Confession: I didn’t even know the Southern Lights were a thing.
But now I know our Earth has Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) and Aurora Australis (Southern Lights). I’ve mentioned several times here how high seeing the Northern Lights are on my bucket list, but now I’d be more than happy to settle for the Southern Lights.
It’s peak season in the Southern Hemisphere for sighting these. Don’t ask me to explain what they are or how they came to be, but I do know I just missed an Air New Zealand flight for the ages.
Last night a a chartered Air New Zealand Boeing 767 took off from Dunedin Airport on the South Island of New Zealand. The mission: catch the Southern Lights. The flight left at 9PM and returned at 4AM. During the 7hr #flighttothelights passengers took in some amazing sights:
The flight path zigzagged over the International Date Line twice. One woman turned 60 two times during the flight…
Tickets were priced at roughly NZ$2000 ($1405 USD) each for economy and NZ$4000 ($2810 USD) for business class. It took only a few days for tickets to sell out for this special charter.
Maybe next year? There are hopes this flight will run again next year, though Air New Zealand is retiring its 767. You almost need those dated, uncomfortable business class seats found on a 767 to keep from sleeping through this…
Interesting reading what are the chances of future flights using business class seats in 2018? How are they advertised, do we need to register interest?
Check with Air New Zealand on Twitter. Unfortunately, I don’t have an answer. Would love to be on the flight as well!