The flight to Dubai from Auckland was a shade under 17 hrs with a 2 hr 10 min stop there then a further 7.5 hours to London.
It was slightly quicker on the return with 6.5 hours to Dubai and 15.5 hours to Auckland.
I did select seats next to the aircraft exit for extra legroom but the problem with that is there is an adjacent bulkhead in the centre section with 4 seats behind it. The bulkhead can support bassinets for infants, so you could imagine the sound. Also, with no seat in front of me (other than the rearward facing cabin crew seats) there is no pocket to put your stuff such as books, iPads, phones and paperwork.
On the return flight I barely managed 2 hrs rest. The plan was to stay awake for the short sector and sleep on the long one. Sleeping upright, whilst competing for the armrest has never been my strongpoint.
It was a great 3.5 weeks spent visiting my daughter and her fiancé who live in Henley-on-Thames (doing their OE).
We all flew sleazy jet to Glasgow to meet up with my partner, Diane. She arrived earlier and drove there catching up with friends and colleagues along the way. Managed to get to the Edinburgh military tatoo (great) and a great city too.
The "kids" flew back to Lon and Di and I "Tiki toured" for 5 days back via Aberdeen (Her Uni days), Ballater (beautiful), scenic route to Hexham (Hadriens wall - significant because I'm English and she's a Scot), scenic route to York then home to Henley.
From there Di headed to Venice and Tuscany to complete her 8 week holiday.
I went with the kids to explore Cornwall for 5 days. What a great place. We did Too much to list but one of the highlights was Port Issac where the series Doc Martin is filmed. On our way we passed many airfields such as Benson, High Wycombe, Lands end and a couple of other military bases.
Some great scenic routes to fly in MS2020 such as Lands end to Scilly islands.
On the last clear day before leaving, I did a whistle wind tour of part of the Cotswold's. I managed to visit Jeremy Clarkson's Didly Squat farm along with half of England (a 200m queue just to get into the shop). Then off to his new pub "The Farmers Dog" where the other half of England was located. He now has his own brews under the name Hawkstone....very nice and he uses ingredients from his farm. He must be making a mint with both those operations.
All up only 2 days of occasional showers with the worst when out walking Hadriens wall.
The only cash I spent was 50p for a toilet stop, the rest was all Google Pay from my Wise card.... quick.... convenient yet alarming. You pay for everything there.
All up a great trip and I can recommend Emirates and the A380. I just wish I didn't get the head cold the day after I got home.
Now to lose 5 or more kgs before my medical in 2 weeks.
