After checking in at Manchester airport, we headed off to the gate only to find that the
flight was delayed for 'operational reasons'. Some problem with a cargo
door but this was eventually resolved and we taxied out about an hour
late. Next stop Dubai - after a 7½ hour flight.
By the
time we arrived in Dubai, we only just had enough time to get to the
departure gate before the next flight was ready to board. Miriam had
tweaked a nerve in her back and would hardly walk when we got off the
plane. The thought of another 13 hours on the plane was a bit daunting.
Fortunately, we found a reclining chair for her to stretch out in. This
(together with some painkillers) alleviated her discomfort. After a
quick change of clothes and teeth clean, we boarded our next A380 for
the long flight to Sydney.
The first half of this
flight was in the dark so we did manage to get some sleep but it was
mostly spent watching more movies. After 4 hours I was starting to feel I
was over flying for a while, then I saw that we still had 9 hours to
go!
Finally, we reached Sydney and really felt like we
were almost there. By now, we had been traveling for 36 hours (since we
left the Travelodge in London) with more-or-less the same clothes on and
no more than 3-4 hours sleep. It is amazing but, on previous visits to
Sydney airport, I had this impression that it was a really big place.
Loads of aircraft movements, complicated terminal buildings and long,
long taxiways to get to the runways. Now that we have been to Dubai,
Sydney feels like a small domestic airport! And this even though we
never actually left Dubai airport, just walked from an arrival gate to a
departure gate.
Next stop was Wellington after 'brief'
2½ hour flight. Christine picked us up from the airport and we were
back in Martinborough by 5pm. 48 hours travelling and we were certainly
feeling a bit tired. Miriam cooked us up a nice red-curry with some
chicken and Christine headed back to Wellington since she had an early
start in the morning. We finally hit the sack at about 10pm. This is the only way to beat jet-lag, force yourself to stay up to the local bed-time, no matter how tempting it is to crash out.
Everything at home was
fantastically clean and tidy. I had been thinking a lot of lawn mowing
would be required since we are well into Spring and it always takes me a month or so to get the grass under control. Our house-sitters
have done a fantastic job in keeping the place under control. All the
alpacas were fit and healthy. The only disgruntled member of the house
was Bill our (only) cat. He doesn't really like strangers and it took
him until the early hours of the morning to work up enough courage to
come in to see us. Was he ever happy it really was us. Now, two days
later, he is still reprimanding us for leaving him for so long.
So here we are, 6 weeks of travel under our belt with no dramas and very happy to be back in our own bed.
I think this is officially the end of this blog!!