The silver lining of flying....

Oh my goodness gracious me....... For the first time in my life I imagined how amazing it must be to be a pilot.  I would love to be able to see the sky more often from up there in my plane.

 The flight was in the evening about 6pm, from Wellington to Auckland and because I have flown around quite a few times in the last 4 months in New Zealand I didn't really think much about the plane loosing control!  

I mean it crosses all of our minds when we get on a plane ... doesn't it? 

Surely that's natural.... a huge bulk of metal flying thousands of feet above the earth is still a phenomenon to me, as is the telephone.

  I always listen to the safety thing at the beginning and count the seats to the nearest exit and smile about the not inflating one's life jacket in the plane  ... its just one of those things.  I wondered how the huge fat bearded man snoring next to me would get his life jacket on and through the exit and just thanked my lucky stars that there was no one in the middle seat.  

A glass of white wine in my hand, a tiny pack of bagel crisps and with a small plastic container of hummus I sat and read my book 'Mr Pip' (brilliant read) and occasionally looked out if the window at the pure blue expanse of sky and the flat bed of fluffy white dotted clouds beneath us and the amazing shapes of the north island below.  

As we approached Auckland and the sun went down we entered the most amazing cloudscape.  

I put my book away and sat in awe of this magical land that we only see in the sky and I thought what a wonderful thing I was experiencing.  The silver lining of flying. Creatures, shapes, textures, tubes, platforms, figures and mysterious white islands and architectural wonders surrounded us.  

It was absolutely stunning and I wished I could have sat in the cockpit with the pilot and driven the plane.  

How wonderful that must be to guide the plane through the sky and through these white lands which will never return again .... never be mapped and always moving around the earth, large puffs of moisture feeding the land. A completely new experience every time you fly  .... how exciting.... especially at dawn and dusk when the sun plays a major role i this fluffy paradise.  

Oh woe, to be a cloud in the skyeth!

...or a bird that has high flying capabilities! 

A very good friend bought me a log book of clouds for my birthday and I really wanted to bring it travelling but was worried about the weight of all my books and I left it at home.  :(

Still regret it but will be able to log these when I return to the UK.

I will miss New Zealand clouds the most.  

I will miss the air of New Zealand.

I will miss the peace and the quiet.

This truly is a magnificent landscape and I am not just talking about the land.

I could have died in that plane and I wouldn't have minded as it was so beautiful.

Captain Lou and the Fluffs.