Just the Two of Us/Make my Heart Fly

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My delight at turning my back on the dregs of a British winter is tempered somewhat by the prospect of the looooong haul down to Auckland.  I shall, again, be flying Emirates, sadly not on one of their snazzy techno-planes but a good old-fashioned Boeing.  Apart from being steam-powered and lacking many of the gizmos that Airbus cram into their A380, the plane will also be worryingly deficient in another area......engines.  As far as I'm concerned you really cannot have too many engines.  Having once had the delight of landing with my head between my knees and smoke pouring from 50% of the engines (okay....one but it was still 50%) I am a big fan of engines (and, hilariously, engines have a BIG FAN).  Boeing, who clearly care nothing about my personal safety, have decided that a miserly TWO engines is sufficient to get me half way around the world.

I fly at 13:30 today and, provided at least half the engines keep working, I arrive safely in New Zealand in the early afternoon Friday (local time).   If you are think that seems like a chuffing long flight you are spot on.  In order to get the cheapest fare possible my plane goes via Dubai, Kuala Lumpur and Melbourne and one of the stops is an enormous 6.5 hours.  Some people learn foreign languages in less time than it will take me to get to Auckland :-(

More from Down Under...

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