Flying within New Zealand is refreshing. The country lures you in with its nature, relaxed people, and attitude toward life. The way you fly has me wondering if I should move here.
First thing, airport security does not care about liquids. They’ll X-ray your stuff, they’ll make you walk through a metal detector, and that’s it. No checking if you have a boarding pass or caring about why you are here. There’s no ID Control at security or when you board. In the terminal, they make arrival announcements. Yes, because if you’re willing to leave your car in the parking and walk through security, you can greet your loved ones at the gate! You know, like in the old movies!
Did I mention you can bring as much liquid as you want in your carry-on? As in a whole bottle of wine or a gallon-sized bottle of shampoo. They don’t seem to view amateur chemists trying to reduce peroxide into a usable liquid bomb format as a credible threat, so they don’t have liquid restrictions like those in North American and European countries. The liquids restriction still applies for international flights, however (can’t have everything, I guess).
Air New Zealand’s lounge has a barista! You can have a delicious flat white made to order (something I’ve yet to see in an Air Canada lounge). There’s also enough wine on hand to hold a decent wine tasting. They also have tonic water on tap and a giant bottle of gin in case you and 100 of your friends want a gin and tonic with your breakfast.
OK, above the airport experience, landing in Queenstown is also an experience to live. You fly next to mountains and cliffs for a while. By next, I mean the tops of some of them are higher than the plane. Amazing views if you’re sitting next to a window or your neighbours are not glued to the window (otherwise you get stunning views of the back of heads).
Our first impression is that Queenstown was made to entertain people. There’s a wide menu of activities available. If gorgeous nature is not enough, you can try a long list of other stuff (see pictures :-)
