Unfinished Business,Family Time and The A380

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Unfinished Business, Family Time and the A380



When the travel bug bites it is hard to resist and since the BBA V1 4 years ago there has been a yearning that we had to complete unfinished business.



Even with over 8 months of travel and over 90,000km last time we still didn’t see all and do all we wanted to in Europe.



So the flame flickered n when we returned to NZ in late 2009 and we got ourselves back into work and saving hard. Mind you we also had a wedding to save for with daughter # 2 engaged to marry Brent in January of this year. With the planning for that occasion done we were ready to concentrate on the BBA V2 and in November 2012 it became a reality when we made the airline and Euro lease bookings with a 26^th March departure date.



After all the memorable goodbyes to friends and workmates in Tauranga we drove in convoy to Auckland, Gretchen in the Focus and Grahame in the March for family time for a couple of days.



We always knew that leaving family behind and in particular grandson Lachie was going to be hard but we are both committed to also enjoying the other love in our lives, travel.



We had a great day out with Lachie at Auckland Zoo on Monday seeing all the animals on show and saving his favourite to last, the tiger. He wasn’t disappointed as it strolled around its enclosure giving us good viewing of its majesty. Lachie surprised us before we left to come home by taking on the longest slide we have ever seen him try and with a little help from another child he safely emerged from the long downhill tunnel with a big smile.



We had a grand Kiwi BBQ at night with all the meats we shall probably not eat again, at least in BBQ form until we get home in the southern spring.



Tuesday dawned clear and sunny again and an hour at the beach and the park with Leigh and Lachie was fun with photos we can bring up on the laptop while we are travelling to remind us who will be waiting for us when we get home.



Lunch with our girls and Lachie and some shopping for last minute items for the journey ahead and it was home to prepare to head to the airport.



Gretchen’s concern that my suitcase was too heavy and big to fit in the boot of the car were unfounded, well at least the ‘would it fit bit’ and we got both suitcases in alright which augurs well for when we pick up the Citroen in Rome as it has a bigger boot space than the Focus.



Emirates fly 2 A380’s and a 777 out of Auckland daily to Dubai via 3 Australian cities and they leave within 45 minutes of each other. It doesn’t take much to imagine what the queue was like at the multitude of Emirates counters open to check travellers in.



However it all moved quite quickly and we were soon with all the family again who were there to see us off.



A quick beer and last minute things to say and we headed for the departure gate and emigration.



We were quick with the goodbyes although a tear or two was shed. Once we were through emigration it was waves to the family gathered at the window looking down on the shops in the departure area and we were gone, out of sight.



The A380 is a BIG aeroplane. It doesn’t have elegant lines in its shape but its size is impressive with the wing span across the whole aeroplane seemingly as wide as the body is long. Then of course is the height with two full decks for passengers with over 400 in cattle class on the lower deck and another 100 or so upstairs in First and Business together with, we are told, a bar and showers at the rear of the cabin. We say ‘we are told’ because we were in the downstairs cabin and therefore unable to enjoy the entertainment on the upper deck. Never mind in the end it’s all about getting from A to B and we were sure we would be fed and watered too.



The old saying ‘it is a small world’ was on cue as our fellow passenger with the window seat was from Papamoa,a guy heading back to Saudi Arabia for another 5 week stint in an oilfield job. He was a regular on Emirates with the occasional business class trip. He did get recognised by name by one of the stewardesses and he would have the benefits of the Emirates lounge in Dubai as he waited for a connecting flight to Bahrain.



He had been doing the job for 10 years and reckoned he had another 10 to go and retire by the time he was 50.He looked older than 40 so perhaps the lifestyle was taking a toll on his appearance.



It was an uneventful 2 ¾ hours to Sydney interspersed with a tasty dinner although Emirates haven’t got their priorities quite right as the offer of wine etc came after we had finished our meal. We guess alcohol with a meal is not high on their list coming from an’ alcohol free’ country. We did think that if you were in First or Business and had to wait for your wine you would be a bit pissed off !



Arrival into Sydney came with a BUMP !It didn’t appear to have anything to do with the weather and we put it down to the occasional landing that is done by instrument.



An interesting feature on the Emirates A380 are the cameras on the underside of the fuselage and also on the tail looking forward. If you are watching the air show you get to ‘play pilot’ and line the plane up with the runway. It doesn’t bear thinking about if the plane is NOT lined up with the runway cos there is stuff all one could do about it.



Transits are a farce! Well at least in Sydney they are. Everyone had to leave the aeroplane for reasons only known to the Australian government (although we guess a bit of a cleanup of the cabin was also achieved while we weren’t on board).



In Sydney you walk around in a big circle, toilet stop on the way, through electronic scanners etc etc only to get back to the same spot you had disembarked from 30 minutes previously. One new experience for me was to get to stand in this electronic scanner capsule while a scanner whipped around in front of me. The scan had shown up two spots and a quick frisk showing I was clean and we were on our way to the boarding lounge.



Back on board with a full load, downstairs at least, there was a 45 minute delay. The captain said it was to do with loading of luggage but we did wonder if the hard landing meant that extra checks were being undertaken by ground mechanics. The under fuselage cameras weren’t pointing in the right direction so we shall take the captains explanation and put it down to Aussie baggage handlers on a go slow.



It was another smooth takeoff with a check from the tail camera that we still had a fair bit of runway to go and with midnight (NZ time) approaching day one of the BBA V2 came to an end as we winged our way heading North West across the vast Australian continent.



Distance travelled from Tauranga to Sydney 2354km.

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Comments

[Rin]

Yay! It begins :-) Lovely to read the first blog with my morning coffee, this may the the start of a lovely morning ritual! That A380 always lands rough - not that surprising when you consider the size of the beast and the speed it\'s going. I\'ve always thought taking off in one is a bit different too - with the lumbering along the runway, not feeling as though you\'re ever going to get fast enough to take off!