Our overnight stay at the Novotel Hotel is Brisbane was uneventful and we both complained of waking many times throughout the night. Whether it was a different bed or just excitement, it's hard to tell. We had booked ourselves on the 8.30am shuttle from the hotel to the International Airport and it was right on time. Our driver was a bit of a clown and kept us all amused on the journey. We went to the domestic airport first and by the time we reached international, we were the only ones onboard.
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| A lovely waitress in the Air New Zealand lounge took our photo |
Check-in for our flight was straightforward and we headed straight for the Air New Zealand lounge to get some breakfast into our, by this stage, very hungry bellies. Scrambled eggs with chives on sourdough followed by fruit salad and yoghurt certainly satisfied my hunger. The coffee, well lets just say the coffee flavoured water, was not so great. (We have been totally spoilt in the coffee department with our friends from New Guinea bringing us down a carton of truly excellent coffee)
It didn't seem to take very long at all for our flight to Auckland to be called and as we boarded the plane we were very impressed with the business class seating that folds out to full length beds. Not that we needed that at midday! Lunch was delicious. Salmon Gravlax for starters followed by Pork Belly with mustard mash, sautéed purple cabbage and relish. To round off the meal I chose the Lime and Coconut brûlée. No photos. My camera was out of reach by the time the meal was delivered.
After lunch I watched the Tom Hanks movie - A Hologram for the King. I enjoyed the movie and got a giggle out of it but some may say (rightly so) that it had no substance.
We arrived into a bleak Auckland after a three hour flight and made our way once again to the Air New Zealand lounge to wait for our connection to Los Angeles.....a two hour wait. Our boarding call came and once again we were on board our long haul flight to LA. Nothing exciting to report here. Air New Zealand is a great airline and has rightly deserved the "Airline" of the year title for the past five years. The service and food is excellent and the full length flat beds made our 12 hour flight to LA very enjoyable even though there was a lot of turbulence. We arrived into LA at 11.30 am on Monday at exactly the same time and day that we departed Brisbane! We will of course lose that day on the way home. We checked into the Luxe Hotel Rodeo Drive and after a quick bite to eat at a local cafe and a stroll around Beverley Hills, we were tucked up in bed by 6.00pm.
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| Philip enjoying his meal |
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| On board breakfast menu |
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| Dinner Menu |
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| A glass of champers to see us on our way |
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| Lunch at a lovely little cafe in Beverley Hills - Turkey Club Sandwich with the obligatory fries |
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| Photo shoot! |
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