Time To Spare Travel By Air

After a month in New Zealand catching up with family and friends we were longing to return to the warmth of the Caribbean. Winter in NZ was too cold, our blood seems to have thinned. To return to Trinidad from New Zealand we needed a minimum of two flights via Houston but we also decided to go to Orlando and visit the Searey factory so that meant an additional two flights at least.

After much thought, we booked a series of flights that would get us back to Trinidad and Eleuthera in good time. We have become a little wary of air travel this year with flight delays, cancellations, and lost and damaged luggage so we booked with care.

AKL-IAH-MCO

Check-in at Auckland was a breeze and apart from some re-allocation of weight between bags (boat parts are heavy!), we were quickly ready to depart. We settled into our seats and had a great trip up looking forward to a return to the warmth.

Fourteen hours later in Houston, the customs queue was tiny compared to our last trip through so things are looking up and we had a 2-hour connection to Orlando. After claiming our bags we went to check in for the next leg. We were directed to the United transfer desk and a queue at least 4 or 5 groups long including one guy with 3 trolleys laden with 15 or 16 large cardboard boxes! With one person on the counter, the line was going nowhere. Some discrete enquiries revealed another transfer desk in the adjacent terminal so with directions we went down escalators, up and down in lifts, along corridors, and found the desk. Another bag weight re-allocation (boat parts are still heavy) our 25kg bag became 50lbs and we snuck in with 148lbs of luggage in 3 bags. We turned around to find most of the other people in the previous queue had followed us but not the man with the boxes.

Missed Opportunity

The plane to Orlando loaded on time but then there was a big delay with some technical issue. Finally, for some reason, they needed to offload 12 people from a full flight and were offering money, a ticket to the same destination the next day, and a hotel. At first, we thought they said $500 but it was actually $2500 each as one girl went up to check. We were too slow in the stampede but there were some very happy young backpackers who had a huge bonus. We have no idea why the people needed to come off as it was a B737 and only a 2 1/2-hour flight.

We made Orlando and the hotel late that night, very glad to see a bed. Dinner consisted of a prepacked ham sandwich of indeterminate age and an expiry date some distance in the future. Not sure of the food value but it filled a gap.

Orlando and Hurricane Idalia

We knew there was a hurricane forming in the Gulf of Mexico between Cuba and Mexico and heading for Florida. By morning it was a fully fledged storm with a name and likely to be at least a grade 3 hurricane. The local television channels were beside themselves with excitement with endless predictions of tracks, landfalls, and severity with many on-site broadcasts from locations along the West coast of Florida. These even banished Trump and his legal woes from the news.

The only question for us was would the storm affect us in Orlando as we were due to fly out for Trinidad the next day. On balance it seemed unlikely so we decided to continue with our travel plans and visit the Searey factory in Tavares about 50 miles away.

Searey – Progressive Aerodyne

After grabbing a rental from down the road (a $ 17-a-day car became $55 after tolls, taxes, and fees?), it was off to Tavares and the Searey factory. Our drive there was a complete contrast to a recent trip from Chicago to Oshkosh in Wisconsin. Florida appears to be one big subdivision with rows of housing all down the Florida Turnpike and no sign of any enterprise to support it. Variety consisted of multi-unit developments in the less desirable areas and expensive-looking gated communities in others. In contrast, the motorway in Wisconsin was lined with factories, warehouses, and businesses. Interestingly Florida’s population is around 21 million and Wisconsin’s only 6 million with both states having similar land areas.

Arriving in Tavares, a small town on a lake we went in search of Progressive Aerodyne to try and find out what was going on.

The factory is located right on a small lake complete with a launching ramp for the planes and an old slot for a boat lift. An ideal place to run the operation.

The current owners are Chinese investors who have stopped funding the enterprise which is effectively shut down. As the largest amphibian manufacturer in the USA, they have laid off all but a couple of staff even though they have back orders for several aeroplanes and over 1200 existing aircraft to support with parts and knowledge.

The CEO was the only person there but we were not sure if we were going to find anyone as he had not replied to emails or phone calls. He was a very nice guy but unfortunately not a manager or a salesman – he is an engineer. We went down to the parts department where they have orders for parts from all over but are struggling to fill them with many things out of stock and no money to purchase them. We found an order from another NZ Searey owner which is nearly finished but when we tried to add things to the order discovered the parts we wanted were not there. In the end, we left with some undercarriage legs (similar to boat parts) and left some other things on backorder.

Hopefully, the existing owners or some new investors will start operations again.

Bar on the Lake – Lake Harris Hideaway

Five minutes drive from the Searey factory on another lake was a likely-looking bar/restaurant called the Lake Harris Hideaway complete with a dock for boats and seaplanes. A perfect location for lunch but the menu was fried everything mostly with cheese. A few locals were propping up the bar, suspiciously viewing us as strangers. We decided that lunch might be better elsewhere.

Although the food menu was awful the site on the lake and the trees were spectacular and everyone but us had a pickup truck.

Google found us The Twisted Biscuit Diner down the road so we headed there for some local cuisine. Biscuits in the south are scones to us but we had not seen them fried before or filled with mac and cheese. This was a much busier more popular hangout and we soon had lunch after establishing our credentials that we were not from around here.

Weather

While we were tripping around, cyclone Idalia was getting closer to Florida. It was expected to impact the coast further north so we thought it would have little effect on our travel plans.

By the time we got back to our hotel, it was raining. Not much wind and the rain was not really heavy. State-wide warnings were out for high winds and heavy rain. The local TV stations were by now showing live shots of west coast weather with reporters on the beach making all sorts of predictions. Local authorities in many low-lying areas were evacuating residents as the likely landfall was now in the top corner of Florida near the Georgia border. The forecasting by the NOAA Hurricane centre is very informative and provides email updates which we subscribe to for the season. https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

When the cyclone did make landfall there was a lot of flooding but not nearly as much wind damage as expected.

Orlando – Miami- Port of Spain

The next part of the journey was to Trinidad on American Airlines and we had an early flight out of Orlando in order to arrive in Trinidad mid-afternoon that day. Idalia had largely passed to the North by the morning and we were up early (still on NZ time I think) for a 5.30 a.m. shuttle to the airport.

Due to depart at 0740, the flight was on time and we were there early as was everyone trying to get out of Orlando before the weather got any worse. Boarding started slightly late but as we were getting on the Captain was getting off the flight deck – this did not look good. This was the beginning of a long delay….

Problem 1. The windscreen wipers were not working and it was pouring with rain so they needed to be fixed. Due to the length of delay on the gate, we needed more fuel and we waited for the refueling.

Problem 2. After some time the wipers were fixed and refueled we were ready to push back and the airbridge failed. We then had to wait for engineers to move the airbridge out of the way.

Problem 3. Got the airbridge out of the way and taxied out to the runway. The next minute we are taxiing back again. The cabin crew reported one of the back toilets was overflowing. Found out later that it wasn’t sewerage but water coming from somewhere and the floor was wet.

Problem 4. The plane returned to the same gate which was still broken but by this time it was too late and we had to wait for a tug to move the plane to another gate with a functioning airbridge. Finally got on the gate and they let the engineers on board to fix the problem.

By now it was about 1130 and we had been on board for nearly 4 hours for a 1 hour flight so an offer was made to allow those who wanted to leave the aircraft until it was fixed. This was amended to everyone leaving with all their carry-on luggage as it was not obvious the plane could be repaired and some people were searching for alternative flights.

The Captain kept us largely up-to-date but he became more incredulous as events unfolded, perhaps the plane was jinxed. Barb chatted to him while we de-planed to get the real low down on the issues.

At this stage, we were told we all had to check in again so queues formed at the service desks to reissue boarding passes. Chatting to fellow passengers we discovered several of them had moved to this flight from a later flight so they could arrive earlier! These people included the Prime Minister of Antigua with his family and entourage, luckily people still retained their sense of humour.

An hour and a half later we reboarded with a different seat number and were ready to go. The captain announced our imminent departure and we waited to push back.

Problem 5. As a consequence of Idalia and other issues Miami airport was now full and there was no room for us to land at this time so we had to wait on the gate in Orlando until the backlog cleared. Luckily we had plenty of gas on board because we had refueled earlier. Finally, at around 1.30 pm we were cleared to depart for our 1 hour flight to Miami and a round of applause from the passengers as we finally became airborne.

Arriving in Miami 6 hours late meant another round of queues at the service desks to re-ticket for another flight. American Airlines had decided that our delay was caused by weather making it beyond their control and hence they did not have to pay compensation for those who had to reschedule. This caused some outrage at the service desk with the manager starting to get very stressed as people were demanding better. The airline staff had an official line that “the FAA had called our delay as weather-related not the airline” (a Tui moment Yeah Right) The only good news was for the Prime Minister of Antigua who was informed that the plane we came in on was continuing to Antigua so they did not need to go searching for another flight.

By this time our original flight had already landed in Trinidad so we were transferred to the late flight arriving around 10.30 pm and the pleasant service desk person had given us exit row seats with additional leg room. We had tried to avoid late flights into Port of Spain as we were unsure of nighttime conditions on the ground. (NZ Foreign Affairs has a travel advisory out for Trinidad including the area around the airport especially at night time).

Arriving in Port of Spain, Trinidad

Finally, arriving in Trinidad with our luggage intact and undamaged we were surprised to see the queue for local passport control was longer than for visitors, a first in our travels. We then had over an hour in customs while they charged us for another visa waiver then examined our boat parts and documents and wrote out several more pieces of paper in triplicate suitably stamped for us to take with us. We think Trinidad is one of the last remaining users of carbon paper and forms.

Getting into the arrivals hall our pre-booked taxi driver was nowhere to be seen but luckily Mr Douglas with a fine Toyota Royale taxi of indeterminate age (both car and driver) stepped in and drove us to our hotel in Chaguaramas. Interestingly the taxi fares in both USD and Trinidad Dollars are listed by destination on a big wall chart in the airport so there is no confusion or bargaining.

Of course, the night staff at the fine West Palm Hotel did not know that we were arriving despite having phoned earlier from Miami to confirm our new arrival time. Finally, we made it to bed after 1 a.m. and nearly 20 hours since leaving our hotel in Orlando.

Next Day – First Complete day in Trinidad

Our timing as always was impeccable – the day after we landed was Independence Day and another holiday. 61 years since getting independence from Britain is a big deal here and elsewhere in the Caribbean! Interestingly we don’t have an official date in NZ, it could have been 1835,1840,1853,1919,1926,1947 or 1986 according to some brief online research so take your pick.

The first morning here was beautiful at 0500 clear skies, a mellow 28C, thunderstorms in the distance and the pool looked very inviting.

By lunchtime, it was 34C and pouring with rain. The rain keeps the swimming pool cool!

After a check on the yacht, and then a lazy day we decided we would go out for dinner. Our preferred option was shut so we walked around to the restaurant at Crews Inn about a 1km away on the other side of the harbour. https://www.crewsinn.com/

Our hostess was very funny as we were discussing the holiday and saying how many public holidays they had in Trinidad she said “More holidays than payslips!!”. They have a great sense of humour in Trinidad even if everything is not going well all the time – we were definitely back.

We hope this does not put you off travelling to see us – you just need plenty of time:).