24 hours on a plane

---

After months of excitement, anticipation and a lot of speculation I finally left my family at Birmingham airport and headed for my first flight- to Dubai. Saying goodbye to my sister was the hardest part but I was determined to hold it together and focus on the adventure ahead.
To my pleasant surprise when I found my seat on the aircraft I had an empty seat next to me, YES! Although the first leg of the journey was only around 8 hours long I was so happy to be able to spread out and make myself comfy. I set my clocks to Australia time which meant it was an overnight flight and in an attempt to combat jet lag I snoozed for most of the journey. After our food came the man on the end of my row started to talk to me about where I was going and as soon as I told him I was off to Australia he told me all about the months he had spent in Melbourne and Sydney. He recommended getting macaroons in Melbourne because they are the best he has ever had apparently- I'll definitely have to judge that for myself. He then got out his phone and showed me photos of the Sydney opera house and harbour bridge lit up for a festival that takes place in May/June time which looked really spectacular and definitely worth going to see if I'm there. 45 minutes after schedule we landed in Dubai and with only half an hour until the gate opened for my next flight, onto Adelaide, I stated to panic a little. However I got talking to the people sat around me and they were kind enough to let me go in front of them in the queue to get off the plane. I'm hoping this is a perk of being a solo traveller or maybe a young female but several people have been very friendly. The man who scanned my boarding ticket at the next gate, which I got to in plenty of time thankfully, was also asking me where I was from as he said that he had just spoken to a Scottish family and he could hardly understand their English whereas I speak in proper English in his opinion. I heard a Scottish family on the plane after that and even I struggled to understand them so I see what he means! With about two hours left of the flight I was getting so excited to arrive in Australia. I was looking out the window at the 'outback' which seemed to go on forever- we must have been flying over red ground for at least 2 hours. When we landed I couldn't wait to get off but they didn't open the doors for 20 minutes because somebody was ill or something. But once I finally got off I filled out my boarding card and Ebola form when I eventually found ones in English and then went straight through passport control using the epassport queue. Once I collected my bag I thought I was finally out of there but then a security guard asked me to do a random search on my bag, he took everything out to have a look which meant repacking it. As I walked out of the security area there was so many people waiting for relatives and friends it was like walking down a red carpet! my great aunt and uncle, Kay and graham, were there waiting for me to drive me back to theirs which took about an hour and a half as they live by the coast. 24 hours after I left the UK I finally arrived at their home and couldn't wait for a cold shower and to jump into bed.

---

Comments

[Viv Williams]

Great start
Zoe brilliant start hope oz day went well keep safe xx