I had no plans to travel in 2004, so I was doing some virtual travelling on the Internet by monitoring Craig and Barbara Johnston's email list, which was documenting their trans-Pacific voyage on their 44' sailboat - the SV Sequoia. Craig and Barbara were sailing from their home in Portland, Oregon, USA to Brisbane, Australia (since completed in September 2004).  They started this adventure in March 2003 and arrived in Auckland, New Zealand in November the same year.  In the process, they sailed down the coast of North America and across the eastern portion of the South Pacific, stopping in French Polynesia and a good collection of the other tropical islands along the way.  They moored in Auckland Harbour for several months while they toured New Zealand and waited for suitable weather to continue with their voyage westward across the South Pacific.

So despite not intending to travel, I had promised myself if Craig and Barbara asked for volunteers to crew any of the remaining legs of their voyage,  I would try to take advantage of the opportunity. Well, they put out the call and I responded! I have lots of experience piloting both boats and aircraft, but I had no sailing experience to offer, much less offshore sailing experience. After a bit of communicating back-and-forth, both the Johnstons and I decided that I would be sufficiently useful to stand watches, and I could learn what I needed to know about sailing along the way.  Based on the strength of our agreement, I put this trip to New Zealand and Fiji together with only three week's lead time.

The Johnstons proposed to leave Auckland shortly after my arrival on April 26th, and spend a few days day sailing up the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand to Opua.  This would give me a chance to learn a few things about sailing and about their sailboat Sequoia.  Then we would stay in Opua a few days until the weather was favourable for an open ocean passage to Fiji.  Once we arrived in Suva, Fiji, I would depart Sequoia after a few days, and fly back to Auckland on May 17th for a short stay in New Zealand before leaving for home on May  21st.

What follows is my narrative and photos documenting my experiences.

April 24, 2004 - Victoria, BC, Canada to Auckland, New Zealand

I am finally on my way to New Zealand today. My GPS says it is 5,810 nmi in a SW direction to Auckland, New Zealand airport from Victoria. My ticket says 5,880, so pretty close! Did you know there are sparrows living in the main foyer of Victoria International Airport? This is my first time in the new terminal and boarding gate area.  Very nice!

The flight on Horizon Airlines from Victoria to Seatac Airport was on time and uneventful.  After clearing US Customs and  Immigration, and also clearing security checkpoints twice, I finally depart on Alaska Airlines flight to Los Angeles.  Along the way to the departure gate, I caught a glimpse of Mt. Ranier.  While we were enroute to LA, the pilot decided to give us a close up tour of Mt. Ranier.  We are flying at 33,000' which is right on top of a layer of air pollution. There is a jet flying parallel to our course, but they are about 7,000' higher and they are generating a contrail. I think there is also an earth shadow in this photo because the sun is setting behind us.

We arrived in Los Angeles on time, and I found the gate for Qantas in the Tom Bradley International Terminal without a problem. There was only one security check. I suppose it was simpler than Seatac because I was leaving the USA, instead of entering.  It's 11pm and I'm in my seat aboard the Qantas flight to Auckland. This 747 is pretty deluxe, with video displays for each seat, full featured program controls, and much better seats than the Alaska Airlines 737-800. The aircraft is only about half full, and I have 3 seats to myself - a bonus!

Qantas served dinner about an hour out of LA. About an hour later they handed out a bag of snacks and a bottle of water, and then the lights went out so everyone could bed down. I actually slept off and on for the next 6 hours or so - a first for me sleeping on aircraft.

Next >>> Auckland