Dust

That disk by the lamp in the above picture is actually the sun...


Upon swooshing into Sydney’s airspace, the sky turned a ruddy red colour, like being inside of a kidney, and the wind upped its game. Turbulence saw everyone strapped into their seats, looking out of the window anxiously…we were only 2000ft up and yet nothing could be seen of Sydney, which should have all its light blaring out like a beacon at 5am! The air was consumed by an intense dust storm, the like of which my flight partner, born and bred in Sydney, had never before seen in her life. The pilot made a few attempts and we circled loops over the Tasman Sea for an hour. Visibility was so low they couldn’t detect the airport, much less the runway! Just as we were about to give up and divert to Brisbane (not helpful, considering our connecting flight from Sydney to Auckland left in about 3 hours) the pilot made another attempt. We made it! The pilot sounded genuinely shocked, which was rather disconcerting, but we made it, so its all good. Now, sitting in Sydney airport for our connection (Please please come!) The news has said that Sydney city is taking a day off today – the dust is so severe. The air is actually orange, as if the world outside has been set in Orangina. Mental. What a welcome to Oceania, huh? Its like we just landed on Mars.