Flying high (naturally)
I have been away from Granite Glen for the past few days – away from home, away from Axel Rose, away from my hectic laundry room, away from my snail-paced internet connection… oh how I miss it all (well the first one anyway!).
We have been at a cattle sale (which went quite well) and then this morning, I farewelled my loved ones and flew from Rocky to Brissy (Rockhampton to Brisbane, if we are being formal, and RockVegas to BrisVegas if we are being dags!).
As I took off from Rocky in the light drizzling rain, I quite forgot I had my camera with me (I know, seems impossible but I do get quite forgetful like that!). And as I recalled the weather forecasts that warned my destination might be completely flooded (‘reminiscent of the 74 floods’ according to some news broadcasts), I decided it might be an idea to record my flight. You know, in case I never got home again. (Why yes, I was feeling a little dramatic at the time, why do you ask? Blame it on my daughter who does farewell scenes to put Scarlett O’hara to shame!)
I contemplated using my mobile phone to take pics. Then I remembered the pre-flight spiel and contemplated being the cause of the plane falling out of the sky. So I didn’t. Then I remembered: I own a camera. (It’s true!) And I happened to have it with me…
Have I ever told you how much I adore flying? Well, despite my occasional dramatics, I do… it thrills me.
And when one happens to have a terrific window seat (thankyou lovely lady at the check-in who gave me this one without me asking) and one is peering at this teeny world under the wing of one’s plane, then it’s really imperative that THIS one makes the most of the experience…
It’s kinda surreal and magical and make-believe, looking down on the tiny scale model of a world you know exists, but from an utterly different perspective…
The thin scribbles of of creeks, dribbling into the heavier pen-squiggles of rivers, the squarish thatches of forest and the fun shadow shapes of clouds chasing their cotton ball reasons-for-being across the landscape…
And even when the clouds all gang up and blanket out the show below… the eiderdown quilt is kinda groovy on it’s own.
Hello Qantas kangaroo! (Or as twitter king Ashton Kutcher once referred to it: ‘the flying rat’.)
Hello propellor – I’m watching you! Don’t you DARE go dropping off or anything, ‘kay? NOT that I am anticipating such an event, but IMAGINE if I managed to document it happening (and I am sorry to report that I DID try to calculate if the camera might survive a crash to showcase the result… I am after all an ex-news snapper. Sorry. Old habits die hard. So to speak.)
This bit, as we descended into the cloud as BrisVegas drew comfortingly closer, was a tad rough. But did I put that camera down? No siree. My fellow passengers clutched their armrests while I clicked away. I suspect they were muttering about the loon in 10D. Heh.
Ooh look. Wheels down. A good sign. And a teensy glimpse of the outskirts of my old city…
Not sure where this is – somewhere industrial.
Now the smaller organised lego blocks of residential rooves… I love how humans have to have things in ROWS… (not me though, of course, that goes without saying!). All that regularity is allowed to be broken with the occasional squared-off hankerchief of green…
Getting closer now – I see the printing press sheds of The Courier Mail! *waves to in-laws somewhere to the right!*.
Hello Gateway Bridge! (Anyone who has ever driven over this thing knows it is HUGE!)…
Considering it was raining steadily, the brown Brisbane River doesn’t look TOO bad from this angle…
The bit where my tummy always lurches just a little… the bit where everything seems to slow down and the plane seems to hover and hesitate as we come into land…
And I feel like saying:
NO. I don’t think you are straight on to the runway… GUN IT! Let’s go round AGAIN!
Luckily the pilot generally ignores my telepathic pleas and carries on about his/job. He did this time too…
And then we were taxiing, and then still.
In rainy old Brisbane.
And it all seemed a little like a vivid dream. Isn’t it LUCKY I had my camera to prove it was all real?
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How bout you?
Good traveller or nervous flyer?
What are your secrets to making a journey fun or at least not too boring?
15 Comments
Teri
How about irratated flyer? Love flying… loathe airlines. Take-off and landings are my favorite!
I don’t know if there is any way to make the ride fun unless you score first class seating. I bring a book if I’m going to be awake and my pashmina if I’m wanting to sleep (you can pull it around yourself so you don’t look like a loon while sleeping).
Teri´s last blog post ..Cooking at Ingredients- Italian- Part Two
Nancy in Iowa
I used to love flying – not any more. Too much hassle. Seats aren’t big enough. Lots of stuff wrong with the concept!
However – I am about to embark on my favorite kind of travel – a solo road trip! A massive road trip. If my car comes home from the car doctor in time, I plan to leave Thurs on a journey that will take at least 3 weeks and span about 14 states and 3500* miles. Going to Savannah, GA to see my grandson (and the adults, too), then on to North Carolina to visit younger sister, then to north central PA to see elder sister, then home to Iowa.
Leenie
Wow! You had such a nice clean window and and newish looking wing and prop to frame your photos. Very fun to virtually ride with you.
I’m with you on loving the window seat. I come out with my nose squished from gawking out at the scene below. Never grow tired of it. Saw a cloud full of lightning over the ocean at sunset from ‘way, ‘way above. Super cool.
Leenie´s last blog post ..JAY AND SQUIRREL-The Movie
Lydia
I LOVE to fly! I don’t enjoy incredibly long flights — more than 4 hours is not so fun. And usually involved an ocean and nothing to look at for ages on end.
Take-off is the best. It is just lots of power!
ellie k
Last evening on tv we watched a show called big ships, they were loading a live stock ship with cattle in Australia. It was very interesting to see the water and feed system on the ship. The cattle were in pens and free to move around. I though of you all while we watched. There was a ship crew but a group of cowboys to care for the cattle. The ship could hall 20,000 cattle and was going back to load 70,000 sheep for the next trip.
ellie k
The ship could carry 20,000 not hall.
Kelly
Great photojournal!! I’m glad you documented it so we know you really did it.
😉
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Amanda
Your here!! 🙂
Amanda´s last blog post ..Dear Darl- it’s October 11 Flood
Cheryl
Great photography as always and don’t you know it’s an Aussie city when you see all those red roofs below!
Cheryl´s last blog post ..Not Much Bigger than a Thumb
sara perkins
Love flying looking out at the clouds, amazes me how something that heavy can climb up that far into the sky. Great photos!
Jayne
Haven’t flown much but I enjoyed it when I did.
Loved your photos 🙂
Hope you have a great time in Brissy 🙂
Jayne´s last blog post ..Dads not strictly a picky eaterunless its his two pet loathings
naomi
i’ve only flown commercially twice (a return flight to and from) in 1993 when my mom became ill in calgary. it’s a 1 hour flight from saskatoon to calgary so the flight was all incline, 2.5 seconds of level then all decline. my ears were clogged for days after each flight. i got a window seat to watch the show. my sister described it as being on a bus with smoother roads. she was right. but the scenery was incredible. so i guess that makes me a good traveller.
the only other flight i had was in a cesna one prop plane to go sky diving (my first flight). after that a large commercial beast was a bit of a let down.
oh, btw, it’s great to see the plural of roof as rooves instead of roofs. that drives me bananas but is extremely common here now.
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Catch the Kids
You flew over my place! I would have waved.
Catch the Kids´s last blog post ..Catch Plays
A Cajun Down Under
Beautiful blue skies, then icky rain. Great photos.
I’m a pretty good traveler, but then I have to be. To break up the boredom, I recommend making the journey with 2 toddlers in tow. It is a lot of things, but never boring. 🙂
A Novel Woman
Hey I’ve been away too, and normally I love to fly but this time I was on a teensy tiny plane and that thing bucked like a bronco with a bee on its arse.
Not. Fun.
When it landed with a thump, all of us yelped.
A Novel Woman´s last blog post ..Joel Burns Bares his Soul