Ok.......... this was it!!! After spending 3 months planning it and organising all of my stuff I had my plane ticket in one hand and my luggage in the other (I actually had it all around my neck as well but that doesn't sound quite as good!). The last few weeks had been spent tidying my room and packing all my worldly possessions into boxes and throwing or selling what I no longer needed. I'd said goodbye to my job and all of my colleagues and finally said goodbye one by one to all of my friends and family. This was the start of the most amazing road trip ever....... I was going to Australia on the working holiday visa. Point one on the map that would be my round the world adventure. All i had to do now was get through two days on a plane.........
It started well. I was flying from Manchester Airport with Emirates and going to Brisbane via Dubai (this was a last minute discovery as I thought I was going with Singapore Airlines and spent my last few hours frantically discovering I didn't have as much luggage allowance and had to re-pack) and checked in with plenty of time to spare. After leisurely making my way through security and finally coming to stop in Duty free i'd already had enough.......... the laptop bag round my neck that i'd had to put some extra things in with the re-pack was like a millstone and I couldn't carry it any longer. It had been on for 30 minutes and i had another two hours before my flight, not to mention the airport stops in both Dubai and Brisbane before i finally made my way to Emerald. Where's a friend when you need one............
I sat down and grabbed some dinner and decided to wait there until my flight was called. There would be no duty free for me today.......
The flight to Dubai was pretty uneventful. I managed to watch a few films, eat some shit airplane food, get no sleep and so when we landed 7 and a half hours later my eyes were already starting to feel the strain but at this point I was still excited about travelling. It didn't last long!! Upon stepping off the plane we had to trek miles through transfers before we finally made it through to the departure gates. I've never seen so many escalators and you'd have to go down two to then go back up on another two. Surely a walk-way between would have been quicker. The only nice thing about Dubai was the free Wi-fi so I was able to talk to my mum for a bit and stop the boredom. It also had very cheap duty free!! Yes i did make it to duty free this time although i'm still not sure how I managed it. With my handbag, the heavy laptop bag and a carrier bag full of stuff i somehow managed to cart around a litre of JD in a massive duty free box. Finally it was time to get on the next plane in my journey, the one bound for Brisbane.
I now hate flying!!! 14 hours non-stop on a plane will forever be my version of hell........... and yet again there was no sleep for me :-( I've never been like this on a plane before- I can always manage to sleep. Shit film after shit film was all that kept me going and then finally we made it to Brisbane! By this point I'm ready to drop on my feet but I've got to manhandle my hand luggage through customs and immigration, hoping that they'll just let me through and I'm not going to get stopped anywhere. I'm finally collecting my suitcase and the duty free bags before i have to check in yet again, although this time at least its only for a short domestic flight with Quantas.
A short train ride later and I've made it to the domestic departure terminal where i can sit down for a bit, safe in the knowledge that the end is in sight and there is light at the end of the tunnel!! I buy myself a sandwich (even though i shouldn't eat it as i'm on a gluten free diet but two days is too long to cope on GF food when you're travelling) and finally after a few hours wait they're calling my flight!! I make it on board and have a nice window seat. Its not far to Emerald, barely an hours flight, but the plane is tiny and so bumpy i can feel my stomach rise in my throat and with the exhaustion i'm feeling i don't know that i'm make it!! Its worse as we're coming in to land but i concentrate on looking out the window and hoping my sandwich doesn't come back up again!! Fianlly we've made it!! I left at 7pm on Sunday and arrive in Emerald at 11am on Tuesday.........
I get off the plane as quickly as i can and make my way over to the terminal. The sun is shining and I'm waiting to see my Mum and Rusty (her new partner) but they're nowhere to be seen. What an anti-climax. All this way and they're not even here to greet me. I wait for my suitcase to be brought over and make my way outside to sit and wait. After 15 minutes i finally see the car and its like a miracle!! Now all I have to do is stay awake for the rest of the day so that i don't suffer from jet lag......... but I'll be back here again tomorrow as I'm flying to New Zealand with my mum so she can sort out a new visa! I hate travelling...........
