I must admit I am not looking forward to the journey but I am doing it in reasonable comfort so just enjoy. I now know that Blair's advice re making maximum use of a stopover en route to Sydney is really good advice. I also know that once you start on your journey home you just want to get there ASAP.
Left Blair's flat at 7.05pm Sunday evening, drove to the airport and having checked in made my farewells to Blair ........nuff said! At least I know he will be back in August when we are planning a 100th Birthday party....his 30th and Jim's 70th!
I knew my way around the airport having left the international terminal to go to New Zealand. 10 flights in 6 weeks genuinely means I am not interested in duty free shopping!
I know Blair still believes that it is not right that something so large and heavy leaves the ground! The first leg of the journey Sydney to Hong Kong was 10 hours, slightly bumpy but on the whole reasonably uneventful and I did sleep for a couple of hours. The drunk on one side of me insisted on talking to a man on my other side but after some discreet talking to from the purser he soon went to sleep and snored his way northwards to Hong Kong!
Am I getting so intolerant as I get older? Yes.......I did feel like kicking him on a number of occasions and did notice one or two folk nudging his feet as they went to the loo. Enough yoghurt and fresh fruit to last a lifetime!
Arrived in Hong Kong early at 4.20am their time, 7.20 Sydney time and not a dashed thing was open! Even had to rake for toilets! Couldn't get into the lounge I wanted near my departure gate as all these entrances were closed but I did learn I would need to get a train to my intended departure gate.
Am always a little concerned in a strange airport how long it takes to get from point A to point B. How does one keep oneself awake and amused in an airport...........feel very grateful once you find a toilet and even take pictures!!!!!! My brain is definitely addled!
However this wall looked so good. It looked like a photograph or pebbled lino of some kind. In fact it was real pebbles embedded in some sort of plastic resin and was a great contrast to the marbled walls and slate floors. Another idea Raymond? Can't believe I've just posted this nonsense.
Five hours was a long time to pass but spent it sorting and compressing my photographs ( had to be done for every one on blog as a "dongle" has limited width) and updating my blog posts and managed to get free wifi access for emails etc, an expectation now in public areas, particularly airports.
Managed to take a few pics from the plane as Hong Kong itself sits in a wonderful geographical area.....not great pics BUT!
The next 14 hours were long and again I managed only a 1 hour doze on 2 occasions! At least my legs were up and that makes everything much better for me. I actually watched 6 episodes, a whole season of the Mentalist between blog posts and Sudokus!
It’s a bit like Cell Block H in here……..yes I had forgotten such a programme ever existed until Blair reminded me the other day that when he was little he used to see it at my mum’s and then he explained it had become a “cult” thing at school. Mmmm! Here are 20 people in this upstairs cabin all paying a fortune to be literally tied into your bed (it’s been a very bumpy ride), and told when to nap, eat and so on……… If you go to sleep with the duvet you must close your seatbelt on top of it, otherwise you are wakened in the event of turbulent weather. There was plenty of that for the first 7 hours of the flight!
Every so often I try to turn around and look out of the window which is not really within reach. 3,514 miles to go and another 7 hours 2 min. Map showing we are west of Beijing above somewhere called Ulan Bator and flying north westwards to Novosibirsk, crossing over the Sayan Mountains. Can’t quite read the Chinese so await to find out where I am in English!
Will need to google once home to check out. Looks fairly forbidding, black mountainous area with snow on tops. followed by an incredibly flat and snowy landscape. I wonder who lives down there and what kind of lives they lead?
The journey seemed endless but like all good things.... it did come to an end at Heathrow with the gentlest landing I've ever experienced. Couldn't get free wifi in Heathrow - have to pay for something called Boingo which I refuse to do - and of course needed to get train to Terminal 5. For some reason this time it involved an exceedingly long walk through Customs, Immigration and umpteen exits to get there. Two more hours and eventually on another plane back to Edinburgh. Jim picked me up and eventually we arrived home at 7.30pm.
Straight to bed and ping! awakened at 11.45, dozed for another couple of hours and have now been awake since 2.00am. Keeping going now and will make some calls and do chores like washing etc. Feet firmly back on Scottish Terra Firma! I watched dawn break around 6.00am, same time as in Sydney. It is lovely to be back in my own bed and seeing my own view.................but am missing the ocean already! Still the sound of the birds tweeting is soft and gentle, somewhat different to the raucous screechings of the cockatoos. Two very different worlds.
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