Day 1 - Brisbane to Auckland (transit to Tahiti)

---

Geo: -27.471, 153.024

A balmy and humid day in Brisbane today as the family arrive to say bon-voyage.

Deb booked a nice stretch limo for our trip to the airport. Despite being asked not to, the driver arrived early, he was super friendly and super talkative and didn't hesitate to introduced himself to the whole family. There was only one problem, he took us to arrivals instead of departures then got lost and we ended up at DFO some 3 km away.

Back at the airport we cleared customs with plenty of time to spare and found a nice bar overlooking the tarmac. On seeing the plane dock at the gate we noted it was an Air New Zealand jet and a small one at that.

We departed on time and had comfortable seats but the entertainment units were hopeless, Deb finally managed to book a movie for $10, yes they were all that price. Tried to order some drinks but no service, you had to buy them on your entertainment unit. We'll that took 30 minutes to work through but still no drinks, it seems their galley computer was out of action. We then tried to order some dinner but we're told that we had to have purchased a meal with our ticket, we asked for some snacks, guess what there were none. What the f@#k! Are we out of touch or is that just an Air New Zealand thing.

We finally arrived to a rainy and cold Auckland, cleared customs very quickly and headed to our hotel right in the front of the terminal and in the middle of the car park (brilliant). The hotel was brand new and the staff very hospitable as we checked in, organised a late checkout, then ordered some room service dinner (New Zealand's infamous fish and chips), very nice.

Hints - don't fly Air New Zealand and do stay at the Auckland Novotel in the car park if you are transiting.

---