Great view!
We levelled off around 5-10 minutes after leaving the western coast behind us. The meal service came around and I decided to buy a chicken wrap for around $8 AUD. I read in their magazine that they sell Krispy Kremes on trans-tasman flights now as well, but they didn't have any onboard sadly
. The flight attendants were great about it though and got the chicken wrap in no time. It was quite big and looked really nice, and it WAS! I was sad to see it gone, but that eight dollars was well spent! I had a nap after (quite a feat for me as I can hardly sleep on flights) and woke up quite relaxed. By that time we were around an hour from home, so I went to the toilet (I always get creeped out by the noise when I press the flush button
) and just read the Jetstar magazine when I sat back down. We passed some pretty big cumulonimbus clouds as we got closer to the coast, and the First Officer warned us of some moderate turbulence on descent. Sure enough, halfway through our descent we were rocked side to side, up and down, etcetera. Pretty fun in my opinion but my poor friend who isn't a good flier found it extremely unnerving.
In the cloud!
We broke out of the clouds into some amazing sunset light just off the northern NSW coast.
Making a sweet landing on runway 32, we taxied back to the terminal and arrived at the stand around forty minutes late. Due to this we landed around the same time as DJ79 from AKL, so we had quite a line at customs. It went quickly though and after picking up my bag proceeded to the declaration line to declare some amazing fudge I brought back for Mum & Dad to try
Given the all clear, I walked back to landside and found my parents waiting for me. Some hugs and kisses were exchanged, and then the thanks and see ya laters to my friends and teachers who made this trip worth it!!
I would definitely do this trip again if I had the chance. All flights were excellent, especially the JQ flight which surprised me. If they were like that on all flights they would have less problems with customer service. The chicken wrap was amazing, the service was fantastic and the overall aesthetics of the flight were great! DJ and NZ were as usual great to fly with. All the flight attendants did well handling nearly forty tired and excited teenagers on board.
I also managed to see ZK-OAB whilst I was over there (in a special All Blacks livery for those who don't know) from Coronet Peak!
The skiing? So much fun! Definitely do it even if you haven't skied before! Queenstown is a beautiful place and definitely go up to the Skyline restaurant if you do go there, as well as trying a Big Al which is a massive burger sold at the Fergburger restaurant, it took me ten minutes to eat! Wanaka is a nice little retreat from the hustle and bustle of the city, and Methven is a great little ski village, handily located within driving distance of both Mt. Hutt and Christchurch.
I hope you enjoyed reading this trip report, and especially looking at the photos! You really have to be there to appreciate the beauty of it all!