Bravo Golf Alfa

Today's aeroplane, a Tarom Romanian Air Transport Boeing 737-300, registration YR-BGA, flight RO153 Bucharest to Tel Aviv.

(Yes, I know, I owe you all a number of posts. They'll come soon :-) )

Alfa Sierra Alfa

Yesterday's aeroplane, a Tarom Romanian Air Transport Airbus A318, registration YR-ASA, flight RO264 Istanbul to Bucharest

Lima Victor Charlie

I forgot to put this up yesterday (no internet available to me at the time) - this was yesterday's aeroplane (seen here at the destination, Podgorica), an Austrian Airlines Fokker 100, registration OE-LVC, flight OS727.

Juliet Lima Sierra

Here's today's aeroplane, a Turkish Airlines Airbus A319, registration TC-JLS, flight TK1088. 1h15m behind schedule unfortunately.

Lima Bravo Echo

Today's ride to Vienna, an Austrian Airlines A321, flight OS122. More blog posts to follow :-)

Day 1 - 28 April - Auckland to Tokyo - The Journey Begins

Here is the first of the "daily posts" (well daily in that they will be written about each day, I can't promise I'll put them up daily!)

Day 1 started with an early rise at 5:00am in order to be out the door at 6:00am. We finally hit the road at 6:20am, dad reminding me how much I take after mum in some regards, such as time keeping. In fairness, I had told him 6:00am in order to ensure we would be able to go by 6:20am. At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Online check-in failed due to the need to show I had an onwards ticket from Japan - odd, given that ticket is on the same booking as the flight from Auckland, and even more odd when I got to the self check kiosk and it asked me if I had an onward ticket, I pressed yes, and that was that. Oh well, if that's the worst thing that happens, I think I'm doing pretty well!

After quickly passing through customs, I finally got this blog underway, then went to find a present for my cousin's son who I will meet for the first time in Frankfurt. I had my mind set on a Buzzy Bee, that most New Zealand of toys and my favourite gift. Do you think I could find one in Auckland Airport after customs? No. So I decided to turn up empty handed and send it on once I got back to NZ. Then I found out he already had one, so its back to square one.

After a delay caused by the aircraft taking a while to be brought over from engineering, we were on our way. For more about the flight segment, have a look at my post Flight #1. At the other end, Narita was pleasant to navigate through to customs. Once out into the public area, it was rather crowded, but I managed to make my way to the train information, having done a little research before hand in order to have a rough idea of how to get from Narita into Asakusa where I would be staying. Clearly I had not done my research well enough; once I descended from the terminal into the basement area and subway station, it turned out the only way to pay for tickets is cash. Next began a wild goose chase of sorts looking for an ATM. I was directed to go upstairs to another terminal, but the ATM I was directed to only took Japanese cards. At this moment I was regretting not withdrawing yen before leaving. Then I took another escalator and thankfully there was an ATM (branded 7 Eleven Bank, of all things. I was hoping to withdraw just enough to cover the ticket, not being quite in the right frame of mind to think how much I would need for the whole trip. The ATM had other ideas, instructing me the minimum withdrawal was ¥10,000 (equivalent to about NZ$135). Newly cashed up, I returned down to the basement, paid for my ticket, and then on to Tokyo's famous subway, or at least the Keisei Main Line train that runs from Narita into the subway system. Free wi-fi at the station allowed me to call my dad on FaceTime, so we had a nice chat. The train arrived mid-chat, so I boarded and continued talking for a few minutes before saying good bye. Then I saw the sign opposite me instructing phones to be switched to silent and no voice calls. In the country for all of an hour and already committed a social faux pas.

My research had also not extended to understanding the layout of the subway network, and I started to worry maybe I was on the wrong train in spite of being told by the ticket counter to catch this particular one. Thankfully it turns out many Keisei Main Line trains continue to the Asakusa line, including the one I was on. I brief walk from the subway station, and I was at the hotel for my stay in Tokyo. The staff were friendly, although I was met with a blank look when I asked if they were having a good day. A quick bit of translating and they said yes and asked me the same. And you know what, I was having a good day, because I had successfully made it to Tokyo on the start of the grand trip. I considered heading out for a late dinner, before deciding I had eaten enough on the plane and really just needed sleep. That and I had to prepare a statistical report for the Auckland Bahá'í community, which I hadn't managed to do before I left. I started typing, and promptly began to fall asleep. I decided the statistics could wait until morning, and retired for the night, no doubt to dream of all that lay ahead.

Flight #1 - 28 April - Air New Zealand NZ99 Auckland to Tokyo (Narita)

This is the first of the flight review posts for the trip, I'm planning for these to be a regular feature. #avgeek alert.

Flight Details

Flight Number: ANZ/NZ99

Origin: Auckland International Airport (NZAA/AKL)

Scheduled departure time: 08:45 NZST (20:45 UTC)

Actual departure time: Approximately 09:45 NZST (21:45 UTC)

Airborne: 10:02 NZST (22:02 UTC)

Destination: Narita International Airport (RJAA/NRT)

Scheduled arrival time: 16:50 JST (07:50 UTC)

Landed: 17:23 JST (08:23 UTC)

At the gate: Approximately 17:40 JST (08:40 UTC)

Flight time in the air: 10h21m

Trip cumulative time in the air: 10h21m

Block time (gate to gate): 11h00m

Trip cumulative block time: 11h00m

Flight tracking:

http://uk.flightaware.com/live/flight/ANZ99/history/20160427/2045Z/NZAA/RJAA

https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/zk-nzf#98b4caf

Seat Number: 23A

Aircraft Details

Registration: ZK-NZF

Type: Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner

Serial Number: 34335

Line Number: 213

First Flight: 14 September 2014

Delivered: 27 September 2014

ZK-NZF being towed into gate 16.

This was the first exciting aviation moment of the trip; my first flight on a Boeing 787. This aircraft type has been hyped up a lot, possibly too much, but it was not disappointing. It is definitely quiet - compared to older generation aircraft, the predominant source of noise is airflow around the cabin rather than the roar of engines. That's not to say it is silent, but conversation with the person in the seat next to me was possible without needing to raise our voices. By far the best feature from my point of view are the windows, which a positively huge compared to other aircraft. The best aspect of this is the view it affords of the sky; on other aircraft you usually can't see a great deal above the horizon with doing some contortions. Not so on the 787. One part of the hype which is definitely true in my view is the sense of connection with the act of flight this creates. The windows also feature electronic dimming rather than a window shade. There are 5 settings, from fully transparent through to dark enough to make it seem like a moonlit night outside. The transitions are quite rapid, except the darkest setting takes a minute or so to go completely dark.  The cabin crew automatically dimmed all the windows to setting 3 after the meal service. They still allowed passengers to set their own windows after that, but apparently the feature can be locked to a central control, too, which is used on night flights. I found the feature really useful, for being able to look outside without feeling like I was disturbing everyone else ensconced in their movies. I did bring the window to full transparency a few times to get some photos. The dimming feature did have an interesting side effect - the cabin was in twilight for most of the flight, which I found really confused my body - it was like having a super long evening (although getting only an hour and half's sleep the night before probably didn't help either). The mood lighting is a nice touch, including a mock sunrise towards the end of the flight as they lit up the cabin and served the second meal. If my body clock wasn't confused before, it was then. But that said, the lighting is certainly attractive, and clearly a lot of thought has been put into it.

Here you can see the size of the windows, as well as the effect of the dimming. I believe the forward two are on setting 4, the middle 2 on setting 3, and the back one on setting 5. This is the pink phase of the mood lighting; it next went orange before coming to white.

A comparison. Here the window is undimmed...

...and here it is dimmed, with the same lighting conditions outside.

In terms of aircraft performance, we became airborne perfectly adequately and climbed fairly rapidly to FL360 (36,000 ft). It was only 24 minutes to top of climb, which seemed very quick, and gave us a nice view of Northland from altitude. This aircraft certainly loves being in the air. The wing is a thing of beauty.

Climbing above the solid overcast which blanketed Auckland

Speaking of Northland, that was definitely a highlight: the last part of the country I saw was Cape Reinga, the place where in Māori tradition the souls of the dead wing their flight back to Hawaiiki. In a way I am winging my own, very much living, flight to spiritual realms, so it seemed a fitting way to depart the country of my birth.

Approaching Cape Reinga

My last view of Aotearoa New Zealand for the next 8 weeks (can't see it? Look carefully in between the engine and the wing).

The flight path took us to the east of Norfolk Island and New Caledonia, however cloud cover meant they weren't visible. Vanuatu on the other hand didn't disappoint, with a great view from over the top of Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu. I said a prayer for the friends there at the Rowhani Bahá'í School as I flew over.

Espirto Santo, looking west from over the top of Luganville and the Rowhani Bahá'í School

Slightly further north, looking Espirtu Santo's distinctive northern peninsula

I was looking forward to seeing the sprawling expanse of Tokyo on arrival, however the weather was not cooperating, and we entered the top of the cloud layer at about 5,000 feet on descent, then spent what seemed like an eternity manoeuvering in IMC before finally popping out at what I was later told was about 350ft (so a bit over 100ft above the ILS decision height, which I believe was 220ft for the approach flown) with a view of a very wet Narita Airport. We then took the scenic route taxying to the gate. I didn't get the time we arrived on the gate, but I would say it was close to 20 minutes after we touched down. The lady next to me had been rebooked on a new connecting flight because of our late arrival, but after the long taxy to the terminal I suspect she would have been running even for that flight; I do hope she made it!

Emerging out of the murk.

Even in the limited visibility, it is clear Narita is a large airport.

 One final highlight: the crew were kind enough to allow me to visit the flight deck at the completion of the flight as they were securing the aircraft, and gave me a good overview of some of the systems, such as the vertical situation indicator (the green part at the bottom of the two centre screens, which shows the aircraft's position relative to terrain. Boeing has definitely designed a futuristic looking flight deck, marking a definite break from the shades of brown of the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.

A huge thank you to the crew, who were kind enough to invite me into their workplace at the end of a long day.

So, there it is, flight number one done. As I write this, I'm somewhere over Russia on flight number two. Next up, some experiences from Tokyo.

Alfa Bravo Yankee November

After a wonderful couple of days in Tokyo (posts to follow, I'll be writing them while I fly!), it's off to Frankfurt. Here's today's ride (photographed from Haneda's fantastic outdoor observation deck): D-ABYN, a Boeing 747-8 (serial number 37838, line number 1497, first flight 14 March 2014, delivered 31 March 2014, Lufthansa's 12th Boeing 747-8). Along with Thursday's flight on a 787, this aircraft type is a major aviation highlight of this trip. Looking forward to it, even though I wasn't able to score a window seat this time. Still, no window means a greater chance of 1) writing blog posts, and 2) sleeping (I've been up since about midnight Frankfurt time, so I probably will benefit from a few hours of that!)

Here's a couple of closer photographs (although the window layout here isn't photo friendly)

November Zulu Foxtrot

Here's my ride to Tokyo: ZK-NZF, a Boeing 787-9 (serial number 34335, line number 213, first flight 14 September 2014, delivered  27 September 2014, Air New Zealand's second Boeing 787-9)

Haerenga - The Journey

I'm sitting at Auckland Airport, waiting for the Boeing 787-9 which has just pulled into gate 16 to take me on the first leg of my journey to Tokyo. A thirty minute delay has just been announced, so hopefully this isn't a sign of things to come over the next 57 days. Thankfully there is no tight connection to worry about in Tokyo, where I will be staying for the next two days.

While I wait, I would like to share with you a song from the album "Aonua" that I first heard sitting on board an Air New Zealand Airbus A320 flying from Auckland to the Gold Coast back in 2008. The album was really the perfect choice for the in flight entertainment programme, and it brought tears to my eyes then as it underscored for me the new found spiritual connection I felt with the country of my birth as it disappeared into the distance behind me, while at the same time I was just starting to get a glimpse of the revelation of Bahá'u'lláh. Much as it was then, this song "Haerenga - The Journey" is really the perfect statement of my feelings at this moment. Enjoy!

Here are the lyrics, which I transcribed because I couldn't find them online. If someone can transcribe the Te Reo Māori and post it in the comments, I would appreciate that!

Take the journey, like an albatross, soaring through the sky. 

The time has come to leave now
For lands far away;
To fly across the ocean,
To return another day 

There's a force that pulls me
Out to the unknown,
On a brave new journey
Far away from home. 

It's a new beginning:
A truth that I must learn;
A path that I must travel,
One day I will return. 

Like an albatross I'm soaring
Up into the sky!
Off into the distance,
I'll spread my wings and fly! 

Take the journey, like an albatross, soaring through the sky.

Welcome to the Blog!

Welcome to my blog! I've tried blogging in the past, and never quite succeeded. Now I think I have a good reason to make this one happen: over the next 57 days, I will be travelling around the world on a journey that combines the two great loves of my life - The Bahá'í Faith and Aviation. In less than two weeks, I will be in Israel, to start a nine-day pilgrimage to the Bahá'í holy places in Haifa and Akká. More on that in another post soon. Before and after Israel, I will be travelling through Europe, seeking out places where the beloved Master, 'Abdu'l-Bahá, set foot on his epoch-making journey to the West a little over a century ago. I will then be continuing on that theme to North America, my first time to that continent. Along the way, I'll be trying to see friends who have winged their way to various parts of the world, as well as (#avgeek alert) trying to get a few new aeroplane types into my travel history (yes Nisy, you picked that one exactly right!). I'll do my best to share all these experiences with you as internet access allows.

I would like to dedicate this blog, and indeed my travels, in two directions. First, I would like to dedicate this to the youth around the world who are arising to serve their communities, making many personal sacrifices so that through the healing words of Bahá'u'lláh a new civilisation can begin to emerge. Your efforts, which so invigorated last weekend's New Zealand Bahá'í National Convention, are an inspiration to all humanity. On a more personal level, I would like to dedicate this blog and my trip to the person who did so much to nurture both these great loves of my life and set me soaring on wings of aluminium and carbon, love and spirt; my beautiful mother. How much she would have loved to join me on this trip (crazy itinerary and consequent risk of missing flights notwithstanding!), had she not winged her own flight to the Immortal Realm. And yet I know that every step along this journey, she will be alongside me. I love you mum.