A Safe Landing

I'm still on New Zealand time, so I'm a day ahead, but I'm back in San Francisco. It was a long trip--Auckland to Sydney, a 3-hour layover, then Sydney to SF. It was a very full plane, and we were in the very last row. Actually, not such a bad place to be. A bit noisy, both from engine noise and people standing around streching their legs. The one bit of space that's not an aisle in the 747 coach class is the section in front of the toilets, so that's where people congregate. I did hear some interesting conversations, many about Australia and Australians vs USA and Americans--with the Canadians somewhere in the middle.

United and Air New Zealand are Star Alliance partners. Our flight in was an Air New Zealand flight; our flight out was a United flight. There is a marked difference. Although both planes were full, there was much more of a cattle car feel to the United flight. Granted, it was really packed, but it was more than that. To some extent, it's the attitude of the flight attendents. I know it's not an easy job, and I know the United flight attendents have issues with their management, but does that mean that you can't be gracious, treat the passengers with respect, maybe even smile? It almost felt like they were doing us a favor by serving us. I'm sorry, but that's YOUR JOB. The Air New Zealand flight attendents, on the other hand, get it. Maybe they're just happier in their jobs, but they certainly do what they can to make the long flight more pleasant. Besides that--the food on Air New Zealand is better (although my travel hint is to order the vegetarian meal--it's a better bet and by ordering a special meal you always get your food first).

I've got a lot more to write on the whole trip experience. Getting online with blog entries in New Zealand was logistically harder that I thought it would be, so I didn't post much. I do have stories and pictures and will share them in the days ahead.

As a preview,here's a long shot of Bondi Beach: