We are on the road again. Figuratively speaking of course, since there are no roads where we are going. We will be flying from Rarotonga nearly due West to avoid entering the forecast ash cloud contour, then turn South and, descending to 16,000 feet, we would proceed to Christchurch, flying below the ash cloud, which has been slowly rotating and spreading in the Southern hemisphere. As the result of this unfortunate nature’s crop dusting effort, dozens of flights were canceled in Australia and New Zealand lately, and the airports are full of angry and tired travelers who were stuck there for the last week or more.
We were very concerned for the well being of our aircraft and monitored our aerosol instruments continually through the flight. We have never encountered ash, which we were very happy about. Finally we landed in Christchurch at about 4 pm local time, after flying over some stunning mountain ranges located to the East of the city.
You may have noticed that this post is dated June 26. We actually left on June 25 from Cook Islands but since we crossed the dateline, we arrived a day later. A whole day is now missing from our lives! How unfair is that. Oh well, we will get it back when we get two 4th of July’s on the way back North.