Pacific Premium Rocks!

It took a little over 12 hours to fly from Los Angeles to Auckland, NZ. Air New Zealand Flight 005 was the biggest plane I’ve ever traveled. We had a private cabin that we shared with just 8 other passengers with a dedicated flight attendant. Our bathrooms were at the top of the steps (!) on the second level, and mom and I were also allowed to use the larger bathrooms in Business Premium because she was a passenger using a wheelchair.

It was a relatively smooth flight, so we didn’t need to “do up our seatbelts” most of the time. But, in the preflight safety video, we did learn how to do the “brace position” in the event of an emergency landing. It’s the same position that Americans call “bend over and kiss your butt goodbye.”

With dinner we were treated to quite a bit of Marlborough Ridge, a New Zealand chardonnay that I will have to track down and try to bring or send home. After dinner we were given duvets which were much thicker and softer than the usual airplane blanket. The next thing I knew, breakfast was being served and then we were landing in Auckland. The final leg of the trip is the four hour flight to Melbourne.