Flying from Auckland to Macau, via Hong Kong, with Hong Kong Airlines

A Hong Kong Airlines Airbus A330-200. Photo / Getty Images

Thomas Bywater flies Auckland to Macau, via Hong Kong, with Hong Kong Airlines.

The plane: An A330-200.

Class: Economy. The seat is the same as everyone else's but I did get to use the Strata Lounge in Auckland. Worth every dollar of $49 as a comfortable place to decompress with a glass of sauvignon blanc before catching a red-eye flight to Hong Kong at 1am.

Price: $1591 return, with $56.38 for the TurboJet ferry connection between Hong Kong Airport and Macau.

Flight time: 11 hours, and an extra 45-minute boat ride.

My seat: 33D, aisle

How full: Relatively full for such a late flight. However, I did have two empty seats between me and the nearest passenger. It didn't take long to spread out into the space.

Entertainment: Considering how recent Oscars season was, the selection of Hollywood blockbusters was fairly thin. I ended up watching Blade Runner 2049; perfect preparation for landing into a smoggy morning on the South China Sea.

Food and drink: A choice of Chinese or Western meals. I had fish and rice as my main meal and a breakfast of frittata and a cup of green tea.

The airport experience: There are no direct flights to Macau from New Zealand. You can transfer into Macau Airport or, as I did, take the high-speed ferry from Hong Kong. By the end of the year, these will not be the only options.

Out of the port side of the ferry, I could see the final stages of the 50km Zhuhai Bridge.

One of China's great feats of civic overcompensation, from as early as June this year it is expected to connect busloads of tourists in the administrative regions of Macau and Hong Kong by road. I'd much rather take the ferry.

By not going through Hong Kong Customs you can reclaim HK$150 off your airfare. It's a novelty to be handed a wad of cash and pointed towards duty-free shopping, as if you needed an excuse.

The bottomline: The high-speed ferry turns what could have been a tedious transfer into an adventure.