Quantas flew us via Bangkok to Sydney, and then to Auckland -- flights of approximately 12, 8 and 3 hours respectively with some three-or-four hour waits thrown in.
And then we got a cab to Mercure Auckland, about five minutes walk from the docks and just round the corner from Equires Coffee House, where each purchase earns you an hour's free Internet. Hurrah.
So we've had 36 hours travelling, a good nights sleep, and breakfast-followed-by-second-breakfast. And there's blazing sun punctuated at widely separated random intervals by five minute spells of pouring rain.
I like New Zealand so far, it looks very pretty.
I await the day when someone invents a way of flying (which I enjoy) which doesn't involve all those take-offs and landings (which I don't).