There Is No Island

[budafist]

On Friday night we boarded the flight from Auckland to Niue. The flight went smoothly until we were to land. The pilot could not see the navigation lights so radioed the control tower to tell them to turn them on. Control tower said that from their end the lights were turned on. So they must have sent someone down to see if they were physically on. Meanwhile we circled above in anticipation.

Control tower: Ok, lights are out but we don't know why, technician is coming right away to check. Please stand by.

40 minutes later the decision was made that we couldn't keep circling above Niue because we would run out of fuel and still have no place to land so we diverted to the Kingdom of Tonga just over an hour away.

In Tonga we refuelled but we weren't allowed to leave the airplane. We wait. The boys are beside themselves because they want to leave the plane for cigarettes. Not going to happen.

Once we had refuelled, we're told that the navigation lights are not working and they know what is wrong with them, but they can't fix it. No one is landing in Niue any time soon. We have to go back to where we came from.

5 hours later we are back where we started at Auckland Airport.

A 3 hour flight from Auckland to Niue became a 10 hour flight from Auckland, around the Pacific and back to Auckland.

There *might* be a flight on Monday night but there are no guarantees. Airline accepts no responsibility because it was reasons beyond their control that we couldn't land. We could try and hit up Niue Airport for compensation, but Niue aren't exactly loaded and get foreign aid to keep the country going. So we are going to rebook later in the year.

I am not a happy camper.

[morea]

holy cow, I can't even imagine how frustrating and discouraging that must be! I am so sorry, buda!

[Red Kittie Kat]

aww buda ... I'm sorry darlin ... what a major bummer :(


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v54/RedKittieKat/smilies/bighug.gif

[urstwile]

Aww, man, Buda, I'm so sorry your vacation didn't go off as planned. That IS a major bummer.

[jessicam]

That sucks so much! I hope you can spend your week off doing something relaxing and fun anyway.

[Virgo Nightingale]

((((BUDA))))

That's really poopy, buda, I'm sorry to hear that you weren't able to get your vacation this week. Will you be going in to work this week or taking the week to relax at home and/or prepare for your move?

[Aerix]

I'm sorry that your trip didn't go like you wanted. I had a similar experience (not quite as bad, but close) a back in March.

[hewligan]

Wow, that really sucks.

Fingers crossed for you on Monday.

[Drazan]

What a pain in the butt. Are you still able to use the price discount you got for these tickets?

[Kool]

Damn buda, sorry, that really blows. :mad:

What about your hotel and such, will you be able to get that back?

[tuliptree]

Crumbs! What a bummer! Hope you get to go soon and have a spectacular time to make up for it.

[budafist]

Well, it's Monday and I back at work. Thanks for all your condolences. We have rebooked for end of August at no cost to us. Which is good.

We are also lucky the accomodation we picked didn't require a deposit - the other ones did. So we will just rebook that one too.

Just imagine, if I had booked this holiday a week earlier, we would be stranded on a tropical island for a undefined about of time. How cool would that be?

I emailed work so that they were prepared for me on Monday morning. My boss was so sweet. He made a big sign for me "Welcome to the Niue Hilton. Sorry the beach is closed, the weather forecast is shit and the bar has run out of alcohol. But the staff are friendly and will make your stay with us enjoyable"

So, back to the grind.

[urstwile]

Aww, that sign your boss made for you is so cute, Buda.

I hope you'll have better luck in August. I'm glad you didn't lose any money on the deal. :)

[budafist]

I am determined to have a great time in August!

We made the paper (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/story.cfm?c_id=346&objectid=10440701)! I'm near the back on the right if you have super eagle vision...

[budafist]

My boss went out at lunch time and bought me a pink lei. I'm in a pretty good mood now.

Crisis over.

Funny what a chain of fake flowers can do for ya.

[Samakimoto Graphics]

*Pole* Budha. :(

[Exodus]

Dang, that really sucks Buda! :(

[morea]

sounds like you've got a pretty good boss. At least that's a small consolation. :)

[CamarotaDesign]

woah buda, I just saw saw this thread. That totally sucks!!!!!!! they better give you back your money, or a free flight or something, what the hell!! sorry to hear. At least you guys didn't crash. Stupid incompetent airport, you'd think they'd check before they had planes coming in to make sure the lights worked.

[budafist]

Cam, They are letting us rebook at a later date. No charge but no compensation for the time wasted and anxiety.

Main problem is that Niue only has 1 flight to/from per week. So the lights are only used once a week and they certainly don't have a technician trained up enough to check the lights once a week. Imagine that for a job though. Being the technician for the airport lights for a once a week flight on a tropical island!

[Virgo Nightingale]

Are they hiring? :D

[budafist]

Maybe - after this fiasco!

[budafist]

Well, time goes by quickly.

Tonight we are going to try again to have a weeklong holiday in Niue. Hopefully we land this time. All my jealous coworkers are telling me there are terrible storms in Niue but I told them as long as we land this time, I don't care if we are stranded!

[morea]

best wishes, Buda... I hope works out for you this time!

[Two-Toe Tom]

hope you have a great time buda! :D

[tuliptree]

Happy travels! Hope you have great weather and a fantastic time!

[Virgo Nightingale]

Happy trails to you! Until we meet again...

[hewligan]

Ain't that always the way - flying's easy, but the landings can be damn hard ;)

Good luck Buda.

[CkretAjint]

Isn't that how the show LOST started out? ;)


(I know it didn;t, but still.... haha)

[frankster]

Hope you have lovely fun!

[budafist]

Weather looks promising. 20% chance of rain during the week but I'm used to that in Auckland. It rains at least 1 time a day here. As long as it is warm I'm happy.

[urstwile]

I hope you have a fantabulous time, Buda! :)

[SpugNothuson]

Happy Hols Buda.

They need to employ John McClane for future cases of the lights being out. He can set fire and explode stuff to ensure a safe landing zone. ;)

[Drazan]

Have a good time Buda!

[panzer]

ewww how horrid :(

unlucky buda

and hiiiiiiiii red ;)

[CkretAjint]

They need to employ John McClane for future cases of the lights being out. He can set fire and explode stuff to ensure a safe landing zone. ;)


LOL!!! :D

[Red Kittie Kat]

Hiya Panzer Baby!! :D ltns ;)

Have fun buda!!

[morea]

Ain't that always the way - flying's easy, but the landings can be damn hard ;)

Flying IS easy... all you have to do is throw yourself at the ground, and miss.

[Two-Toe Tom]

haha, that's a good method. another way is to get strong enough to lift your own weight, then just pick yourself up and presto! :D

[hewligan]

Flying IS easy... all you have to do is throw yourself at the ground, and miss.

Sure, but practising managing to distract yourself at exactly the right moment can be quite painful :D