Day 1 - Oct 19 - We're off!

Hello All,

Finally, our epic Australian adventure has begun. We left Grimsby at 8:30 a.m. in a Niagara Air Bus limo - much more comfortable than the bone-shaker mini-bus that makes several stops along the way. That's how I got to the airport when I went to Italy. We will have the limo pick us up in 6 weeks when we land at Toronto close to midnight.

Our flight Air Canada flight #101 left at 12:30 p.m. and got into Vancouver at 2:35 p.m. Pacific time - there is a 3-hour time difference. We had almost 5 hours to use up before our Air New Zealand flight to Auckland which left at 7:15 p.m. We opted to fly with Air New Zealand because they have Premium Economy seating - wider seats, but more importantly, more leg room. The flight to Auckland was almost 14 hours (sigh). Thankfully, we both managed to sleep some. We arrived in Auckland at 5:00 a.m. on Friday morning because we lost a day when we crossed the international date line and we crossed 4 more time zones. We were delayed about 40 minutes getting off the plane because the jetway (the tunnel/ramp thing that connects the plane to the terminal) wouldn't work properly. So, we had to be towed to another jetway, but before the tow could start, the pilot had to do his entire pre-flight check list. Some people with tight connections were understandably narced. The flight attendant said it was the first time in 17 years of flying that she had ever seen a jetway failure. We had a 4-hour layover before our flight left at 9:00 a.m. It arrived in Sydney at 10:35 a.m. There is a 2-hour time difference between Auckland and Sydney.

The flight to Vancouver was quite smooth until we crossed over the Rockies - we had some turbulence there, but Doug handled it quite well. There was turbulence over the Pacific and the landing in Auckland was quite bumpy, so Doug was not in good shape there. We found a lounge with couches and he slept some which helped him get ready for the next flight. The landing in Sydney was really smooth, so overall, Doug is in very good shape. We have discovered the joys of noise-cancelling earphones. They block out most of the noise of the aircraft even when you aren't listening to music or a watching a movie.

Air New Zealand Premium Economy rocks. The seats were really comfortable and the leg room was wonderful. The seats reclined and had a large footrest. The food was really good. In the breakfast, there was fresh fruit salad, yogurt and warm croissants. I passed on the scrambled eggs and pancakes.

And so, that's how we got here. Hope you continue to travel along with us.Read more