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Tomorrow we time travelled!
Departing Auckland at 11pm on Friday obviously an hour later it was Saturday. Then, about an hour later, just as we'd finished consuming our beef stew followed by ice cream and cheese and biscuits, something mysterious happened....we jumped back 24 hours and it was early Friday again. So, how did this amazing event happen on a 777? Was it dragon power as our otherwise ordinary plane was decorated with a depiction of Smaug? Or was it that we simply crossed The International Date Line?
The rest of the flight across The Pacific was relatively uneventful. In places it was very bumpy due to lots of turbulence. Unusually, I successfully managed 2 or 3 dozes. Then for breakfast we enjoyed scrambled eggs, chicken sausage and bacon.....and took a photo for this post!
Then, after a flight that had lasted almost 12 hours, we landed in LA at 2pm on Friday, 9 hours before we had taken off in Auckland. Then the fun began....
We were only in LA for 2 hours before getting back on the same plane to resume our journey. Nevertheless, rather than going straight to the departure gate to await boarding, we had to queue through passport control and back through security. I'm not completely naive and accept we need security when flying, but as we stayed airside, mingling with others who were also still airside and, therefore, had previously been through all the checks, isn't it a tad over the top to go through it all again? When I went through Singapore in transit, it was a simple case of leaving the plane and walking to the departure gate for the next plane. Yes, there was another security check just before boarding, but it was all so much simpler and I was seated in the plane within 30 minutes of leaving the previous craft.
Nonetheless, we were back on our plane, and in the same seats in time for departure.
It was great to travel back in time and cross the International Date Line for the first time in my life, but in future I shall probably try to avoid transits through the US where possible. But having travelled back in time, while queuing to go through the formalities at least we knew we had still gained time rather than wasting it.
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