The Pacific - New Zealand 2007

Over the Pacific

I was getting accustomed to flying, as this was now my third flight in less than twenty-four hours. I wish I could have seen the land leading to the Pacific Ocean, but since the sun was no longer on my side, I settled for shadowy silhouettes proceeding to a great vast darkness. I was well aware that we had reached the pacific as the land was long, flat and dark. The full moon cast silver rays across the great mass of blackness.

An hour into my flight, I decided to draw my window shade due to the coolness cascading off my porthole. Blankets and pillows were distributed to the passengers and many took this time to enter a restless slumber. I chose to venture into 18^th century France and followed the exploits of Dartanion and the Musketeers. After an hour of resentful reading, I chose to abandon my tedious novel in favor of Quants’s in-flight magazine.

I was also rewarded with seatback television and a broad selection of free movies and television to keep my overworked mind busy. Alas for some reason, I had a malfunction with my audio system and I was unable to hear the sweet sounds of TV. A pity since there were four or five films I would of loved to have seen.

I resorted to watching two documentaries about the Australia outback. Documentaries aren’t the same without with wisdom of a storyteller. Yet, the cinematography was heart-stopping and I wondered if Australia might be my next destination? Strangely enough, I had a little “spaced out” episode where I stared blankly into the information channel for nearly five to six hours.

The information channel showed a picture of a plane and showed a location of where we were in the Pacific. This channel also notated speed we were traveling, the outside temperature, ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival), Time into our flight and time left to travel. I was awoken from my mind nap by an attractive stewardess who was serving dinner. A lovely display of roasted potatoes, steamed vegetables and a wonderful stuffed chicken breast. Mmmm, yummy.

I popped out my contacts in favor of my frames and subsequently lost one of my lenses thanks to a loose screw. My seatmates and myself spent an hour searching for my missing lens but finally gave up in favor of continuing the search once the cabin lights were reignited.

The turbulence was little more intense than I had experienced and numerous times the seatbelt signal sent throughout the cabin. I was reassured by my seatmates that the bumps were natural and “not that bad at all, I remember one flight when….” The reassurance was greatly appreciated and I spent the last part of my trip in conversation, to this dismay of my fellow passengers in front and behind me.

Finally, the New Zealand mainland was before us and I rolled up my shade to display a blinding light cascading across the ocean. It would appear that we were just in front of the sun. Finally our flight made our decent, and I was eagerly watching the lights of Auckland as we finally landed.

I was finally in Auckland. I was no longer New Zealand bound, but I had finally made it to my destination. I was tired and excited and I figured there was no chance of myself sleeping once I reached my hostel.

It was time to explore, it was time to discover. It was a time to venture through customs. Ohh my.