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WELL IT'S good morning from the western side of Easter Island. The sun is just about to rise. Looking out over the sea here, I'm on my way home now. Just after midday I take off and start my long journey home somewhere out in that direction, but the first flight is going to be in completely the other direction to Santiago because at this time of year all the flights only come from Santiago. So, I have to go a third of the way back across the Pacific Ocean, and all the way back again and across to home. It's going to be a very long journey taking three days, so I'll catch you at the airport.
Well I've just made it through the check in at the airport, the Easter Island airport. This is the most remote airport in the world. It is 3500 kilometres from the nearest airport which is Santiago. It's a huge huge distance. They actually have this no-fly zone around the half way mark at around 1750 kilometres so only one aircraft can be in this airspace at any one time and that's in case there's an accident. That's pretty amazing because the no-fly zone covers an area about the size of Australia where only one aircraft is allowed.
Anyway, I'm in the waiting area, it's actually an outdoor one, and over there in the background when the light fixes up. There we are. So, there's the airplane out there going to take me on my first leg back to Santiago which is almost in exactly the opposite direction to where I'm heading. So, with me I've got my passport and a bunch of boarding passes that will get me all the way back to Brisbane taking three days, so this is the first day in the early afternoon. It is about 1:30 in the afternoon. I'll go to Santiago which takes about four and a half hours and I get in there about 9:30 tonight. Then tomorrow just after midnight I start the long haul across to the end of the next leg in Auckland. Anyway, I'm just going to relax. I've made it through and soon we will be boarding.
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