千里之行 始于足下

Pt I: Prologue
Pt II: Long Haul LCC
Pt III: Rotten Eggs
Pt IV: Volcanos
Pt V: Animals & Auckland
Pt VI: 3K 402
Pt VII: Epilogue

The check-in counters were already open by the time we arrived.

It seemed that it would be a healthy load back to Singapore.

There was a group of firemen soliciting for donations at the escalators going up to the departure level and one of them was wearing his full gear going up an escalator in the reverse direction.

The fundraising was all part of the Firefighter Sky Tower Challenge which donated the amount raised to the Leukaemia & Blood Foundation.

We donated our spare change to them before going on to browse the shops on the landside.

At one of the shops we bought some duty-free kiwifruit chocolates; not terribly cheap but they made good gifts back in Singapore.

After going through the immigration, my sis and I were randomly selected by the Airport Security to test for traces of explosives.

I wondered how random the selection was but complied anyway with their requests (they were very polite though).

Our plane was already at the gate.

The crew for our flight were already air-side by then and were having an early lunch at Burger King.

There was still some time before boarding commenced so we sat and waited on the rather comfy seats.

Noticed the kiosk in the photograph? My mom did more shopping there (some healthcare products).

I went to the washroom just before proceeding to the gates and found this poster inside the gents.

At the gate, there was a lady from Tourism New Zealand asking visitors (my sis and I inclusive) for contact details so that they could collect feedback about our trip.

Boarding was done in an orderly manner with StarClass passengers, families traveling with children and passengers sitting in the second cabin invited to board the aircraft first.

Coincidentally the three of us had the exact seats as on the outbound.

However this time round I wasn’t so lucky as I had a seatmate in 47G.

Route: AKL – SIN
Flight no.: 3K 402
STD: 11:25
STA: 18:00
Distance traveled: 5225 miles/ 8409 km
Aircraft: Airbus A330-200
Registration: VH-EBF

The plane took off on-time and the crew got into action as soon as the seat-belt sign was off.

First up was once again the rental of IFE units.

Then it was followed by the first hot meal service.

The crew also distributed Singapore’s arrival cards to those who needed them.

Ten hours on the plane was a long time and I needed to occupy myself.

First I re-read the in-flight magazine cover-to-cover while flying over the Tasman.

After that I read up on the other parts of NZ which I could go next time. (Provided if Jetstar has another similar promotion.)

There programming on the overhead screens was quite interesting throughout the flight.

It also showed the movie How Do You Know? which seemed quite bland.

I preferred the one that was uploaded in my iPod.

Being awake on the flight I could observe the service (or the lack thereof).

The crew disappeared after the first hot meal service and didn’t emerge until hours later.

When it was close to Singapore’s lunch time, we pressed the bell for assistance and the crew took ages to appear.

The Japanese air-crew was apologetic that hot meals would only be available two hours before landing and suggested that we could get some snacks from them in 10 minutes’ time.

So we used our last 30 NZD to buy these to share instead.

After seven hours we were still three hours away from our destination.

By then the trash bin near the water dispenser was filled with used paper cups but the crew didn’t seem to notice.

As promised another hot meal service was performed around two hours out of Singapore.

However it was at quite an awkward timing for us so we didn’t check the hot meals out.

While flying over the Riau islands the captain made an announcement saying that our landing might be delayed for quite some time due to “rain in northern Singapore.”

In the end the delay wasn’t as lengthy as I had afraid but our expected time of arrival was already 30 minutes later than scheduled due to headwind.

Finally after a loooooooong time…

The landing was smooth but the aerobridge took some time to be connected.

SIN was buzzing as usual and the lines to enter Singapore were long.

Luckily we were able to use the automated gates and were at the duty-free shop in no time.

Even after we were done with our purchases, our luggage still hadn’t appeared at the carousel.

After quite a lengthy wait, it finally appeared but with a jammed handle.

One of the ladies working at the CIAS counter attended to our issue and filed a report.

Their service was swift; someone collected the luggage the next day and returned it repaired one day after.

Good job indeed!

Pt I: Prologue
Pt II: Long Haul LCC
Pt III: Rotten Eggs
Pt IV: Volcanos
Pt V: Animals & Auckland
Pt VI: 3K 402
Pt VII: Epilogue

Despite the late take-off our flight was on-time.

First impression of AKL?

Seemed kinda provincial but of course I was spoilt silly by SIN.

Despite being the only plane arriving at the hour, the queue to go through immigration was painfully slow.

Most of the Asian visitors were subjected to rather rigorous interviews (where are you heading, show me your return itinerary etc) but our immigration official didn’t even bother to talk to us.

The quarantine official did ask us some questions about what’s in our luggage and she was pretty satisfied with our declarations.

I couldn’t locate the JUCY‘s counter at the Arrivals but luckily the friendly lady at the i-Site counter came to our rescue.

She gave me a number to call and directed me to the pick-up point to the left of the exit.

A JUCY rep came and picked us up in a van with a cute trailer.

JUCY’s airport office was around 3 minutes’ drive from the International Terminal and another rep handled my booking.

For less than 160 NZD in total, I got a Gold Daihatsu Sirion for three days with unlimited mileage, zero excess and GPS.

NZ countryside unfolded in front of our eyes after we left the Greater Auckland area behind..

Our destination was Rotorua where there are plenty of attractions/activities (read touristy).

Driving in NZ was definitely less stressful compared to Singapore.

Despite the much longer distance, there were few cars and the drivers were definitely more courteous.

The four-lane expressway narrowed to two lane carriageway but the scenery remained fantastic.

The approximate route that we took:

View Larger Map

Some of the roads that we drove through was downright deserted and for a moment I was questioning Mr GPS.

I drove all the way until a petrol station outside Tirau where we took our first break and bought some milk.

Then I remembered to get my sis to photograph our ride.

Driving on, we were briefly stuck behind something in red and yellow.

Fortunately for us there are overtaking lanes every 20km or so on NZ roads and I was able to pass the fire engine in the next one.

After a few wrong turns in downtown Rotorua we finally reached our hotel.

As Accor was having offer of 25% discount on its properties in NZ during the winter months, I was able to get a Superior Room with two double beds for around 120 SGD per night.

Furthermore I could book the stay using flybmi.com (partners with Expedia) which earned me 750 miles per night in my Diamond Club account.

It was interesting to have a Japanese receptionist checking me in in an English-speaking country..

Thumbs up to Yoko who helped me to retrieve my forgotten A Club membership number without fuss.

The two doubles were more than adequate for the three of us.

We couldn’t fault its location by the lake but our room was facing the town instead.

After freshening up and letting the rain subside, we decided to leave Elfie in the carpark and ventured out to explore the lake on foot.

The lake didn’t hold our attention very long so we swung inland towards the shops.

The scent of sulphur which smelled like rotten eggs were clearly evident.

The clock tower was where Rotorua’s i-Site was located and we went in to check out on the attractions or activities that appealed to us.

There were also a gift shop where my mom picked up two bar soaps made from volcanic minerals.

i-Sites around the country often offer good deals to the attractions and the staff were pretty helpful with suggestions to where to go and what to do.

We got the admission tickets for our next day trip to Wai-o-tapu and Waimangu for 60 NZD each (cost 32.50 NZD and 34.50 NZD respectively at the gate).

As it was too early for dinner we continued to wander down the street.

Passed by a shop which sold Manuka honey but decided against purchasing them then as we were on foot.

Finally we hit the supermarket Pak’n Save based on the directions given by one of the i-Site staff.

That was where we got our food supplies for the next day’s breakfast (cup noodles) as well as lunch (bread and muffins).

We decided to walk back to the main drag of restaurants for our early dinner but not without taking photographs of some interesting sights.

Dinner was at Nando’s.

Ordered a half girlled chicken and a portion of espetada (a large stand with a skewer of chicken breast and grilled peppers) to share among the three of us.

The chicken breast was succulent and the Peri-Peri sauce didn’t disappoint as usual.

Though it was a pity that there was no extra-hot version in NZ.

Since it was still early after dinner, we drove to Rainbow Springs.

As we had a voucher (50% off admission for second adult) from our car rental company, we only paid 75 NZD in total for admissions.

The stars of the night at Rainbow Springs were definitely the nocturnal kiwi birds in the enclosure.

We only managed to spot one of them and had to keep absolutely quiet while trying to observe it in the dark.

What surprised me was its size; I was expecting kiwis to be way smaller but it was actually the same size as a grown hen.

Rainbow Springs was lit up with different colours in the evening but it was too dark to take good pictures with my PNS camera.

It was getting chilly in the evening so we returned to the relative warmth of our hotel room.

There was nothing really interesting on TV and rugby (both union and league) dominated the sports channels.

Due to the long day of traveling (and another one ahead of us) all of us were nicely tucked in bed by 10pm.

Pt I: Prologue
Pt II: Long Haul LCC
Pt III: Rotten Eggs
Pt IV: Volcanos
Pt V: Animals & Auckland
Pt VI: 3K 402
Pt VII: Epilogue

Bleah. Online check-in wasn’t available on this flight.

Since I didn’t pay for seat allocation, it meant that I had to arrive early to check in.

I managed to negotiate an hour and a half early off work and scuttled back home for a shower before arriving at Changi T1 at around 6pm.

We joined the short but not very fast-moving queue.

Four counters were open to passengers of the evening’s three Jetstar flights: my 3K 401 to AKL, JQ 8 to MEL at 21:00 and JQ 58 to DRW at 22:10.

An additional counter was dedicated to Jetstar’s StarClass passengers.

The agent took her time checking the three of us in but we still had plenty to do dinner at the basement food court.

Passing through immigration was a breeze and T1 was buzzing as always.

Our plane just landed when we arrived at Gate D36.

In fact we got to see the arriving passengers departing the plane.

While watching the gate filled up with my fellow passengers, my sister and I logged on to SIN’s free WiFi and did some last minute surfing before our long flight.

The free WiFi is probably the best thing in SIN (among lots of things) and there are even computer terminals for passengers who don’t have the devices to tap on it.

Then it was time to board.

We were allocated 47 D, E & F so no window for me.

Luckily 47 G remained empty although 80% of the plane was filled.

To be honest I was quite impressed with the amount of leg space available considering I was flying on a LCC.

However the cleanliness was kinda questionable with the flight being a turnaround.

Let’s see what were in the seat pocket.

The flight took off almost half an hour after schedule.

Route: SIN – AKL
Flight no.: 3K 401
STD: 19:50
STA: 09:55
Distance traveled: 5225 miles/ 8409 km
Aircraft: Airbus A330-200

Although the plane is Australian-registered, the crew were all Singaporeans.

The arrangement is quite controversial due to the differences in the aviation safety standards and labour costs between the two countries.

Anyway from my observation the crew weren’t really smiley throughout the flight.

Not long after take-off they went about peddling the rental of inflight entertainment units for 15 AUD.

Headphones were also available for 3 AUD and they could be re-used for all other Jetstar flights.

From time to time there would be my favorite programming.

Soon after sales/rental of IFE units, hot meal service (buy on-board) started.

I didn’t get anything as I was still full from my earlier dinner.

I was also trying to get used to NZ time and attempted to sleep.

The extra space afforded by the empty seat allowed us to stretch out a bit more but my sleep was fitful at best.

Woke up two hours outside Auckland and found myself…

Couldn’t get back to sleep so ended up watching this on my iPod instead.

I didn’t get to finish it though because the last part of the video was corrupted.

Didn’t really matter since I had watched it countless times already.

The second hot meal service was performed somewhere over Tasman Sea.

We discovered that there was a water dispenser in the middle of the plane and filled up our bottles with it.

Finally after almost 10 hours of flight…

Verdict? Premium travel it ain’t but no complaints with the price and relative comfort.