the cabin just as the wheels lifted off the runway. Few minutes later the
captain told us that one of the tires had blown out as we lifted off -- "but
not to worry, the Boeing 747 has 17 other good wheels, and a tire blowout is
quite common and we'll be just fine when we land. Thank you to those passengers
who alerted the crew to the noise, we appreciate you bringing this to our
attention, now please enjoy the rest of your flight."
Just before landing in Auckland, the pilot came on again saying that because of
that one punctured tire, we'll be stopping at the end of the runway for the
ground crew to inspect the landing gear before we taxi to our gate. There will
also be a fire engine on standby, but "not to worry about that, it's just a
safety precaution."
Well, it was raining and I was expecting quite a hard landing, possibly with
the plane skidding on the wet runway on touchdown. Not so. The landing was
PERFECT. The runway was wet, we were on one less tire, but our captain managed
to land the jumbo smoothly and without any problems!
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm... so we thought.
We stopped at the end of the runway for the ground crew to inspect the
underside, then proceeded to the gate after the go-ahead from them.
I WAS IN NEW ZEALAND! First time ever under the equator... and excited about
the last leg of this journey into Australia -- scheduled to depart 7:45 AM.
7:10 AM: Announcement: "Ladies and gentlemen Qantas flight 26 is ready for
boarding. Please proceed through security to Gate 6 for immediate departure."
I remember thinking to myself that I should stop that silly grin on my face.
8:00 AM: Announcement: "Attention please, all passengers waiting for Qantas
flight 26 in the Gate area... we have a mechanical problem with this aircraft
and unfortunately our flight is delayed indefintely. As soon as we receive word
from the ground crew we will pass it on."
Within the next 30 minutes: "Attention please, we have some bad news. The
ground crew has just told us that during landing a punctured tire did severe
damage to the landing gear door, and it will take them several hours to replace
the door.... We will have to cancel this flight."
Well.... they put us all on another 3 Air New Zealand flights into Brisbane,
and my flight left Auckland at 11 AM -- 3 hours late. I was in Brisbane at
11:30 AM -- 3.5 hours flight time and a 3 hour time difference. When I went up
to the customs officer, he called his boss and showed him my passport,
whispering something like "I don't like this.....(something about my
passport)". So his boss took me aside and asked me a few more questions about
where I'm from, where I'm going, etc... and finally said, "Why dont you get
your bag and come see me at that security desk over there. I'll have your
passport over there." Great... more troubles like in London!
Ok... fine, get my bag and go to the security desk.
Why even bother, I knew the bag wasn't going to be there, with the airline
problems in Auckland! While I was waiting at the carousel for the bag to not
show up, the same customs officer came back and handed me back my passport,
saying everything was fine, "no worries", and I can go on after I've got my
bag. Ok, great! At least that's one less thing I had to worry about now!
So of course I did not get my bag, and they made another announcement saying
"everyone who was on Qantas Flight 26 and rebooked on Air New Zealand Flight
135 and you don't have your bags, please come to Qantas Baggage service
counter."
BIG line...
I filled out their form, they gave me a contact number etc, and I left the
security area, got my car rental, and started driving -- without any of my
maps, itinerary printouts, tourbooks, or clothes -- those were all in the lost
bag. Fortunately I knew enough to know where I was going today, and I had my
laptop & car charger for the laptop -- so I'm ok.
I was on the road at 12:30 -- 4 1/2 hours later than expected. And I had a 11
hour drive in front of me.
So THAT was the flight over here. The good thing is I did sleep a good 7-8
hours continuously on the flight. So I was in this time zone.
I very quickly forgot about all my flight and baggage worries. The drive is
beautiful -- there's a lot of greenery everywhere, and alternating scenes of
farmland/rolling hills/forests/views of mountains in the distance -- for the
entire 965 kilometers (at a strictly enforced speed of 90/100/110 kmph) all the
way to MacKay (pronounced MacKOY). I also saw several "Kangaroo crossing" and
"Koala bear crossing" signs on the road, but none of the animals themselves.
Along the way I stopped at a rest area early on to get a tourist map of
Brisbane and Mackay, and a QLD map... all free.
Finally got into the hotel at 11:45PM last night, and this morning (19th), I'm
trying to get a hold of Qantas baggage service to find out if they have my bag
or not! Today is another 1270 miles drive, so can't stay too long here -- its
almost 8 AM!
So until I don't know when the next email will be,
G'day,
-mOY.
Sunrise from the plane just before landing at Auckland, and then in Auckland: The third, fourth, and fifth windows on the upper deck were mine (free Business class ticket)
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