Flying High Back to New Zealand

Off with the Diamonds and on with the Denims

Three days back in Broadstone gave us time for a breezy Sunday walk along the promenade between Branksome Chine and Bournemouth Pier with our southern family, time to write some thank you notes and post them, time for haircuts and time to get right up to date with internet stuff while it was so generously and conveniently available.

Then back into my little jewellery box in the bedside cabinet went my engagement and eternity rings for safe keeping, on went our nondescript travel clothes, jeans and removable tops as a little bird had told us about the heatwave that was descending on both NZ Islands and we were ready for the journey.

A number of people have asked me if I like flying. It’s a means to an end I reply, I neither like nor dislike it but I really do like the choice of entertainment we had on board the Airbuses. However first I must tell you about the scariest part of the journey. Not the taxiing or taking off or landing of which there were four of each, not even the planes, but the coach.

Made even more alarming was the fact the coach driver was actually sober and therefore wholly responsible for his incompetence. I have travelled the length and breadth of my Homeland with National Express coaches for nearly half a century and I have never had a driver like this one.

It was nothing short of a miracle he didn’t hit anything. On the straight he was taking up both left hand lanes with the lane line travelling neatly down the aisle. He pulled out onto a roundabout when a car I had spotted moments before was coming tight around the central reservation and clearly due to pass infront of us.

Jamming on the brakes it was just as well we had all been bullied into our seatbelts, not to protect us from the actions of other drivers but the incompetence of this one. “Did you see the speed he came around that roundabout” he complained to the air around him. Truth is the sun was low and blinding and our driver wasn’t wearing his sunglasses until after the event.

He loudly reminded every passenger waiting in the queue to put their seatbelts on so we all heard the message 30 times at least then we heard why. He would get a £165 fine for every passenger that was found to be unstrapped. Ironically it was just as well he reminded us.

His attitude towards some young Asian ladies was “You’ll have to speak up, where are you going?” He kept repeating this at them and from where we sat inside the coach we could easily hear the lady’s reply!

Still we all made it and my letter to their head office in Birmingham is in the Post.

We killed some time in the departure lounge doing a similar mental test to the one Donald Trump had to do a few days ago and you’ll be immensely relieved to hear that we passed and could therefore, between us, theoretically run the US!

Airborne the choices were good. I spent some time watching our progress on the screen set in the seat infront relayed from the skycam mounted on the tail of the plane. The final taxi-ing onto the runway was fun and then the roar and forward pull before take-off was immense as usual.

Apart from watching the poignant story ‘Goodbye Christopher Robin’ I spent my time soaking up interesting facts about the modern US space craft and modules and their shallow draft naval vessels, using old technology in a modern format. Nice to see the clever side of the US.

As we crossed the south west corner of Australia I was waking up to a new day, or so I thought. ‘Breakfast’ arrived, but then our cabin manager over the tannoy said he hoped we’d enjoy our dinner. That’s where I lost the 12 hours, somewhere near Perth. Perhaps we’ll find it if we go that way next year.

Back to Earth with a Bump

At Last, the first morning since we bumped down at Whangarei Airport last Saturday I have not woken up at 1.05am, 2.03am, 2.38am my poor brain thinking it was pm instead, as it had been when we left the UK 20 flying hours before.

For me we lost the 12 odd hours as our big white bird flew over the south west corner of Australia on route to Melbourne. I awoke after a reasonable slumber looking forward to a little in flight breakfast, sat looking at my dish full with roasted aubergine, peppers, onions etc thinking what an unusual breakfast when over the cabin speakers a sweet voice said “We hope you enjoy your dinner!”

Back on board half a world away

You’d be proud of us for what we have achieved in this first week since we have been back on board. Jeannie and Merv who collected us from the airport came to dinner last night and we decided to use their visit as a target time before which we would complete various jobs.

Apart from our day down river with Ben, these have included a large hand and machine sewing job; so out came the Pfaff, but not before I repaired Rob’s case and fitted a new zip to my hand luggage bag by hand as these tasks were too fiddly for the machine and me.

We bought a replacement flexible solar panel for the bimini roof before we left for England but of course it is a different size to the one that is on there. So we unpicked the sunbrella fabric frame that held the old one in place and I took the two sections of fabric on to the pontoon and gave the inside of them both a thoroughly good scrub to get off the hundreds of little circular mildew growths.

In this heat they dried in no time so then we laid the new panel on the fabric and drew around it, adapted the old sunbrella frame to fit, sewed it on by machine and Bob’s your uncle, job done. The old panel had been attacked by the elements and was under producing its max of 30 watts, so the new more robust one should hopefully give us up to 48 watts. We need it as the replaced fridge compressor seems to have an electricity addiction!

Tagged on to having the Pfaff set up I made five new cushion covers for the saloon with fabric bought at Arthur’s world famous Emporium, and posh they are too with their French seams to give them that little bit of class. We are working towards re-upholstering the saloon seats in maybe bright blue or even fuchsia, which would look fantastic but we’ll most likely hold off until we are out of the sweaty tropics!

Those Delightful Dinner Parties

Talking of future locations, while chatting with Jeannie and Merv about their travels last night a whole new idea for our passage around Australia was born. They spent 18 years on their trip all around the Pacific Rim and when it came to Australia they took the south coast route via Melbourne, Adelaide, and countless nice little anchorages along to Perth and the west coast.

There is a short window of six weeks to cover the south coast with favourable winds. The predominant winds are from the west until a high settles over the area when the winds allow sailing westwards provided the centre of the high is to the south since Highs down here turn anti-clockwise. Jaap and Renee of Jacob de Ware, our friends from Rotterdam, are also planning to do this route and in days of old the sailing ships from Europe came from the west this way as the Torres Strait was thought to be too shallow for them.

Captain Cook and Matthew Flinders knew the area and charted the coast for the benefit of future mariners. Sounds like a great adventure and an exciting prospect to us. As most sailors take the northerly route the few who enjoy this passage are treated well by the locals and officials.