Edit: UA infant fare is like jello. When I first called, they quoted me 730. Called back the next day, same thing. Waited a week, called back, and voila, price was 500.
Part 2: ArrivalFinally landing in AKL, we were horrified to see a passport control line literally at least three hundred deep. If you can believe it, it was even longer than the lines at Heathrow. But out of the corner of my eye I spotted, by the sign indicating the Crew line, the words “Global Entry”. I wasn’t sure if this was the same Global Entry that came free with my Amex plat, but I definitely was going to give it a try. We prepared our GE cards, and within 2 minutes we were by an agent. He never asked us to verify our GE status so I will never know if it’s referring to the US program of GE, or if there was some NZ equivalent.
It’s important to note is that when going through customs, it’s imperative to declare everything you’ve got since if you don’t, they’ll catch you anyways, as everything is put through the x-ray and you’ll be in deep trouble. The line to declare took about 20 minutes, but after the agent briefly looked inside our bags and determined we weren’t bringing in any contraband, she waved us through, bypassing the x-ray machines.
Walking through the airport, we couldn’t help but notice all of the Lord of The Rings signs and statues, such as ones welcoming us to “Middle Earth”, whatever that is. That seems to be a big theme in NZ and would constantly come up throughout our visit. “On the left side is the sea you might recognize from the second movie…” I guess I would then recommend watching them before you visit. I didn’t, but it wasn’t due to a lack of trying. I tried getting through them, but I fell asleep 10 minutes in…
We bought a local SIM card at the airport from Vodaphone and a mifi for NZD100 from to share internet on our phones and tablet for when were on the go. Oddly enough, my wife got BIS on her Blackberry as opposed to me.
A taxi to the city runs about NZD70-90, but we were convinced to take the Super Shuttle for cheaper. They have an interesting policy called the 10 minute rule, which means that the moment you agree to go with them, the clock starts, and after 10 minutes they leave, whether or not they get another customer. This means that the shuttle could essentially end up being a private taxi for you at a cheaper price. Ultimately, another passenger joined us with 2 minutes left on the clock.
We then checked into our hotel, the Amora hotel on Greys Ave, next door to the shul and restaurant. Although quite far from the Chabad house where we were to eat our shabbos meals, the proximity to the shul and restaurant were the deciding factor. I should point out that for some odd reason, SPG doesn’t have a property in the entire country.
After settling in, we went next door to the Greys Ave Deli, the only kosher restaurant, where we had some lunch. Nothing to write home about, but it did the job. There is also a market attached and we purchased the foods we’d never seen before, and the obligatory, “buy all soda flavors you’ve never tasted.” They also had a frozen section with meat from Australia, but at $40/lb, we didn’t buy too much. However, they also had frozen New Zealand lamb, which we bought and was definitely worthwhile.
After lunch, I had plans to go to the Sky Tower, for sweeping views of the city and an opportunity to get my feet wet with extreme sports, as they have a controlled bungee jump off the side, called the Sky Jump. However, I was vetoed by the rest of my family, who were just too tired and too drained to attempt any sort of sightseeing, and elected to hit the sack for a few hour nap before Shabbos. Instead, I just went to the local supermarket and bought drinks, snacks etc. for our extended day of rest.
Shabbos we went to the local Chabad house where I got to lead the meal as at the last minute, the rabbi had to be in Australia for Shabbos. Sunday night, I went back to the airport to pick up a car for our trip down to Rotorua. Ideally, we could have saved time by driving there Sunday night, but as shekia was relatively late, we decided to go Monday morning. As with Australia, driving is on the left side of the road, so it takes a few minutes to get used to. Unlike with Australia where there are signs all over the place “Keep Left,” in NZ you really have to constantly keep that in mind.
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