I think the reason RA and the boys pushed the JD Power campaign so hard this year is because they knew they would have no chance of motivating us in the future, once we caught a whiff of the contract they had in store. It was their one shot.

Good luck with that gatehouse PA policy, too.

We are doing both islands in 10 days total including travel time. effectively 4 days on the north and 4 on the south.

We were in Auckland for 2 days (second day did a morning city tour including Mt. Victoria, then took the ferry to Waiheke island that afternoon/evening). On day 3 did a bus ride to the glow worm caves in Waimoto, to Hobbiton, then in Rotorua for 2 nights. The next day we did the cultural museum and then the geyser and Maori stuff at Te Puia.

Yesterday flew from Rotorua to Christchurch to Queenstown. Pretty laid back day today, but did do the gondola to the top of the hill. Tomorrow is the big Milford Sound excursion, and sat/sun I'm renting a car so we can drive around and see the countryside.

So, yes... it is possible to hit the big sights on both islands in 10 days!

Hot for teacher is great drums no doubt, but just to broaden your horizons, I'll share a little Umphreys Mcgee. One of my favorite live bands.

Umphrey's McGee - Divisions / Pequod - Boston 2/10/12

For a truly epic intro... metal music mind you... check out Soilwork's "Stabbing the Drama" as well as Machine Head's "Davidian."

I saw them live upstairs in the LaFortune Student Center on campus at Notre Dame in 2000 or 2001. There were maybe 100 people in attendance. It was a great show.

They never disappoint. I was backstage for this show.

Umphrey's McGee - "Bridgeless" - Bonnaroo 2008 (Official Video) | Bonnaroo365

Cheers to the Umph-Love. Never thought I'd see this trolling around APC late on a weeknight. I won't embarrass myself with number of shows, but they're all great musicians doing great things. Always gracious hosts back stage.

File this under things I've never told another Airline Pilot.

Retired,
I would strongly recommend going straight from SEA to HNL, maybe even taking a day off then HNL to AKL direct. It's only about 9 hr flt from there and only a two hour time change from HNL. Both Air NZ and Hawaiian Air fly HNL to AKL direct as well. Not a lot of walk up customers on that route.

Appreciate the info, but finally using my One great team pass. Next time for sure.

Awesome. Hearing some King Crimson roots maybe? I hope they come out my way so I can check them out live. Cheers.