6.30am, still dark but no alarm woke
me. It was anticipation of what the day was to bring. So
much to do and so little time to do it. Of course no day can start
without a cup of tea or two. Bernie was in complete agreeance so
the kettle went on and our tea was enjoyed under a cloudy sky.
Once we were oiled and ready to go, the question was, 'where do I
start?' Packing, sewing, dvd creating; bringing the washing in
wasn't an option as it was still damp. Let's get the dvd done
first so Bern can take it home. I had put one together the night
before, a slideshow for Craig's 18th Birthday but, lying in bed
afterwards, I started thinking and wanted to be more creative.
Anyway, that got done and now the sun was trying to burst through the
cloud, not a skerrick of wind though, so washing still damp but we
enjoyed our tea and toast. It was during one of our tea chats that
Bernie thought to ask if I'd confirmed by flight, 'ah, no, I hadn't
even thought about that'.
9.30 arrives without warning, time doesn't half fly when you get chatting. Time to hit the shower then the pj's and slippers can be packed, and check to make sure everything else I need is in the suitcases, apart from what's on the line. To fill in nmore time I replaced 3 broken sprinkler heads, cleared out the fridge and freezer and turned off all non essential power outlets. The sewing didn't get done so one pair of jeans is on my bed and the top had it's buttons put in the pocket for sewing when I got the chance.
10.30 and Bernie is worried about the damp washing, on goes the iron and they are ironed dry. Finally the suitcases are packed, weighed, 18kg each, well under my 2 x 30kg allowance and put in the car. I had to stop in at the newsagent to deposit a cheque only to hear the guy in front of me being told that the system was down. No, don't do that to me, it will be 3 months before I get back and I want it for spending money. My turn came and with fingers, toes, eyes, you know the drill, it went through without a hitch. The day continues to go well.
Dropped the house and car keys of to Shaz, don't want a flat battery when I get home. and off to the airport for early check in. Now came the next shock, I am NOT allowed 30kg for each case, only 23kg, that was fine going but it's now put a stop to me spending up big and bringing heaps home. Sorry Shaz, there might have to be a parcel sent to you if I over do the shopping. :-) Finally at 2.45 the inevitable couldn't be put off any longer, had to say bye to Bern, at least we didn't start bawling. Got through customs unscathed, wearing leggings and clogs makes all the difference, although the customs guy did say I had to put the clogs through the scanner just to make sure there was nothing nasty in them. What response could you give to that except 'only my smelly feet' which made him grimace a little. First time ever I got pulled aside for a body pat down, don't go getting any ideas, it was a female officer. That done I'm free to go shopping. First stop was Eagle Boys pizza to shut my stomach up, didn't want to cause a panic if the building started to shake. Pizza & garlic bread did the trick and gave me some time to start writing the prelude to the great adventure awaiting me. Got carried away with it of course, suddenly looked up and people were already boarding.
I was seated by 4pm and at 4.15 the wheels left the tarmac. The guy next to me had a cold, great, I'll have to listen to him cough, sneeze and sniffle for the next 5 hours. I'm glad that Clinton's nurse Kim talked me into having the flu injection. At least I can block the sound out with inflight movies. I watched The Desk Set with Spencer Tracey & Katherine Hepburn, good movie, then saw most of Cemetary Junction with Ralph Fiennes and Emily Watson. Hope it's on another flight so I can get to see the end. A bit strange but still a good movie. We arrived in Singapore at 9.08pm. Distance travelled was 2492m: 4010 km.
At 11.30pm I boarded an A380, but my luck didn't hold out this time, I didn't get to go on the upper deck, seat 32B on the main deck for me, and a middle seat at that. I'm sandwiched between two guys, one skinny and one not so skinny and me inbetween so we weren't so squeezy. The wheels started rolling at 11.40. I got a fair amount of sleep apart from a couple of times when kids cried, but knowing they weren't mine it was easy to get back to sleep. 7 hours into the flight I was woken up by the PA asking for medical assistance for a passenger. Never found out where or what but I guess it wasn't too bad as we didn't have to divert anywhere. 2 1/2 hours before ETA we had hot towels brought round and the sounds of breakfast trays helped appease the rumbling stomach. Checking the flight path there are 2hours and 9 minutes of flying time left, have travelled 5707m: 9186km and have a head wind of 92m: 148km per hour, flying over Lvov near the Ukraine/Poland border, but we're still expected to arrive in Paris early. Might need to check whether DST has confused flight times. My itinerary definitely says 7.05, the wheels touched ground at 6.20am. Distance travelled approximately 6781m: 10,914km.
9.30 arrives without warning, time doesn't half fly when you get chatting. Time to hit the shower then the pj's and slippers can be packed, and check to make sure everything else I need is in the suitcases, apart from what's on the line. To fill in nmore time I replaced 3 broken sprinkler heads, cleared out the fridge and freezer and turned off all non essential power outlets. The sewing didn't get done so one pair of jeans is on my bed and the top had it's buttons put in the pocket for sewing when I got the chance.
10.30 and Bernie is worried about the damp washing, on goes the iron and they are ironed dry. Finally the suitcases are packed, weighed, 18kg each, well under my 2 x 30kg allowance and put in the car. I had to stop in at the newsagent to deposit a cheque only to hear the guy in front of me being told that the system was down. No, don't do that to me, it will be 3 months before I get back and I want it for spending money. My turn came and with fingers, toes, eyes, you know the drill, it went through without a hitch. The day continues to go well.
Dropped the house and car keys of to Shaz, don't want a flat battery when I get home. and off to the airport for early check in. Now came the next shock, I am NOT allowed 30kg for each case, only 23kg, that was fine going but it's now put a stop to me spending up big and bringing heaps home. Sorry Shaz, there might have to be a parcel sent to you if I over do the shopping. :-) Finally at 2.45 the inevitable couldn't be put off any longer, had to say bye to Bern, at least we didn't start bawling. Got through customs unscathed, wearing leggings and clogs makes all the difference, although the customs guy did say I had to put the clogs through the scanner just to make sure there was nothing nasty in them. What response could you give to that except 'only my smelly feet' which made him grimace a little. First time ever I got pulled aside for a body pat down, don't go getting any ideas, it was a female officer. That done I'm free to go shopping. First stop was Eagle Boys pizza to shut my stomach up, didn't want to cause a panic if the building started to shake. Pizza & garlic bread did the trick and gave me some time to start writing the prelude to the great adventure awaiting me. Got carried away with it of course, suddenly looked up and people were already boarding.
I was seated by 4pm and at 4.15 the wheels left the tarmac. The guy next to me had a cold, great, I'll have to listen to him cough, sneeze and sniffle for the next 5 hours. I'm glad that Clinton's nurse Kim talked me into having the flu injection. At least I can block the sound out with inflight movies. I watched The Desk Set with Spencer Tracey & Katherine Hepburn, good movie, then saw most of Cemetary Junction with Ralph Fiennes and Emily Watson. Hope it's on another flight so I can get to see the end. A bit strange but still a good movie. We arrived in Singapore at 9.08pm. Distance travelled was 2492m: 4010 km.
At 11.30pm I boarded an A380, but my luck didn't hold out this time, I didn't get to go on the upper deck, seat 32B on the main deck for me, and a middle seat at that. I'm sandwiched between two guys, one skinny and one not so skinny and me inbetween so we weren't so squeezy. The wheels started rolling at 11.40. I got a fair amount of sleep apart from a couple of times when kids cried, but knowing they weren't mine it was easy to get back to sleep. 7 hours into the flight I was woken up by the PA asking for medical assistance for a passenger. Never found out where or what but I guess it wasn't too bad as we didn't have to divert anywhere. 2 1/2 hours before ETA we had hot towels brought round and the sounds of breakfast trays helped appease the rumbling stomach. Checking the flight path there are 2hours and 9 minutes of flying time left, have travelled 5707m: 9186km and have a head wind of 92m: 148km per hour, flying over Lvov near the Ukraine/Poland border, but we're still expected to arrive in Paris early. Might need to check whether DST has confused flight times. My itinerary definitely says 7.05, the wheels touched ground at 6.20am. Distance travelled approximately 6781m: 10,914km.