Although I suppose they could always do a tactical military descent to short finals - or even one of those bush pilot side-slip arrivals
Tartare,
Neither the 747 SP or the B767 200/300 had a terrain problem going into NZWN --- don't know where that idea came from.
The SP into NZWN was an interesting political story. The RR B747-200s that both QF and NZ had were superior performers in and out of there. This was because of the different (simple) TE flaps on the SP, resulting in a higher Vref for approach than a -200.
However, NZ CAA of the day was desperate to not have to allow ANZ to operate there, so QF bought two of the world's longest range aeroplanes for its (then) shortest (almost) route.
The 767 operation was quite straight forward, and the low speed handling made short work of the turbulence -- the 767 in and out of NZWN was the best aircraft since the Electra to handle those conditions.
Tootle pip!!