We are on a ten-day trip to Auckland, New Zealand, leaving our cats in the care of a very good cat sitter. Don’t worry, we’ve been to Auckland several times over the years, although we’ve never managed to get to other parts of this beautiful country.

Meda was previously invited to lecture about her research at the University of Auckland several times, and also attended several conferences here before retiring, so we’ve learned a bit about the area and enjoy wandering the city. Our summer is Auckland’s winter, so it is also our chance to visit the mild but damp winter down under. And I have found several Lind-family “cousins” living here who descend from either a sibling, or a cousin, of my paternal grandfather, William Grace Lind, who was born and raised in Scotland before coming to the U.S. more than a century ago. They are second or third cousins, depending on whether descended from a sibling or a cousin.

Our flight from Honolulu at Auckland International Airport was scheduled to depart at 10:15 a.m. on Sunday. Heeding instructions to allow additional time to catch our international flight, we arrived at the airport about 7 a.m. via Charley’s Taxi, scheduled in advance via their mobile app. Being Sunday, there was little traffic on the way to the airport.

The only problem with our plan was that Air New Zealand staff didn’t open their stations and start processing passengers and bags until 7:15 or a few minutes afterwards.

Hint to ANZ: In one of the many communications in advance of the flight, it would be useful to let passengers know how far ahead of the scheduled flight they should arrive at the airport.

But we stood dutifully in line, and it wasn’t that long before we were able to do the first of several passport checks, turn in our suitcases, and start walking to toward the TSA security check-point. On this Sunday morning, there was no line at TSA Pre-Check, and we breezed through.

Air New Zealand is part of United’s Star Alliance, and the flight was departing from Gate G3 in the United Wing. That gave us plenty of time for coffee and a light breakfast snack in the United Club lounge overlooking the gate, which was included with our upgrade to Premium Economy seating. When we arrived, we were literally the only non-employees in the lounge, but it was soon bustling with others waiting for the same flight.

When the flight was finally ready for boarding (a 787-9 “Dreamliner”) there was not the controlled chaos we have come to expect on a United departure, and there was only a short wait before we were in our seats, where we found a pile of airline swag waiting…a full-size pillow (where do you put that until you need/want it?), a set of over-the-ear headphones, a small cardboard container with the usual toothbrush, a sleep mask, and a few other items I couldn’t identify.

The difference in boarding, we decided, is that the aisles weren’t crowded with passengers hauling wheeled bags and hoisting them into overhead bins. The difference was dramatic, and I have to wonder whether this was a deliberate result of airline policy. That’s something I’ll have to look up.

Seating in our section was 2-3-2. There was a larger business class section up front, where people were paying astronomical prices to be pampered across the Pacific. Our upgrade was a splurge, and I can’t imagine paying what was required to be up front.

Our flight left the ground at 10:20 a.m. Monday and touched down on the ground in Auckland at 6:40 p.m. Hawaii time (4:40 NZ time) on Tuesday after crossing the International Dateline.

Flight time is almost exactly the same as Honolulu to Chicago O’Hare, which is also just over 8 hours. Time seemed to crawl for the first several hours, but the last couple of hours slipped by quickly.

Clearing customs and “New Zealand Biosecurity” was quick. Prior to travel, you have to apply online for an electronic travel authorization, and then complete a customs declaration (a simple online process) no more than 24 hours before the flight. We visited Auckland last summer, and the two-year travel authorization we received then covered this trip as well, and the process was transparent to us.

We were through the whole entry process, including retrieving our bags and determining that our opened bags of wasabi iso Peanuts and hot arare did not threaten the country’s biosecurity. We had used Air New Zealand’s website to schedule a cab to get us from the airport to our hotel, and the driver was waiting just outside the exit from the customs area. Before we knew it, we were checking in to our room at the JW Marriott Hotel in Auckland’s central business district.