Above: Flying past the city of New Plymouth.
I had wanted to return to the Golden Bay area before summer started to fade. My original dates two weeks ago met with a couple of hiccups. The weather coincided with severe storms in the region. Also, the Covid-19 Omicron outbreak was just starting and contact-tracing rules were strict. If one passenger on the plane was found positive, the entire flight would have to isolate.
With good weather forecast for the next few days, I made a decision only yesterday to travel today. Contact tracing rules had also been relaxed; only two rows before and after the infected passenger are required to isolate now.
I flew down on Air New Zealand, leaving Auckland at 1050 and landing a little later than the scheduled time of 1215.