Fellow passengers: A vegan, a vegetarian and a steak-pie-eating omnivore get on to a plane ... sounds like an extraordinary start to a very average joke. I was sandwiched in between my girlfriend and our healthy-living friend. We had paid the $7 each extra for the privilege of booking three seats together, rather than being assigned spaces at random. — one of the sneakier stealth charges of the self-check-in era. But at least we could sit together and air our grievances about this stealth charge.
Food and drink: After only 40 minutes in the air we were offered a cup of coffee and a cookie. A nice gesture, considering how short the flight was. There was even a bag of vegan-friendly corn chips. Everyone was happy. Though I overheard a sigh that sounded suspiciously like: "No soy milk?"
Airport experience: At the girlfriend's insistence, we arrived two and a half hours in advance of our 8.30am departure. An added hour's delay meant there was little of Auckland's domestic terminal we didn't see. This included the over-scaled but under-supplied food court. The two noodle bars and sandwich shop were all out of salad. There were no cucumbers. Not even for ready money. I self-consciously tucked into a Big Mac while my herbivorous travel companions scanned the departure boards, starving.
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