I have no words

Trip Start Dec 20, 2007

Trip End Jan 06, 2008

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Flag of Australia Sydney, Australia
Sunday, December 23, 2007

...except that I *do* have words. Many many many words. Let me sum up this is the most luxurious event of my life thus far. Hands down.

So... we made our way from the SFO Red Carpet Club to the gate just in time for them to announce boarding. Business class boards first with First Class, so we got right on. All four of us were seated on the top deck of the 747-400, Travis and I in 16GH, and Jerry and Mary Ellen in 13GH.

Imagine, if you will, a La-Z-Boy. On an airplane. With about 8 different things you can adjust to make yourself more comfortable. With the same recline as a la-z-boy, so that you can lie comfortably back to sleep, but also roll onto your side relatively comfortably as well. Add
a personal entertainment unit (TV)

Business class seats!

. Oh, and about 4 feet of leg room. These were our seats. Also included in the package were noise cancelling headphones, pillow, blanket, and an amenity kit which included, among other things, an eyemask and socks.

So after we sort of giddly began to settle in, The crew comes up (the flight deck being located forward of the upper deck business cabin). Jerry says to one of the pilots, "You think we might be able to get a look at that flight deck?" And the next thing wee knew, we four were
chatting up three of the four pilots, with Mary Ellen sitting in the co-pilot seat in the cockpit. It came out that I myself am a cockpit designer (well, you know, sort of), and the Captain was impressed. "I majored in history," he shrugged.

The four pilots fly the plane in two shifts -- two of them sleeping in a lie flat berth behind the cockpit while the other two are on. The second pair of pilots were both chicks, which I thought rocked. After photo ops in the right seat for Mary Ellen, Amy, and Travis, we were
served champagne back at our seats.

Dinner was served after take off

First Officer Mary Ellen

. I had the filet mignon - one of three choices - with red wine, a shrimp appetizer, and cheesecake for dessert. After watching one of the movies, we were pretty tired. We had already set watches to Sydney time, and it was about 9:30p... which
made it the wee hours pacific time... which... I don't even want to know what it was Central.

The first time I woke up the flight was about half over. We were approaching the international date line on the map. Our flight path took us directly over Honolulu (undoubtedly by
design, in case of trouble) and *almost* over the Four Corners of the globe -- that is to say the intersection of the equator and the international date line. Almost but not quite.

I dozed until 4am Sydney time. I figured that since that was 6am NZ time, it was time to get up, since I'm trying to adjust more to NZ than SYD. For now. We had omlette, ham, and croissant with OJ and tea for breakfast, and then watched the Bourne ultimatum. Well, I did anyway. By the time the movie was over, we could see the coast of Australia out the window as we flew south.

Right now we're sitting in the Air NZ Koru Club waiting for our 11:45 flight to Auckland (AKL)

The finer points of cockpit design

. I've just had a shower (a shower!! in the airport!!) and Travis is sitting next to me eating bacon and eggs from the buffet that are making my stomach rumble. I am typing very fast because I'm on the laptop and I (stupidly) checked our NZ power outlet adapter -- so I'm trying to be quick and communicate all the amazingness! Next up: the First Class cabin of the 777!! My airplane!!

In short, the 747 business class ride was the most enjoyable time Ive ever spent on an airplane, and it was 14hours! 14 hours never went so fast. I'm only glad that we get to do it again on the way home!! This is definitely one of those times where the Journey is part of the
Vacation itself.

More later... I'm sure Travis will want to fill in the gaps.

~amy

Can't figure out how to make it show our route across the pacific on the map. ARGH!!

Post your own travel photos for friends and family More Pictures

Waking up in the "morning"

Air New Zealand Koru Club, Sydney

Our 747-400 - She was a good ship

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Comments

kxl19 on Dec 23, 2007 at 03:04AM

Flight Deck?
No way - you guys got to see the flight deck before departure? You're so lucky (and brave), because I'm nervous to ask to do that before flight... half expecting that if I ask before or during flight, they'll the FAM will come out and slam me into a ground... you know, I was on the No Fly list at one point...

caitlinq on Dec 23, 2007 at 05:49AM

Eeee!
Ohhhh wow, that sounds so amazing! We're home in MD and I was reading parts of your entry out loud to my family. Sean is incredibly jealous of you for getting to fly business class to Australia. He and Dad are also wondering which airline you were on to Sydney (as they have some experience with that route! *g*).

Hope the rest of your trip is equally amazing!