The second best places on the best flight in the world

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The best flight in the world certainly leads over the Tongan Archipelago of Vava’u and Ha’apai and stripes over the bright blue sky with wonderful views

We have been on the road for three months now and have completed 15 flights, and the trend is rising. Since we left the Australian mainland for the first time, we have had some breathtaking aerial photographs of our windows over the Pacific of Footnia.

In general, we have reserved air travel for international trips and instead use ferries between the islands for domestic trips. However, we had little time in Tonga and were not ready to travel 24 hours or more between the island groups.

We also had only a few days from the whale watch season, after which the majestic humpback whales would move south to the colder waters of the Antarctic. Fortunately, flight prices between the southern main island of Tongatapu and the northern Vava’u island group, almost unique in Tonga, are not much more expensive than the ferry crossings.

Our plane was tiny! A two -engine jet stream 32 Turboprop with space for a maximum of 19 passengers. When we flew, we were only too ninth on board. Kia and I sat in places 1a and 1b: directly behind the pilots. And if I say right behind it, I mean right behind it. There is no post-9/11 paranoia-an open cockpit meant that we could literally reach and touch the pilots if we wanted to.

No cabin staff either. The co-pilot gave us the shortest safety briefing and essentially pointed out that in an emergency we should help our fellow passengers to leave the plane and hope the best. Sitting in a small plane actually gave me a much more confident feeling than with larger, longer flights, and flying into just more than 7,000 feet in contrast to 36,000 feet was more calming. In addition, as soon as we were in the air, we were too awesome from the view of us to take care of security.

Tonga consists of 176 islands and every single one looked like an island paradise: more beautiful and more seductive than the last. I will not plunge into a floral monologue to describe the landscape - just watch the video above.

The route of 300 kilometers is usually covered in a little more than an hour during direct flight. Our plane made a short detour to the island group Ha’apai to take a few passengers on the way. During the short stopover we were allowed to get out and represent our legs while the pilots monitor the unloading and redistribution of luggage and ensured that the small aircraft remained in balance. During this time, Kia had the plane for herself! An scary but enviable experience!

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Shortly afterwards we were back in the air and raced over the bright blue sky with a wonderful view that stretched below us. When we ended up in Vava’u, I caught the pilot's gaze and asked: "Do you ever get used to it?"

he beamed at me like a school boy. "Never."

Mission statement: Atlas & Boots 
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