Mon 12 and Tues 13 - After what has been a wonderful holiday we finally had to face the reality that all good things come to an end, and make the second leg of our long trek home. We set off to the Singapore Changi airport at lunchtime, even though our flight wasn't departing until
8.15pm. There was not much we could have done in the city without getting hot and sticky, and requiring another shower and change of clothes. We chose to stay cool indoors instead.
For us, filling in time at an airport does not involve shopping for overpriced duty free goods! We wandered around a bit, sat and watched planes - including some from Asian carriers we hadnt come across before, and had a bite to eat and checked emails etc.
Finally it was time for us to make our way to the departure gate. At Changi, the departure gates only open about an hour before the flight. You go through security just before entering the departure waiting area, rather than just after checking in and dropping off your suitcases. This makes the security process so much more of a pain than it is when you get it over and done with when you first arrive at the airport. We went to our departure gate at the appointed time and went through security and sat down. A few minutes after we sat down our crew arrived and went to board the aircraft. They emerged a few minutes later and set off to another departure gate. The announcement soon came, telling us that we had to go to another departure gate. Off we charged and when we got there, we had to go through security again. This time the security area serviced 4 gates rather than just one. What a pain to have to line up and go through it all again. If you have the security check when you first arrive rather than at each gate, this wouldn't happen. We sat down and waited for the boarding call. Our flight departure was delayed and finally they started making announcements and apologising for the delay. Before boarding, we all had to file past more security staff and open our bags for a physical security check. It took so long to board the flight, with all this process.
When on board the plane, the pilot announced that we had to swap planes as there was a problem with the toilets on the one we were meant to use. He said the plane was air worthy but it would be a tad inconvenient for us passengers if we couldn't relieve ourselves!
We were very late departing but arrived in Sydney only about 10 minutes late, so we made up plenty of time. We had great jet stream tail wind which helped to make up over an hour.
I hate overnight flights, because I am hopeless at sleeping on planes. We were both tired when we got home but had to go to the supermarket for a few provisions and had something to eat before finally getting some shut eye.
Wed 14 - Today we feel much more human after a good sleep in our own beds. This morning I decided that after suffering pain in my toe for the last 5 weeks, I would go to the hospital for an x-ray. This confirmed my suspicions that I had definitely broken my toe but that it was slowly healing. I just have to battle on until it heals properly. Next time we go away, I will be a lot more careful!
This morning, the postman turned up with mountains of mail which had been held for us over the last 10 weeks. Rob and I made good use of the time we were sitting around in the hospital waiting room, by taking all the mail with us, opening it all and sorting out what needed attention.
I have one more day of freedom before returning to work. We can now start planning our next trip. The planning will give us lots to look forward to.
