May 31st: From A Land Down Under

Day 58 (Flying home)

7am (Singapore time) As expected, we didn’t sleep much on the plane. Food was OK. Watched a movie which was OK. A fair bit of turbulence along the exit and extra precautions taken after the tragedy from last week.

My airline TV screen came up with breaking news from CNN so I watched, with muted glee, the latest act in the circus that is Trump unfold. 34 guilty verdict. Will they ever stick?

Now chilling with a cup of tea in Changi airport with an hour and half to kill. We’re outside the amazing coffee shop that I might have mentioned about 6 or 7 weeks ago on our way to New Zealand.

The famous waterfall is in a different terminal which would mean going through immigration so that is off the to-do list. That leaves the butterfly house when I’ve finished my tea.

08:05 Hmmm! Spent so long in the coffee shop choosing one to take home (and it was about a nine and a half mile walk to our gate) that there wasn’t time for the butterflies. 

Got to the gate and our cabin bags were checked again. It was my turn to be the suspicious passenger. They almost emptied my case which contained Julie’s make-up bag which included a nearly empty can of hairspray. 150mm when new. Too big! Confiscated again. Julie said she thought it was 100mm. If only she had some specs! And why didn’t Melbourne security pick this up?

Meanwhile another chap was almost strip/searching me to the point where I was about to accuse him of sexual assault and then he ran off with my wallet to xray it! It contains a few Aussie and Singapore dollars, some plastic cards and paper receipts! Very odd. 

Still, we are now just waiting to board for the last flight.

09:20 take off. 20 minutes late!

As expected, not slept much again. About five hours in I realised we were over the Himalayas in Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. Opened the blinds to see a brilliant cloudless view and took a load of photos. Stunning scenery at 36,000’.

45 minutes later we were over deserts!

And this is what happens to a packet of crisps in a pressurised cabin…

Another uneventful flight except for the predicted total lack of sleep. Also, following the tragedy a few days ago on Singapore Airlines, extra precautions taken with any turbulence: seat belts on, toilets out of use, cabin services suspended. 

I watched a film called “Killers of the Flower Moon”. Directed, produced and co-written by Scorsese and starring De Niro and DiCapprio. Three and a half hours long but it took most of the flight to watch it due to not concentrating and having to keep going back.

Nearly home. Can you tell we are shattered?

The plane landed 25 minutes late and then they couldn’t open the front door! Almost an hour after scheduled touch down we met our taxi driver and then fought the traffic on the M25.

Home at 6:55pm to a tidy house and garden thanks to David. Quick cup of tea, unpack any breakables and essentials, shower and in bed by 8:30pm to finish the blog.

That’s a wrap! Thanks for reading.