Thursday 23rd -- home again

The alarm goes off at 3am. Our flight is at 7am, we plan to relax, possibly eat more breakfast, at the airport.

In our room we have a light breakfast. Packing takes five minutes. And we're off!

The gps is great, it picks a quick route along the motorway. It's spooky on the motorway -- with no street lights. I finally work out the high beam but there is just enough traffic that I can't use it. So I drive slowly... Directly to rental car returns, we leave the car, leave the keys, walk into the terminal.

It's an international flight so we need to be there 90 minutes before. We are there two hours before. Not to worry, we prefer to wait at the airport rather than at the other end of a drive through unknown traffic conditions.

We check in. Say goodbye to our luggage, it will meet us in Perth. Unless Deb's case decides to take another holiday at Heathrow.

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Deb wants coffee, I'm hungry, we get coffee. I don't drink much of mine, I'm preparing for a long flight with a seat which is not on the aisle...

It's an easy flight to Heathrow -- with a brilliant ending: We're looking out the window, it's a clear day with a bright and beautiful view as we descend. Isn't that a familiar London bridge? I say. Then Look! it's the London Eye! We spot the Gherkin and the Shard -- which looks amazing from the air. Is that Wembley Stadium?! All of London is laid out below us -- bright and visible -- as we follow the Thames across the city.

And we land at Heathrow.

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We have three hours here which we fill with a fifteen minute bus ride to change terminals, then a light late breakfast. I'm still a bit hungry but can't face any more of the rather average "Eat." food.

We walk round a bit. Go to our boarding gate. Wait a bit. And board...

It's another 17 hour flight. This time we do have another passenger in the aisle seat. He's a nice bloke, not that we talk much. In betweem meals we all watch movies or sleep. I watch Alita Battle Angel then the first two Harry Potter movies. I realise that I have seen the second HP, it was what stopped me ever again watching another HP movie. This time I stop watching just before the final, embarrassing scene -- and enjoy the movie.

Our neighbour asks why I'm watching without the sound. I explain that it's hard to hear movies on a plane. (The super quiet Dreamliner? No, I don't think so.) So I use subtitles instead. Okay, the HP movies have no subtitles... but I know the books so know exactly what is happening in the movies. And Alita? Well, no subtitles there, either... but the plot is pretty obvious.

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Whenever our neighbour stands up, I use the opportunity to go to the toilet. I'm running fairly dry, not much need to pee. Our neighbour -- from something he says, I think his digestion may be a bit more than regular. So there is no need to wake our neighbour and enough opportunities for me to get up and... go.

Another highlight of the flight: we fly over whatever mountains are near Baghdad. Another amazing, clear view!

Then a lot of night, quite a bit of sleep between movies. And... home :-) 

I've just had a thought about watching movies... At home, I prefer to read a book. On a plane -- there is just not enough room to even *hold* a book. And no room at all to store a book in the seat back pocket, which is already full with just one flight magazine.

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Overall, I rather like this non-stop flight. A bit more leg-room though still nowhere near enough. (I'd suspect the Qantas boss of being a midget. But really, I doubt if he ever tries sitting in an economy seat.) Sure, it's a long time to be stuck in a sardine can but the two-flight option probably adds up to even more.

I rather like just getting in a plane, suffering the discomfort all at once, then getting off at your final destination.

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We declare that we have walked on farms and in freshwater streams. The boot check adds 30 seconds to our transit... and that is it. Free to go.

The truck is waiting at the airport. We drive -- don't need a gps here! And are home by about 1pm on Friday 24th... I think. I'm retired and just back from holiday, I'm having a lot of trouble tracking days of the week. Possibly demented but not yet dementia :-)

All is good. The cat almost wakes up to say hello. Deb checks the garden, she missed it. I play a bit of WoW, I missed it. And we both settle down to do all the little things that need doing after three weeks away.

A few bills to pay. Orienteering and rogaining events to enter. Emails to send. Eighteen geocaches to record. Holiday photos... all 422... still to be sorted. This blog/travel journal to be merged with selected photos and printed... eventually.

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And that -- unless I think of anything else -- is the end of that holiday :-)

====    Dr Nick Lethbridge  /  Consulting Dexitroboper
             Agamedes Consulting / Problems? Solved.
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"I would like to think it's possible to construct a society where our orders don't involve slaughtering our own people." ...Gen. Khiruev via Yoon Ha Lee

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dying for you to read my blog: notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com.au :-)
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