4 March 2013
Arrive home
I arrived back in Auckland having missed two-plus months of summer. The best part of the year is nearly gone. But I had an awesome time abroad. I can’t have it all!
19 December 2012
Flying home for Christmas
My 1050 flight to Kuala Lumpur was perfectly timed. I woke at 0700 and grabbed a quick shower and caught the bus to the airport from across the road. It got me to the terminal some 2h20 minutes prior to departure which meant that I didn’t stress out at check-in and was able to enjoy […]
17 December 2012
Eleven hours of airborne torture
I checked in for my flight to Hong Kong with an ETD of 2359. As I’m travelling on standby, I had checked the loads for this flight several times in the lead-up. The flight had been quite full but seemed to have cleared a little. So I was surprised that I could not be issued […]
19 October 2012
Off for the long weekend
With an evening departure I managed to fit in a whole day’s work and a shower at home before leaving for the airport, picking up Mark on the way. He lives only a few metres off the road to the airport. We are bound for Apia, Samoa to escape the miserable Auckland weather. Today I’m […]
27 August 2012
Early start
While the flight to Tongatapu wasn’t super-early, we still had to wake up before 0500. I had tried flying out on a day with an afternoon flight but those don’t connect on to Vava’u very well. Further, going on those days would require a stay in Tonga on a Sunday – which is an unproductive […]
24 August 2012
Summing up, financially
I arrived back into Auckland today after 12 weeks away. The 12 week journey cost me a total of NZD7400 made up as follows: Accommodation and Expenses: NZD5500. Airfares (17 flights): NZD1900. Accommodation costs reflects 13 nights spent in free accommodation (friend’s place and own holiday home). Expenses include four dives, 2 in Seychelles and another […]
23 August 2012
The end is nigh
It was an early (but not obscene) start in Kuching to catch the Malaysia Airlines direct flight from Kuching to Hong Kong (via Kota Kinabalu). FYI, direct means same plane (in airline lingo); it doesn’t mean non-stop. It was 1h30 plus 2h55 with a fairly long turnaround at Kota Kinabalu of 1h05 (unlike AirAsia’s 25 […]
19 July 2012
Time with friends
I arrived in Singapore, via Dubai and Colombo, somewhat shattered for a stay with friends. They have a lovely apartment in a flash complex in Bukit Timah.
31 May 2012
Tonight my plans turn into reality
Dreams to plans to reality The seed of this complex trip was the need to use up my Emirates’ frequent flyer points which were expiring (again). I had enough to take me from East Asia to the weirdest and most wonderful dream destinations in West Asia and Africa, like Sudan, Pakistan or Seychelles. After plenty […]