Review of Air Tahiti Nui flight from Papeete to Sydney in Economy

Here is a Flight Report about a route that was short lived and has since disappeared from the Air Tahiti Nui network.
Before the flight I had to tend to some stuff so my day was rather full and I was tired by the time I got home.
I spent a little bit of time on the computer checking the hotels booked etc.
After all that I went to have a nap for an hour before getting ready to go down to Tahiti Faa'a International Airport. At 22:45 my partner drove me down to the airport and I went to queue for check in.
The counters weren't open yet so we all waited and got the security check for our passport and reminding us that no liquid should be in our bags.
After 10 minutes the Air Tahiti Escale Internationale ground staff opened the counters and proceeded to check everyone in.
It was a slow process as there was only 2 person for the economy class and 2 for Business and First Class.
When my turn was due, I asked if the flight was full and if not I would have liked to get 2 seats by the window. The guy checking me in was really nice and gave me 38A and 38B and put the baggage tag on my bag and I was off to drop it at the scanner and go to passport control and bag check.
Passport check was fast as there wasn't anyone at this time of the night and the LAN flight was going to depart so really only the SYD flight passengers.
Security check was done fast too.
I went to get some duty-free cigarettes for my mom as they are really cheap at the airport and went to seat down and read my guidebook about South Africa.
At 01:45 we were called for boarding, people started to move towards gate 40 to get to the Airbus that will carry us to Sydney.
On the ground, Air Tahiti Nui Airbuses and a LAN Boeing 767 which was leaving for Easter Island and Santiago de Chile. F-OSEA was going to fly us to Sydney, Australia tonight.

Boarding was called on time and everyone was on the plane quickly, I do know now why the route was shut down. The flight was very, very empty in economy class Moana tonight and everyone had 2, 3 or 4 seats each, I believe there was something like 91 passengers in economy. First and Business was apparently fuller with a couple of seats to spare for the people travelling with the crew.

Boarding was over soon and shortly after that we pushed back and made our way towards the runway
Take off towards the south and on our way to Sydney in the dark night…
The female cabin attendant changed from the turquoise uniform into the tahitian dresses inspired from the AF dresses that the french airline inherited after the merger with UTA.
A few minutes after take off the crew handed out a small pouch containing socks, eye-mask and earplugs and a menu to every passenger
Shortly after that they came in the cabin and served us the cold snack which was :
Cheese bread filled with chicken
******
Paris Brest
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Almond cookies with lemon zest

The sandwich was really nice and tasty, the Paris Brest was also good and it is a shame there wasn't more.
A huge range of drinks were available with the snack with wines, fruit juices etc…
The old IFE system worked well and I watched Disco, a french movie about a looser who gets himself and friends enrolled in a Disco dance contest.
I was so tired that I didn't see the end of the movie and fell asleep.
I believe I slept for about 5 hours before waking up not long before breakfast was served.
The menu was as follow :
Seasonal fresh fruit salad
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Scrambled egg croustade with parsley,
sautéed mushrooms, bacon and veal sausage
or
Crêpe with creamy rice and fruit
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Yogurt, croissant, butter and preserves
Fruit juice, coffee, tea and hot chocolate
I chose the Crêpe which was really nice yet the croissant was like a stone… cold and hard !
I took some apple juice and a hot tea with it.

While the crew was still serving breakfast, I finished mine quickly and went to the bathroom to get ready for Sydney.
Descent started not long after and Sydney was overcast. Bad weather over the Australian city !

A shame the weather was bad with such a stunning view !

After landing we taxied a bit and had to stop short f our gate as a BA 777 was occupying it and we were waiting for it to pull out.
The wait wasn't too long and soon enough we blocked and were ready to leave the aircraft.
Next to us an Etihad Airbus 340-500 parked.
Disembarking was fast and we all walked off the aircraft by door 1L.
Going through immigration was fast, only a couple of people in front of me and I walked to carousel 6 to pick up my suitcase which was waiting for me thanks to the priority tag.
I then joined a very long queue but not for long as a couple of ladies came to see me and asked me a few questions about transporting any kind of food and told me to go to the D exit on the other side of the arrival hall.
I was out and in front of the Hotel bus shuttle pick up point 6 in no time. 35 minutes from landing to shuttle stop ! not bad !
Ibis Sydney Airport Shuttle picked me up and I was at the hotel a couple of minutes later.
Checked in but could get in the room as it was early and people hadn't vacated the rooms yet so I went on the hotels computers and spent 90 minutes there waiting for a room.
I was able to get in my room 15 minutes before my internet time ran out.
The room