In my other life when I’m not here I do some work with Air New Zealand. So it was truly special to get to the opening of the airline’s 75^th exhibition at Te Papa.

I wasn’t sure what to expect, and just between us I was slightly alarmed just a few hours before opening to see a complete hive of activity with ladders and hammers and drills. But of course they pulled it all together for the opening.

Now I’m not going to tell you everything I saw because there are some real surprises. But I really do recommend going along. It’s free and it’s at Te Papa for six months.

To me the exhibition is as much about our country’s history as it is about Air New Zealand’s history. The uniforms are a reflection of fashion trends. The food likewise, and of course the technology.

There is the mockup of a flying boat which were the first commercial planes out of New Zealand in the 1940s. MP Paul Goldsmith’s great grandfather was on the very first flight. It took nine hours to get to Rose Bay in Sydney from Mechanics Bay in Auckland, it carried only nine passengers and cost the princely sum of 30 pounds!

These are real people’s stories. When you enter, you’ll walk past photographs. If you go to the 1960s, you’ll see a photo of a young hostess with a kiwi. Her name is Barbara Torrance and she was one of only 12 women flying at the time. She had to leave in 1969 of course because she was getting married! When you go into the memorable flights area, you’ll see video of Barbara today along with the magnificent 93-year-old Captain Nobby Clark who flew for nearly 30 years.

A couple of things you must do. Pimping your own plane is a lot of fun. But top of my list for incredible is the virtual reality experience of what flying might be like in the future. I’m not going to give it away but it was absolutely mind blowing. Think beaches and shopping! 

Declaration: Susan produced some of the video content for the exhibition.