I'm sitting here in my room in Jury's Inn, Watford, with happy sunshine streaming in through the window. My head is pounding, I'm tired as hell, but I'm happy to finally be here in England!
The flight here was my first long-haul flight ever. It consisted of 1.5 hours to Sydney, then 23 hours to London with a 2 hour stop in Singapore. The flight to Sydney was ordinary enough, except that I was with Qantas and in a plane that had entertainment screens (not something I would normally encounter for such a short flight). We were served a quiche lorraine for lunch, and unfortunately mine was undercooked to the point of not being able to eat it. But that's ok, it was only a short flight anyway.
Once in Sydney I transferred by coach to the international terminal, where I'd never been before. The check-in system was efficient, and gave me plenty of time to wander around the duty free shops there (not that I bought anything at this early stage of travelling! Except my favourite Dior mascara...). On to the plane I went, through first and business class and right down the end to economy. I was seated in the middle section on the aisle, which meant a bit of extra stretch room for my long legs (which consequently got stepped on more than a few times by the man in front of me who needed to stand up a lot). Next to me was a film and tv producer Stuart, who worked on Priscilla Queen of the Desert and I Will Survive, as well as with the BBC. On the other side of him was a lovely lady who had just finished spending time in Aus to help out a friend with tongue cancer. Together the three of us had a dinner of chicken curry, worked our way through too many bottles of wine and made too many jokes that resulted in rather loud laughter, but no one else seemed to mind our fun. I also managed to watch Maze Runner inbetween our antics - I liked it, but I could tell how it had been adapted from the book poorly (haven't read the books yet though). An hour or so before landing we were served lunch (??), which was a chicken and cucumber roll, and did well to ease my wine-filled body.
By the time we got to Singapore for refuelling, I was feeling pretty shattered. This would have been around 3am at home, and travelling really does drain you. Rather than wandering around Singapore's amazing airport like I'd planned, I stood in a nice little corner and stretched out my legs with some ballet moves while waiting to re-board.
Back on to the plane we went, back to our same seats, minus Producer who had transferred to another flight. We had another meal soon after take off, this time I chose the beef option. Not too long after dinner service the lights went out and it was sleep time. Needless to say this didn't work too well. I watched Night at the Museum 3 during and after dinner, and by the time it finished I think I was over tired. Not to mention the fact that it's virtually impossible to get comfortable (says the woman who can fall asleep pretty much any where, any time). I dozed on and off for the next 6 or so hours, but never really fell in to a deep sleep. Crying babies, reading lights and conversations didn't help too much either. At about 3am London time, 3 hours before we were to land, I gave up trying to sleep and started on the Divergent series instead. A few chapters in and I'm enjoying it so far. The lights come back on about 2 hours before we are due to land, and a 'full English breakfast' is served. The eggs in this were inedible, and a slightly green colour, but the rest was rather nice. By this stage I realise I am well and truly dehydrated, but my poor time-travelling body doesn't like the thought of any more liquid in my stomach, so I stick it out until landing.
London Heathrow airport is HUGE! Never did I think I'd have to walk for 5 minutes, hop on a short train ride, then walk another 5 minutes to get from the terminal to the baggage collection, going through customs along the way. The customs official questioned me thoroughly over my purpose here, securing a job etc, but was very friendly.
Once I collect my bag I go outside to find my driver. I walk up and down the loooooong line of driver with their little cards. I can't find my person. I freak out. I almost cry. I'm completely shattered from the travel and this just puts a gigantic downer on the "I've just landed in England!" thing. I'm trying to figure out what my next move could be (with no phone, internet not connecting to the free wifi...) when I see him about 50m away from the rest of the crowd, down by the shops. I am so relived it hurts.
We wander around a while trying to find the other two Aussies who are here for iday, and after grouping together we head to the car and out into England.
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