Sydney, For a Moment. Then, Auckland.

My United flight arrived in Sydney without a hitch. Well, almost. The guy in the seat in front of me slept for 11+ of the 14 hour flight. Why was this a problem? He snored so loudly that I had to move seats just to sleep. Needless to say, my rest was fitful at best, since the only open seat was right by the galley. Oh, well. Here's a photo of my seat--very comfortable, and it converts into a lie-flat bed. Along the window side is a storage locker/table (open with my bag visible), and on the right-hand side of the photo is the footwell/video console. Due to the curvature of the nose of the plane (I was in row 2), I could actually see out the windows almost directly in front of the plane.

Relaxed upon arrival in Sydney by heading directly to the Emirates lounge, where I had a much needed and long desired shower, followed by breakfast. Emirates really pulls out all the stops when it comes to food and drink. Had poached eggs, smoked salmon, beef sausages, goat cheese tarts, fresh-squeezed OJ, espresso, great cheeses and dates with almonds. Note the nice china and silver flatware (except for the plastic knife, since we were inside the security zone of the airport).

The flight to Auckland was smooth sailing--Emirates runs a great airline. Fresh flowers in sconce vases on the bulkhead walls and 500 channels/movies on demand on a digital system. You could even use the phone handset at your seat to call any other seat on the plane simply by inputing their seat number! I was 10K, but no one rang me.

Ran into another fellow on my flight who also took advantage of the great Auckland deal, and we're going to meet up for dinner tonight, since we're both staying at hotels downtown. Been traveling for 35+ hours, so I need a nice meal and a beer. Then bed.