Tuesday, December 4, 2012

An almost daily terror

I've been up in Auckland for the past couple of days for the NZ Film Awards (congratulations to Samoan language film, The Orator, for picking up the bulk of awards) and just flew back today.

When we left, it was the most beautiful day.  Sunshine.  Blue skies.  Clear all the way up the island.  One of the volcanoes in the center of the island erupted recently and it was cool to look down and see it still wreathed in smoke.

Today, flying back, was a different story.

It was drizzling in Auckland, with those thick, heavy clouds that tend to hang over the city for weeks on end.  We punched through them, and almost immediately, turbulence started bouncing us around.  It wasn't too bad, but bad enough that the flight attendants announced they wouldn't serve tea or coffee because of safety concerns.

I read my book for a while, and stared out at the clouds below us.  Then we started going down, heading into Wellington.  And things got really, really bumpy. I heard a woman ahead of me tell her companion she was scared.  The wind buffeted us and tossed the plane around like a kitten with a ball of yarn.

But we made it down.  And on the first approach, which on a windy day like today, is a little unusual.  I've seen flights take three shots before actually touching down on the runway.  Everyone clapped and cheered when we hit, and the flight attendants made jokes about not charging us extra for the roller-coaster ride.

Have you ever been on a super-bumpy flight?

6 comments:

  1. Once, I was on a small commuter plane (seating about 10 passengers). It was horrible, everything rattled and vibrated, and I was grateful to get off alive. Never again.

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  2. My parents just had their worst flight ever, and they flew over Hurricane Sandy on the way to Aruba yet had no bumpiness at all!

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    1. I guess hurricanes are low to the ground, so you can fly over them.

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  3. Lord, have I ever. Even with Xanax (which I absolutely MUST take or I ain't gettin' on no plane), turbulence pushes my Catholic button to full throttle and I'm begging Mary, all the angels and saints, and all who've gone before me to ask the Lord to just please chill with the turbulence. GAH!
    Some Dark Romantic

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  4. GREETINGS, EARTHLING!! Yes, while I’m here for this existence finite, gottawanna run back to the Elysian Fields soon; however, take anything and everything you wanna from our wonderfull, plethora-of-thot to write the next, great masterpeace -if- I can but kiss your gorgeous, adorable feets and/or cohesively cuddle withe greatest, ex-mortal-girly-ever to arrive in Seventh Heaven. Think about it. Do it! Get back with me Upstairs, k? God bless you, doll: pleasure-beyond-measure is waiting in the Great Beyond for you and eye. Love you. PS: the musical term MORENDO means ‘dying-away in tone-and-time’. How very apropos for U.S. …thewarningsecondcoming.com

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