It's friday night and here I am banging on about travel that happened 23 years ago.......what a sad life I must have.
Oh and I stand corrected........we didn't fly to Bangkok the first time we went to Oz, we flew to Singapore......it is still in the east, isn't it....?
We flew into Singapore.........It was almost midnight when we landed so we couldn't see very much.We disembarked into the terminal......it was six hours before our next connection.
We thought that the shops would be open in the airport and we would kill some time looking around them.......WRONG......everything seemed to be closing down for the night......they even turned off the fountains and the air conditioning. We spent a very sticky night on some very hard plastic covered seats. Hubby is not good at waiting for anything and spent a lot of the time moaning......I had my head stuck in a good book so I didn't really listen to him.......I can be transported by a good book......and I was...... to Oz, I was reading Thorn Birds.
Dawn came and himself went and bought a coffee and a soft drink. This sustained him until we got back on the plane and were given breakfast. We flew with QANTAS and the airline food was particularly good (well, as airline food goes).....there was always plenty of fresh fruit on offer for the whole of the flight.....you could go to the galley and get a piece of melon, pineapple, mango or orange...talk about healthy eating.
This part of the flight passed particularly slowly...we were getting more excited by the minute.
We flew over what the Australians call the 'top end' and there were some spectacular lightning storms.......it was dark so the sky was lit up by streaks of forked lightning.......it was as if the sky had put on a special show for us.
We must have slept or drowsed on this part of the flight......it was early morning as we flew down the east coast of Australia towards Sydney.........it looked well wooded and a lot greener than I imagined it would. I had worked with a Consultant from Sydney......I didn't particularly like the man and I know it is irrational, but I was determined not to like Sydney because it was where he hailed from....how daft is that?
I don't remember flying over the harbour and seeing the harbour bridge....maybe the route was different in those days.
We touched down at Kingsford - Smith Airport......but before we landed the cabin crew came through the cabin with a FLIT spray to kill any bugs that might have hitched a ride from tropical climes.
The Aussies are fanatical about all things like that......and rightly so.
We were not allowed to get off the plane in Sydney and it was at least another hours flight down to Melbourne.
We had left the UK in temperatures of minus 4 and when we landed in Melbourne it was something in the region of 29 degrees.
hubby was wearing a sheepskin coat......so THAT was what was smelling was it....... well, no I think all of us would have benefitted from a quick shower.
Clearing customs took quite a while....... food has to be declared and inspected, I had bought my nephew a wooden clock with his name engraved on it...... that had to be declared too.......and inspected.......eventually we were cleared to pick up our baggage and find our rellys (relatives).
I walked through the double glass doors into the baggage collection hall and the smell of Eucalyptus was overpowering.....and the warm air was something that I had not really been prepared for.
We loaded the cases onto a trolley and searched a sea of faces for someone we could recognise....after a couple of minutes we could see a tall guy swan necking.... it was Garry and his wife Anne, who was hidden in the crowds of people.
We were engulfed in bear hugs......hubby was a bit moist eyed......the trolley was taken from us and pushed to their car.....we were all trying to talk at once. We had five years of gossip and news to catch up on...... that was OK, we had six weeks to do it in........
More later.
Oh and I stand corrected........we didn't fly to Bangkok the first time we went to Oz, we flew to Singapore......it is still in the east, isn't it....?
We flew into Singapore.........It was almost midnight when we landed so we couldn't see very much.We disembarked into the terminal......it was six hours before our next connection.
We thought that the shops would be open in the airport and we would kill some time looking around them.......WRONG......everything seemed to be closing down for the night......they even turned off the fountains and the air conditioning. We spent a very sticky night on some very hard plastic covered seats. Hubby is not good at waiting for anything and spent a lot of the time moaning......I had my head stuck in a good book so I didn't really listen to him.......I can be transported by a good book......and I was...... to Oz, I was reading Thorn Birds.
Dawn came and himself went and bought a coffee and a soft drink. This sustained him until we got back on the plane and were given breakfast. We flew with QANTAS and the airline food was particularly good (well, as airline food goes).....there was always plenty of fresh fruit on offer for the whole of the flight.....you could go to the galley and get a piece of melon, pineapple, mango or orange...talk about healthy eating.
This part of the flight passed particularly slowly...we were getting more excited by the minute.
We flew over what the Australians call the 'top end' and there were some spectacular lightning storms.......it was dark so the sky was lit up by streaks of forked lightning.......it was as if the sky had put on a special show for us.
We must have slept or drowsed on this part of the flight......it was early morning as we flew down the east coast of Australia towards Sydney.........it looked well wooded and a lot greener than I imagined it would. I had worked with a Consultant from Sydney......I didn't particularly like the man and I know it is irrational, but I was determined not to like Sydney because it was where he hailed from....how daft is that?
I don't remember flying over the harbour and seeing the harbour bridge....maybe the route was different in those days.
We touched down at Kingsford - Smith Airport......but before we landed the cabin crew came through the cabin with a FLIT spray to kill any bugs that might have hitched a ride from tropical climes.
The Aussies are fanatical about all things like that......and rightly so.
We were not allowed to get off the plane in Sydney and it was at least another hours flight down to Melbourne.
We had left the UK in temperatures of minus 4 and when we landed in Melbourne it was something in the region of 29 degrees.
hubby was wearing a sheepskin coat......so THAT was what was smelling was it....... well, no I think all of us would have benefitted from a quick shower.
Clearing customs took quite a while....... food has to be declared and inspected, I had bought my nephew a wooden clock with his name engraved on it...... that had to be declared too.......and inspected.......eventually we were cleared to pick up our baggage and find our rellys (relatives).
I walked through the double glass doors into the baggage collection hall and the smell of Eucalyptus was overpowering.....and the warm air was something that I had not really been prepared for.
We loaded the cases onto a trolley and searched a sea of faces for someone we could recognise....after a couple of minutes we could see a tall guy swan necking.... it was Garry and his wife Anne, who was hidden in the crowds of people.
We were engulfed in bear hugs......hubby was a bit moist eyed......the trolley was taken from us and pushed to their car.....we were all trying to talk at once. We had five years of gossip and news to catch up on...... that was OK, we had six weeks to do it in........
More later.
