Is it really only just over a month ago on 22nd February that Henry and I set out on our travels to New Zealand? Time really does fly...on the way over, we 'lost' a day somewhere, and on the way back, we 'found' it again....only to lose an hour this morning! Goodness, confusing for sure.
Anyway back to the 22nd February...we arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare so we could book a window seat and our luggage in. So what to do while we wait? Something to eat and drink of course!
Henry! Are you really going to eat both pieces of carrot cake?
Not the most flattering picture of me, but Henry looks pretty good ;-)
Can you imagine Henry's delight when he saw the plane we were going to be flying on?
Yes that is it...New Zealand's (and the world's) first All Black plane.
This is Air New Zealand's newest Boeing 77-300ER and is the largest commerically operated aircraft to be painted black. To the delight of us Ex-Pats living in the UK it flies the London to Auckland route.
You can see a short video of it here.
Lots of excited people were looking at it and taking photos...
"Look Mum, are we REALLY going on this plane?"
We certainly are Henry.
I can't quite believe I managed to get Henry to sit and wait quietly in the boarding lounge... He is wearing his favourite hoodie and gilet made by Judith of Dolly Doodles, a pair of sweatshirt leggings made by me and his Jean Jensen footwear.
Being allocated a window seat was great for Henry, he was able to see out of the window and watch the preparations.
Buckled in, all ready for take off, Henry had his own seat. In fact for the London to LA part of the trip we had three seats to ourselves so were able to lie down and sleep for a good stretch of the trip. Unfortunately not so lucky from LA to Auckland...
Leaving London on a grey and drizzly afternoon.
The wings being prepared and tested just before take off.
We arrived in New Zealand early Friday morning an hour earlier than the scheduled time and fortunately were able to avoid the rush hour traffic on the just over an hour trip home to my parents place. It was so lovely to have my Dad meeting us at the airport and we arrived home to Kaukapakapa shortly after 9am in the morning so had the whole day to enjoy...although I did have an early night! The noise of the cicadas greeted us as I got out of the car to open the gate...it always amazes me how loud they are at that time of the year and I have some great photographs of them to show you all in another post.
Welcome Home Henry and Lorraine,
ReplyDeleteI will have to keep Toby away from the computer so he does not see the plane Henry flew on or he'll be trying to book a ticket!!
Wow! What a fantastic start to your holiday...flying out to New Zealand on SUCH a plane as that! No wonder Henry was SO excited. A chance in a lifetime. Bet his mummy was 'chuffed to bits' too.
ReplyDeleteDid Henry manage to carry his suitcaes all by himself? Hope that he didn't have to use some of his holiday money to pay for any excess baggage as he certainly took loads of clothes to cover every
eventuality.
Pleased that you were able to have plenty of space to sleep on the first leg of your long journey although I'm sure that Henry, like all little boys, would have been too excited to let you rest
as much as you needed or would have liked after all that rushing around preparing not only for your and Henry's break but for the rest of your family being left at home.
If this is a taste of what is to follow then I can barely wait for the rest of the instalments.
What has been the reaction by the passengers and general public to Henry being photographed so far?
Sasha love from Kendal.
liked.