An early rise and travellers diarrhoea before leaving Henley on Thames! My travelpak, sleeping bag, failed to keep me warm throughout the night in a centrally heated house. Oh dear. There's hope for me on those clear sky nights in Africa...
I began to pack. Having emptied the contents of every shopping bag on the floor around me, I pondered as to how all the bottles and pills and solutions and lotions would fit into my rucksack, as well as all of my clothes! Ian walked into the room, saw the problem and left sniggering. Only moments later I managed to squeeze everything in, at the first attempt! It was pretty straightforward really. Ian had issues with his bag, the main one being that somewhere he'd packed the socks he needed to wear...
Following a rushed cleaning spree in the house and the inventory check-out we made our leave from Appletree Cottage for the last time. Bye-bye Ratty! Ian had surrendered all the keys he used to possess - house, motorbike, car...
We arrived at Heathrow airport, again, and enjoyed a drink with Mum, Dad and Matthew, who had made a special effort travelling from Southsea to see me off. Everything was fine until I went to the toilet for one final time in the United Kingdom, realised it was only a few minutes before I would have to say goodbye to my family and walked to the departures area, tears rolling silently down my face. Mum spotted it, as Mum's do, and followed suit, despite our determination to fight back the tears. We laughed about it and walked arm in arm. The time came to bid a fond farewell and I hugged Mum tightly and told her I love her, then Matthew, then Dad, with a gentle request to the latter for him to try to give up smoking...at least try... A final wave and a few more tears to follow as Ian comforted me through security check.
We embarked the plane. Wow!!! A 777, a huge elaborate aircraft with an engine the size of a 737 and wings as wide as the runway! It had gadgets galore, a personal screen directly in front of me and a warm towel on arrival to freshen up. Shortly after came a menu. Wow again! We begin our dinner this evening with smoked trout... We were delayed by 50 minutes which reminds me that our connecting flight to Johannesburg may be tighter than we anticipated but at least we already have our boarding cards. The reason for the delay was questionable. It is Emirates company policy that if a passenger arrives late to the boarding gate then they are not permitted on to the flight and their baggage is removed from the hold. The passenger that failed to reach the gate in time by 10 minutes caused the flight to be delayed by 50 minutes while the airport staff search and removed his baggage. Surely, although he had been a naughty boy, it would have been more logical to slap his wrists and allow him to board so the rest of the many passengers weren't inconvenienced? I thought it would. Anyway it wasn't long before I realised I hadn't wished Mum good luck for Friday. I'll be thinking of her. I'm now watching Bonnie and Clyde whilst waiting for some dinner...
I watched my first sunrise at an altitude of 37,000 feet. It surprised me how quickly sheer darkness turns into a beautiful array of colours.
I figured that the pedal type footrest provided should be converted to a bicycle pedal to maintain blood circulation throughout the flight. It's such a simple idea, why hasn't it been thought of before?
The time difference between London and Dubai is 3 hours. Our total flight time was 6 hours 21 minutes, arriving in Dubai at 06:44 local time, 03:44 BST. Upon arriving at the fastrack security check for connecting flights I set the alarm off and was promptly instructed to remove my boots and put them through the x-ray machine. They stank!
I have learned two lessons today for future flights. The first is to wear glasses during the flight or at least carry some solution on the plane in case the lens case leaks, which mine did. The second is to carry your toothbrush and toothpaste with you for refreshment on arrival at the transit airport.
Copyright 2002 Helen Fuller. All rights reserved.