The idea of this side trip to Wellington was to hopefully experience a landing in the windy city, which Wellington is known as.

Also I want to get what may be a last flight on a 737-300, last time I flew on one of those was in 2000. Also hoping one of the flights is on ZK-NGJ, the last 737-300 built.
Did not fly one that particular aircraft, but saw it.

Auckland to Wellington
Date: Sunday 21 August 2011
Flight: NZ441
Seat: 22F
Aircraft: Boeing 737-3K2
Registration: ZK-SJE

Made our way to the domestic terminal.

No worries with check in, dad was concerned about the weight of our carry on, as he was told by someone that the 7kg limit is enforced, but in the end no one weighed our carry on bags anyway.

Went through security and was caught out by leaving my iPad in the camera bag. Security in Australia, transiting through new Zealand and in Canada never said anything about it, but in the domestic terminal in Auckland they made me take it out of the bag and put everything through again. Why is everything so inconsistent?.

So after all that, find a nice window overlooking the runway for awhile.

Boarding was an orderly process, but soon found out how tightly the seats are packed in on domestic aircraft. Thankfully it was only a 1 hour flight.

Take off was uneventful and a generally smooth flight, with occasional light turbulence.

Snack was either a chocolate cookie or pretzels. Both dad and I had the pretzels.

The landing was not as rough as I was expecting. Weather was clear and sunny and the wind was quite light.

After a quick photo of the flight deck, was time to get the bags and the hire car organized.

Had a drive around the airport working out the best spots, and eventually found a spot for the afternoon.

Photos from Wellington Airport.
21 August 2011
22 August 2011
23 August 2011

Wellington to Auckland
Date: Tuesday 23 August 2011
Flight: NZ450
Seat: 21A
Aircraft: Boeing 737-3U3
Registration: ZK-NGE

Got to the airport with plenty of time.

Check in was a little fiddly, we had to pay NZ$ 20 for the extra bag we checked in.

Found a spot in the food court area to see the action.

Boarding was again orderly with people sat in the window seats boarding first.

It soon filled up and dad’s hopes of the aisle seat remaining empty was dashed.

Surprisingly for Wellington, the take off was smooth. weather was sunny.

The flight to Auckland was also generally smooth.

Snack choices were a cookie or pretzels. Both dad and I had the pretzels.

Things started to get a bit rough approaching Auckland. The way we descended gave dad a headache, I definitely think domestic flights ascend and descend much faster than international flights.

Landing seemed to be hard and fast. We exited the runway quite fast.

Managed a quick flight deck photo.

Then was time to get the bags etc and get another hire car.