and so it begins....

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Left Morisset on the 1pm train bound for Sydney airport. Took about 2 hours to get to Central and then another half and hour to the airport. A really nice lady at the Emirates counter has changed my seat to a long legroom seat with no one in front of me. That is just to Dubai. The last leg, I have a whole row to myself.

I found a chemist to replace my earrings and bought some sushi for lunch. I've been working on my Forest Schools Portfolio for the last couple of hours. I hope I've downloaded enough 'stuff' to do work without the internet on the long flight.

To my dismay, I realised that the 'Kids' were packed in our stuff from Melbourne. Nuggie went out this morning and bought some new 'Cousins of the Kids' for this trip. Here are the new family members: Pete the Platypus and Wilma Wombat.

Flight is supposed to take off at 8:20pm. The flight is overbooked so there isn't one free seat on the entire plane. I tried to get upgraded to business class and was met with a giggle... oh well Di, good try.

The flights went really well. After Bangkok the plane was only half full and I managed to get a whole row. The same from Dubai to London. I had the back row. I was able to get some work done on my assignments but also some much needed sleep. I've finished a very busy year at school, moved house interstate and a long haul flight all in a week. Vegetarian and vegan food was delicious. I bought some clothes to change in Dubai. I had a wash, cleaned my teeth, changed vital pieces of clothing... the short I bought was Grady's and put on the orange socks that Emirates offered as socks were one thing I forgot. I thought it wouldn't matter but when I went through security to get on the London flight, the lady asked me to take off my shoes for a drug test! Oh dear, the bright orange socks were on display!

When I arrived in London, there were at least 500 people in the queue for border control. I stood in the line for more than an hour. There were at least 20 gates that could be opened but there were only 6 operating-. Hundreds of people snaked through enormous queues, very patiently I must say. The man at the desk said that no one wanted to work on Christmas Day. He apologised for the wait... I went outside the airport and realised that I'd changed seasons and my t-shirt was no where near warm enough. I had to open my case and find my coat... much better. I walked around and asked for the Hotel Hoppa bus and for the princely sum of 5 pounds found myself at the Holiday Inn where I'm now warmly ensconced! A hot shower and a few hours sleep will fix me up... I hope!

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