Flying High

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On a recent trip to the capital I was again shown how the right attitude makes things a lot more pleasant.

An early morning alarm woke me to the cold snap that the North Island was experiencing. One of the blessed things about my life is that I no longer need to wake via an alarm, so as you can imagine, waking up when it was still dark to sudden loud sound was not the most pleasant thing.

However, it would be fun as I was about to fly off down the island to Wellington and stay with my son for a few days.

All packed and ready to go, my friend Kathy arrived in her puffer jacket and fingerless gloves, and at 6.30, we headed off to the airport. Now I am a bit of a techie geek and love using apps to make life so much easier. Air N.Z.’s app is a winner as I was able to check in the night before and get my boarding pass all sorted right there on my phone. And as I only had a cabin bag, there was no need to check in a bag. (I try to be as minimalist as possible – even in the cold!).

Kathy and I had time for coffee and a catch up before the call came across the intercom announcing boarding open.

Mask on, phone open to the boarding pass, I was on my way.

I found my seat, which I had specifically picked down the back. I don’t know why I prefer the back seats, maybe closer to the toilet???? Not that I get sick, but in case I need to pee, which is very likely after a coffee.

I parked my carry-on luggage into the overhead locker and settled into my seat.

This was when the right attitude kicked in. Looking down the aisle, I happened to see a young family heading towards me. You know the thoughts, ‘oh, I hope they stop soon.’ The mother was carrying a wee baby who was crying, well, more like screaming. Dad and junior were in the lead, and sure enough, they kept coming.

Nooooooo, worst nightmare.

The screaming wasn’t abating, and my thought was, ‘bloody hell, we’re not even up in the air yet when the cabin pressure can play havoc with bubba’s ears’.

Nothing for it as mumma headed towards the empty seat next to me. My maternal feelings came to the fore, and my heart went out to her. I pictured my daughter who had recently brought two babies of similar ages over from Sydney, and the flight home had been, (according to her):

“mildly punishing flight as Jack was awake for 90%”

Mumma tried to calm baby, but bubs was not having a bar of it. With a mask on, it was hard to convey the empathetic look I gave her, but thankfully the flight attendant came to all our rescue within just a few minutes. She offered me a seat at the front of the plane, not only helping me but giving mumma an extra bit of space.

I followed her down the aisle, and there was the empty seat with the bonus of being TWO empty seats. So not only did I have the quiet, but I had space also.

It was a stunning flight! I had a beautiful view from the window seat of the mountains and coastline as we flew down the North Island to Wellington.

And to fill in my time? Why I wrote this blog!

Enjoy some images from the flight.

Click the first image to launch the gallery.