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Published: April 7th 2007
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Kellie on Plane
Kellie on our first flight to Singapore Hi Everyone,
We have made it in one piece. We still cannot believe we are on the other side of the world - its mind boggling.
Our journey started when we flew out of Brisbane on an 8 hour flight to Singapore. This flight was really very good. We had fantastic food, hot towels for our face, and great service. The flight includes ALL YOU CAN DRINK ALCOHOL! Craig certainly took advantage of that (lots of beers, white wines, bacardi rums and even Baileys)! The big disappointment was...our movie/tv screens did not work - we were the only row of three seats in the whole plane that couldnt watch movies! So boy, we had to actually talk to each other, what a drag! Anyway, it worked out Ok, we got a free pack of cards! (laughing out loud). We also played YATZEE on our travel YATZEE to keep us occupied for the 8hrs. Kellie was sitting next to a lovely lady from near Ipswich who teaches German so she got a few tips on where to go and what to say in Germany.
We had a wait in Singapore of 4 hours, of which Kellie was starting
Craig on Plane
Craig on our first flight to Singapore to get really cranky (now been awake for 18 hours or so). Craig found a FREE wireless internet kiosk (everyone in the airport were on laptops) and he did some work. Kellie learned something new for the day....there is such a thing as BACON MADE OF TURKEY!!! Its actually nicer than REAL BACON!
From Singapore we ventured on the next leg, a 13 hour flight to Zurich. This one was very uncomfortable for Kellie. Whilst we had a fancy new plane with wide screen personal screens and 'on request' movies, TVs, Video Games and even language lessons, it was sleep Kellie wanted. Deciding not to take a sleeping pill - Kellie soon regretted that decision, only getting 3 hours sleep at the start of the flight. The action plan was to get at least 8 hours so that when we arrived at 8am in Zurich (Zurich time) we could enjoy a full day of sight seeing. Craig had no hassles, after taking a full sleeping tablet he slept for almost 9 hours leaving Kellie to amuse herself. So kellie watched 'The Departed', 'Romeo and Julliet', 'Absolutely Fabulous', 'Kath n Kim', '49 up' the documentary, and lots of other things
Singapore terminal
Singapore terminal is huge... this is only one of 6 wings to try and keep sane. Went for plenty of walks around the plane. A large portion of the flight (which Craig was oblivious to) was the heavy turbulence as we flew through a long lighting storm above Istanbul. It was an amazing sight to see lighting from ABOVE it rather than below it. It was like being in Heaven looking down on all the flashes of lights. Incredible light show! It was a bit scary though. Most of this flight was in darkness, however at about 4am the sun caught up to us and passed us and a sort of 'morning' broke while we were passing through time (its such a strange concept to be floating through time) - on the inflight TV you could follow a GPS map of where the plane was flying and it showed where the sun was relative to where we were and you could see the sunlight travelling across the globe- really amazing.
So long story getting even longer (sorry guys its 4am in the morning and I cant sleep) we finally arrived at Zurich. the sights flying into Switzerland were simply breathtaking, with the Alps and snow caped mountains beneath. Arriving at
Terminal Garden
Orchid Garden in the middle of the airport the Airport in itself was even quite amazing. it was 3 degrees, and yet it wasnt really that cold - seemed just like Melbourne weather - must be the type of cold?? From where you disembark the plane you actually have to catch a tunnel train to the baggage pick up point and check out - and on this train kellie discovered a whole new world of MARKETING! While the train travelled at speed through the tunnel, the walls on the tunnel flashed with images of a young Swiss girl - that as you passed it was like flicking through one of those stick figure pictures in a note book - do you know what I mean, the serious of stills when flicked past quickly made it look like you were watching a film where she waved at you to welcome you! Quite fantastic.
Anyway, We collected our bags (were some of the first to come out) and Craigs golf clubs arrived safely (this was his main concern!!!!!) and then the strangest thing.... we just walked straight out. No stopping for customs, no checking by anyone, we just walked out the exit. so Kellie stopped Craig and said -
Craig in Zurich
Craig Getting his bag at Zurich terminal "Look, we are out on the street - have we missed something??" so we went to an info booth to ask if this was normal, and she gave us a very strange look and told us that that was normal. So that was it...we were here, no hassles, no dramas, NO CUSTOMS! vERY VERY ODD. So we walked to the train station (still part of the one complex) bought a ticket to Zurick Central and our train arrived 2 mins later! All very smooth! We then got off the train and were not sure exactly how to get to our Hotel from there, so we decided to take a short taxi ride so we didnt get lost and arrived at the Novetel Zurich West in 5 mins. Check in is not normally until 2pm, and it was only 9.45am YET THEY WERE STILL ABLIGING AS THEY HAD ROOMS SO THEY CHECKED US IN STRAIGHT AWAY! We could not have asked for a smoother and easier and pleasant trip!
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Jac
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PLANE TRIP
Lookin good at the airport. Rough trip was it? lol Hey did the Ipswich lady know me?