myself, I managed to get the attention of the waiters so we could get the bill. I actually ended up having to go down to the bar where two of the waitresses were having a very in-depth conversation in order to pay. They had the good grace to jump and look sheepish when they noticed my approach, obviously too engrossed in their conversation to see me!

Mom checked out the following day, happy to have stayed at the Cordis and the opportunity to pamper herself a little.

In her words, the “service was impeccable, friendly and efficient. Can’t praise it enough! The whole 5 star experience”.

Ange and I were glad to have shared at least some of the experience – High Tea and dinner out were good exposures to how the Cordis operates.

The post Hotel Cordis (Once Was Langham) Review appeared first on etrip.tips.

There are two hop-on hop-off type bus tours you can do in Auckland with both starting points conveniently placed outside the SkyTower. We chose the central red route on the Soaring Kiwi Tours bus because it was slightly cheaper at $35. The other was the Auckland Explorer Bus which cost $45 and did practically the same route but included a free ferry ride to Devonport. Our bus was also open top whereas the Auckland Explorer was closed in.

Both buses offered a blue route that took you to several city fringe locations and places like MOTAT and the Zoo, which would be good if you had kids and didn’t want to try and navigate public buses.

The Soaring Kiwi Tours representative ensconced at her desk near the bus stop gave me a lovely spiel about the various different stops, I didn’t have the heart to tell her that I was a born and bred Aucklander! I suppose it’s not normally an activity that locals would do, unless they had out of town guests.

The one hour red route trip was short but sweet taking us around the inner city with stops at The Viaduct, Kelly Tarltons, Parnell Village, Auckland Museum etc.

My only criticism was that I thought the spoken commentary was a bit light on facts compared to other similar hop-on hop-off bus tours I’d been on overseas. We stopped at Bastion Point, the scene of controversial Maori protests in the 19070s and not a mention of that. Though to be fair it was briefly mentioned in the brochure. For non-English speakers headphones were provided, so maybe they had more of an in-depth commentary on Auckland than the English speakers.

But the English tour commentary was adequate if you just wanted the basics and to sit back and relax and enjoy the scenery.

Despite being thin on the ground, I did learn a couple of new facts on the tour though.

One was that Mechanics Bay, now a container terminal, used to be Auckland’s first airport where flying boats used to dock in the 1930s. It still has a heliport.

Image source: Pinterest

The second was that the Auckland Domain is the site of the oldest explosion crater in the city’s volcanic field. Now a lovely green belt in the bustling CBD, it houses the Auckland Museum, picnic areas, walks, a cafe and annual city events like the Chinese Lantern Festival and Christmas in the Park.

Image source: Auckland Museum

We hopped off at the museum at the Domain for an hour and checked out the free Anne Frank Exhibition in the Sainsbury Horrocks Gallery on Floor 2. The recent ANZAC day memorial flowers gave off a pleasant floral scent and in the grounds directly in front of the museum, there were rows of white crosses in remembrance of WWI soldiers.

After catching the bus we then completed the loop by catching the bus back into the city for the last few stops and back to the Sky Tower.

The Facts – Soaring Kiwi Tours

• Tickets:
  • $35 for red route 24 hour pass,
  • $45 for red & blue route 24 hour pass,
  • Both routes $55 24 hour pass
• Round Trip: 60 mins, with 8 stops
• How Often: 30mins (summer) 60mins (winter)
• Starting: First bus departs Stop 1 at 9am
• Finishing: Last bus departs Stop 1 4pm
• Starts: SkyTower.
• Book online and save 10%

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