Napier to Hong Kong
8am Napier Airport
Napier Airport was
originally an aerodrome, a giant reminder of which appears out of the gloomy
morning. An ancient fixed winged aircraft is pictured beside a shack, a small
crowd awaiting departure. The shack is labeled. “Koru lounge” [1] it reads.
10,000 people arrived on the morning of
June 1932 to witness the opening of Napier Areodrome.
A similar crowd witnessed the arrival of
Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith, a month later, in the “Southern Cross” [2] to mark
the opening of the “New Napier Carnival”, hosted by the aerodrome. This was
said to mark a beginning of a great era for Napier and the wider Hawkes Bay.
But it was not until 1964 when Sir Hector
McGregor [3] formly opened Hawkes Bay
Airport.
Now here we are 50 years later awaiting the
first of our three flights taking us to London via Auckland and Hong Kong. We
feel quite fortunate to discover we are able to check our 18.5kg luggage here
and, fingers crossed we’ll see it when we land in Blighty 33 hours from now.
10 am Auckland Airport
Compared to Napier, Auckland is a sprawling
metropolis. The day is a little overcast and as we make our way along the
footpath it threatens to rain. We don’t mind. I like the walk, appreciate it
for what it is… the last stretch of the legs before cattle class. And Nicholas
doesn’t mind either, he’s riding along on the baggage trolley.
I’m not sure how the conversation started.
I think Nicholas asked about the difference between our passports or maybe I
was telling him the close shave I had with getting the passport and visa
returned to me in time. Either way, it ended with a rather loud remark from
Nicholas about how I’ll be nearly fifty in ten years time, how old I’ll be, how
I’ll be ripe for playing Santa at school with my own big white beard and bushy
eyebrows.
I only acted shocked and appalled. Really I
don’t mind. There is small group of expectant, nervous travellers smiling and
giggling along with the conversation.
Soon we are in conversation with Ryan, a
nineteen year old boyfriend heading to Hong Kong to meet the potential in-laws.
He wears an open smile and a Superman T-shirt not dissimilar from the one
Nicholas has, minus the red undies outside his pants.
We spend a few minutes
talking about how far Hong Kong is. How long the flight will be, some 9,178km!
Is that most of the way? England is reported as being 12,000km, two thirds at
least. This is good news. Surely.
But a little I check on the inflight map and much of the
journey is North and North-West. We’ll still have quite a way to go from Hong Kong.
Aircraft Stats
Napier - Auckland
|
Auckland – Hong Kong
|
Hong Kong – London
|
|
Aircraft
|
Q300
|
Airbus A340-300
|
Boeing 777-300ER
|
Length
|
25.68 m
|
63.6 m
|
73.9 m
|
Wingspan
|
27.43
m
|
60.3
m
|
64.8 m
|
Passenger seating range
|
50–56
|
295
|
451
|
Typical cruise speed
|
528 km/h
|
881 km/h
|
905 km/h
|
Takeoff run
|
1,178 m
|
3,050 m
|
3,050 m
|
Range
|
2,034 km
|
17,000 km
|
14,690 km
|
Crew
|
2
|
2
|
2
|
[1] The Koru Lounge is the name for Air New Zealand's
network of domestic airline
lounges in New Zealand.
[2] Southern Cross is the name of the Fokker F.VIIb/3m trimotor monoplane which in 1928 was flown by Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith and his crew in the first ever trans-Pacific flight to
Australia from the mainland United States, about 7,250 miles (11,670 km).
[3] Air Marshal
Sir Hector Douglas McGregor, KCB, CBE,
DSO,
RAF, (15 February 1910 – 11 April 1973) was a senior Royal Air Force
commander.
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