Nov 6, 2010 – Saturday – flight from Auckland, New Zealand to Victoria, Canada
We have breakfast a bit earlier this morning, say our goodbyes to our B&B hosts Margaret and her husband Graham, and leave Te Kuiti for Auckland airport by 8:30am. Graham suggests using the bypass around Hamilton, which proves to be valuable advice. I expect the traffic from all the activity around the World Rowing competitions being held in nearby Cambridge would have held us up, but our drive to Auckland airport goes smoothly. We return the rental car to the lot by 11am and roll our bags to the front entrance to the airport. I find the Hertz counter and finish my business with them, so we’re done with the car. We then check in at the Qantas counter, and proceed upstairs to the departure area since we are now free of our checked bags
We have to fill in a departure form for New Zealand immigration. I guess they want to make sure we depart the country as we promised earlier. We then have to clear security twice – once through the normal airport security, and then again just before the gate. We speculate it might be caused by the USA demands for tighter security on US-bound flights. Qantas flight 25 pushes away from the gate on time at 2:10pm local time, and we are on our way back home. The captain says we will arrive about an hour earlier than scheduled, but we will hit some bumps along the way, especially at the start and end of the flight.
Although the flight is an hour shorter, it is still 11 hours flying time. Being stuck in an aircraft seat for that long is pretty nasty, especially since I can’t sleep while flying. I get some good rest, however I’m pretty tired by the end of the flight. Dinner is served after departure and breakfast is served before arrival. Both meals are excellent, as I have come to expect from Qantas. They also supply free beer and wine with dinner and afterwards. Although I don’t indulge, many passengers take full advantage. We are given a personal kit containing a bottle of water and some snacks before the cabin lights are turned off. The woman beside me is a Dutch national who resides in New Zealand. She is meeting her husband in LA, and they plan to see the Grand Canyon in a rented motor home. I encourage her by saying I saw the Grand Canyon in January 2000, so experiencing it in the winter can be a great idea!
We arrive in LA at 6am local time. I retrieve my checked bag and clear customs and immigration. As a Canadian, I get preferential treatment – no fingerprinting or photos are required and quick clearance (thank goodness). I get to wait in the LA airport for almost six hours before the Alaska Airlines departure to Seattle at 11:45am. I hate LAX. It is the worst airport – it’s dirty, confusing, there is a distinct lack of services, and the staff are hostile…and that’s just for starters. Qantas arrives in the Tom Bradley International airport, however Alaska flights depart from the domestic Terminal 3, so I have to walk over to the terminal, and then go through security again, despite being in transit. Since this is the good ol’ USA, security is special: take off your shoes and outer clothing in addition to the usual stuff we are all used to. The airport was being renovated in 2004 when I flew through here before from New Zealand, and it is still being renovated in 2010! Internet access for 24 hours costs US$7.99 from t-Mobile…there is no free Internet at LAX, unlike in Seatac and Vancouver airports.
Despite having to kill six hours here, I can at least mark each hour off knowing I’m getting closer to my departure from this awful place. I meet some nice people, and I am astounded at how productive Alaska Airlines gates are as I watch them move flights through each gate in under an hour! Eventually my flight to Seatac appears on the board for my gate; they load everyone aboard, and we depart on time. Ta da!
I have learned from past flights with Alaska Airlines that their in-flight meals are quite nice now that they charge for them. I have a grilled Panini deli sandwich and a Coca Cola to go with it for US$6. It hit the spot, since my last meal was the breakfast served aboard the Qantas flight before our arrival at LAX over six hours ago. I take a nice photo of Crater Lake in Oregon as we fly north.
We arrive at Seatac on time, and I manage to navigate from one terminal to another using those dreadful trains. The Horizon Airlines gate is just as entertaining as last time I traveled through here. Horizon provides connections to so many small airports in the sparsely populated parts of the USA: eastern Washington, Idaho, Montana, the Dakotas, and who knows where else? Of course, they also fly to another little town: Victoria, BC, Canada – where I am heading!
My flight leaves about 15 minutes late, which is typical for Horizon, however when we arrive in Victoria, my bag is the first on the carousel – wonderful! The Canadian immigration officer greets me jovially and waves me through once he hears the story of my travels. I am met in the departure area and we drive home in the cold, dark rain. Despite the weather, it is good to finally be home!