SUNDAY, 10th MARCH 2024
Woke up at 7.15 this morning and looked out of the window to a dull and wet March day. However, the weather could do nothing to dampen our excitement, as today we were setting off on yet another fabulous holiday! Yes! Today we were due to fly out to Sydney, Australia, where our great antipodean adventure would begin! 😊
Like any holidays in far-flung places though, we had to take the good with the not-so-good, the latter being the seemingly interminable flights to the other side of the world. The first leg of these was from Newcastle to Dubai, so we were up and ready in good time as we had to take our cat, Cedric, to the luxury cat hotel before setting off for the airport.
After breakfasting and doing our last-minute packing, Trevor loaded our two suitcases and two rucksacks into the car, leaving enough room on the back seat for me to sit alongside Cedric in his transporter. Cedric usually hates having a ride in the car, and we have to spray the inside of the expandable carrier with a cat pheromone spray in an attempt to keep him calm. It worked though, because he comfortably lay down and we never heard so much as single meow out of him during the 15-minute journey.
After delivering him safely to the cattery, our next stop was at our daughter Melanie’s house, for her to take us to the airport in our own car, then drive the car back to her house and keep it there for the next fortnight. We travelled up the A1, the windscreen wipers whup-whupping as the rain lashed down. Typical British weather! We certainly hoped it would be better where we were going. 😊
After Melanie had dropped us off at the airport, we shouldered our rucksacks and trundled our cases to the departures building, looking for the Emirates check-in desk. There were no queues and we were able to obtain our boarding passes straight away, and check our luggage right through to Sydney. Then it was along to security for the usual checks before we were finally airside, and could relax.
As I hadn’t had any breakfast, we went into Boots and I bought an Eat Natural fruit and nut bar and we went into a small coffee shop and ordered a white Americano each.
We then decided to go into Bar 11, a large pub loosely based on the Tyneside Metro system. We chose a high table near the window so we could watch the comings and goings of the various aircraft. As we were not due to board our 777 Emirates flight EK36 until 12.25pm, it gave us a couple of hours to have a drink or two, and I started off with a cold pint of Guinness.
As we had a good view of the runway, we watched as a British Airways flight came in and taxied to its gate right below us. It was shortly followed by an Air France aeroplane, we sat there looking out of the large rain-blurred windows at the lights winking on the runway. As I have been watching flight EK36 departing and following its journey all week on FlightRadar 24, we knew it was due in around 11.20am, so as that time approached I opened FlightRadar24 on my phone to see the whereabouts of the aircraft. “He’s not far away” I said to Trevor, showing him my phone screen, “he’s on his final approach”.
As I sat there watching the plane’s progress on the app I remarked, “He’s coming into land… any second now!” just as the Emirates 777 aircraft came into view and made a smooth landing on the runway, Its wheels sending up cascades of spray from the rain-lashed tarmac. 😊
After our second drink we made our way to the departure gate, and we didn’t have to wait long until we were called to board. We had requested that at least one of us had an aisle seat so we didn’t have to disturb any other passengers if we needed the restroom, or to get up and stretch our legs.
Boarding the aircraft, we located our seats and stashed our carry-on bags in the lockers overhead, before sitting down and clicking our seatbelts shut. The plane was fairly modern and had large AVOD screens set in the backs of the seats in front, and an impressive selection of movies, TV programmes and music channels. We had a seven hour flight to get through before arriving in Dubai, so we hoped the time would pass pleasantly and quickly, as I am not particularly keen on flying and just see it as a necessary evil to visit all these far away places. At least with Emirate flights the standard, even in economy class, is absolutely excellent.
Our aircraft took to the skies on time and we sat and relaxed and decided what film to watch. Trevor was happy that they had live Premiership football on TV, and I decided to watch that old 1944 classic Gaslight, starring Ingrid Bergman and a young Angela Lansbury. It is a psychological thriller, wherein the husband of a newly-married couple slowly tries to convince his wife she is going mad. It was very good, too, and passed a couple of hours, during which time I paused it when the drinks trolley came around before dinner. Trevor had a white wine and I settled for a Bacardi and Diet Pepsi with lots of ice.
For aeroplane food, Emirates’ fare is excellent – we enjoyed potato salad and fresh bread to start, followed by cottage pie, then finished off with sticky toffee pudding and cheese and biscuits. There were also some giant choc-chip cookies to enjoy as a snack later on, but I donated mine to Trevor. I also passed on the post-prandial coffee and had a glass of water instead, as I am trying to cut out caffeine. 😊
After our trays had been cleared away, I watched the rest of the film then settled down with my padded neck pillow and eye mask for a power nap. I really cannot sleep sitting up (unless I’m totally exhausted) so my nap was only short-lived, and I just spent the time watching the Sky Map to see where we were and getting up and walking the length of the aircraft just to stretch my legs.
As we were travelling east, night-time arrived quickly, and the cabin crew dimmed the lights. The seven hour flight seemed endless, and we baulked at the thought of the next leg of the journey, from Dubai to Sydney, which would last the best part of 13 hours. ☹
Time continued to pass in its inexorable way, however, and soon we could feel the subtle change in air pressure as the 777 started its descent into Dubai International Airport at 12.30am local time. We had 45 minutes to get to gate A12 ready for boarding flight EK414, so we had no time to waste!
MONDAY 11th MARCH 2024
The aircraft touched down and we exited via the airbridge into the sultry 23°C night air. Despite the hour, the airport was bustling with many people, and we strode out towards all the signs pointing to A zone (we were in B). Dubai is a massive airport, so it meant that, after going through security yet again, we had to get on a shuttle train to take us to zone A. From there it was just a couple of hundred yards to gate A12, and we made the most of the travellators on the way.
It wasn’t long before we were called to board, and we found ourselves in row 70 of the lower deck of a giant A380 aircraft. Trevor was in the aisle seat and I was next to him, and to my right there appeared to be two empty seats. We waited to see if anyone would be seated next to us, but soon the aircraft doors were made fast and the plane was being pushed back, so it looked as though Trevor and I had the four central seats all to ourselves! 😊 This meant we’d be able to spread ourselves out and hopefully get a better night’s sleep!
Trevor is lucky in that he can sleep sitting up but, by raising all the arm rests between the seats, I was able to stretch out over the remaining three seats and use two pillows and two blankets (it was cold in the plane). Cosy and comfortable, it didn’t take long for me to drop off to sleep, and I only woke up when a sudden bout of air turbulence meant that the “fasten seat belts” sign came on, and the cabin crew staff came round to check we were all belted up. 😊
On the whole, though, I was able to get probably about six hours’ total sleep on the aircraft, only interrupted by the arrival of meals and/or cold juices or water to keep us hydrated. In addition, because I’d been lying down, there was none of the usual ankle and foot swelling I experience on long-haul flights.
All in all, the 13 hour flight was not too bad at all. When we had about three hours to go, I decided to watch a movie and chose Victoria and Abdul, an excellent film starring Judi Dench about the real-life friendship between Queen Victoria and her Indian footman Abdul Karim. I had seen the film before (funnily enough, on a plane!) but it was definitely worth watching a second time.
The breakfast trolley then made an appearance (or lunch, or dinner – we were so disorientated now we didn’t know what it as supposed to be) but I wasn’t hungry, just sharing some of Trevor’s. I did enjoy a cold Diet Coke and a glass of water instead.
Finally… finally… our giant aircraft began its descent into Sydney Airport, and the wheels touched down at 10.30pm local time. We had arrived! We were in Australia! 😊
Going through passport control and customs was an absolute breeze. We then went to the luggage carousel where it didn’t take long at all to collect our cases and make our way out of the airport. As we exited, we scanned the boards of the rows of drivers holding up passengers’ names until we spotted ours, then we trundled our cases the short distance to the comfortable mini-bus that awaited us. From the aircraft landing to leaving the airport it had taken a mere 40 minutes; I think that must be the fastest arrival time ever. Certainly better than the average three hours it takes in USA airports! 😊
It was only a 20 minute journey until we arrived at the Vibe Hotel, Sydney, where our driver deposited us, and our suitcases, at the main entrance. It was 11.30pm on Monday, 11th March 2024.
By now, we were wide awake, (it was, after all, only 12.30pm at home!) and we decided we’d have a drink in hotel bar before turning in. As we checked in and received the door-card for room 519, we asked the pleasant receptionist if the bar was still open, and she shook her head and said unfortunately not. She did, however, point out a bar over the road that she said didn’t close until 4.00am, so we decided we would go there. 😊
Our room on the fifth floor was very spacious and pleasant and, after we’d dumped our bags and I changed out of my trainers into flip-flops, we took the lift to the ground floor again and went out into the sultry air.
Crossing the road, we entered the bar of the Crown Hotel which looked exactly like any typical pub you would get back home in Blighty. We each ordered a pint of VB (Victoria Bitter) and sat at a nearby table. A large TV screen was showing some highlights from past classic cricket matches, and we could hear the muted conversations of one or two others customers seated at nearby tables.
Raising our pint glasses to each other, we smiled widely. We were here at last, and now we could relax and look forward to our great adventures Down Under. 😊