India - the final flight

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We left Kolkata on our flight to Singapore. It was uneventful . After arriving at the airport we changed our Indian rupees for Singapore dollars and I was about to order coffees while we waited for our flight. Instead we were called to the Singapore Airlines desk. Our flight was overbooked and as we had a connecting flight in Sydney to Canberra they asked us if we would like to be moved to the direct flight leaving later that night. The compensation would be an upgrade from Premium Economy to Business, access to the Business Lounge, accommodation and meals at the Crowne Plaza airport hotel for the day. We decided to say yes as we had been awake for over 24 hours ( not counting small naps on the plane). We also asked for our bags so that we could freshen up. Armed with our vouchers we headed through Customs to the Singapore airlines Lost Luggage room to collect our offloaded bags.

Unfortunately Kevin’s bag had a broken zipper and lock but with great efficiency the staff member asked questions regarding age of the bag and cost, filled in a form which I signed and compensated us immediately with cash for the bag. She also gave us directions to a store just past customs where we could buy another bag. We headed through bought a new bag and lock, loaded it onto our trolley and headed for the hotel which is part of the airport complex.

We checked in to a lovely room with a view of the runway and spent the day relaxing, catching up with a bit of sleep, wandering through the shopping complex downstairs, updating the blog, repacked Kevin‘s bag and eating the delicious meals at the buffet in the hotel restaurant. When we went down for lunch part of the buffet was a seafood spread of oysters,crab, prawns and lobsters. Delicious.

After checking out we headed for checkin and then the lounge until boarding our flight. Customs at Canberra airport is a breeze but no duty free - wish we had known as we would have bought in Singapore.

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