The Journey

I know many people for whom the journey is the enjoyment: it is better to have travelled and not arrived than not to have travelled at all.  Generally speaking I travel purely as a means of moving myself from one place to another.  I travel as a means to an end and not as a means in itself.  That doesn't mean that I cannot and sometimes do not enjoy the journey or at least parts of it and occasionally, of course, I do travel for travel's sake but not usually by air.

So on my travels from Lewis to Napier there were some good moments: over the Scottish Highlands in late afternoon as the light fades on a cloudy and cold evening:

The picture from the camera on the tailplane of the Emirates Airbus A380-800 flying at 39,000 feet over Australia

and over the Tasman towards  a rather cloudy New Zealand

Seating around 500 passengers these babies are BIG but very comfortable with excellent facilities on board.

The one irritation was in Auckland.  Air New Zealand have now automated their check-in system.  The Domestic Terminal is about 10 minutes quick walk from the International Terminal or there is a 15 minute bus service.  Transfers are easy though because you just exit International arrivals, walk a couple of yards and book in and leave baggage at the transfer area.  Unless you are later than 60 minutes from the domestic flight.  I had 5 minutes to spare but by the time I'd fathomed the system had managed to get it to read my ticket (which it initially refused to do) I was 1 minute late.  Human beings allow for that (I've started so I'll finish) but machines don't.  So I had to walk my luggage (I just missed a bus and the next bus would mean me missing my connection) to Domestic.  It's that part of travel I don't like.