So, here we are again, setting off on another epic adventure! As this map (provided by the Great Circle Mapper website) shows, we're in for a really long trip this time! It all started when United Airlines decided to offer a monumentally good deal on fully flexible Business Class between Los Angeles and Auckland - at less than a tenth of the usual fare, Willard insisted that we take them up on their kind offer, and so we booked ourselves on the flights before UA reconsidered their largesse and then set about getting hold of connecting flights that would get us to and from the starting point of this amazing fare.

...and, just to make things a little more interesting, we decided to undertake this trip using Top Gear Challenge rules, which, for our non-UK readers, require that only public transport be used, so, here is Willard, having stuck his paw out and thumbed a lift to the nearest main railway station. I ought to explain the interpretation of the rules in more detail - Hire cars are allowed only in the USA (because in the US our observation is that hire cars effectively represent a form of public transport!), Taxis are only allowed in three very specific cases, either A - If there is absolutely no other way of reaching the required destination, or B - If we feel that our lives or property may otherwise be in imminent danger or C - We really want to!

And, a new experience for Willard! A Railway Station! Off we go to buy a ticket to Manchester Airport to start off our journey, and, much to Willard's dismay, the service doesn't even offer First Class!

Ticket in hand, we board the direct service to the Airport, and Willard is still taking in this new form of transport....

After the, by now, traditional 15 minute delay that the UK rail network uses to commemorate any weekend or public holiday, we are off and moving away from Liverpool Lime Street station and on our way to the Airport.