Behind the Mystical Curtain

So leaving day had arrived. Our flight was at 10pm but the owner of the cottage kindly allowed us to stay as long as we wanted. Nice and very handy.

Got the packing out of the way and went for a last walk around the village and went to the Blue Anchor for lunch (and to try out my new darts!)

The snow that fell 4 days ago is still thick on the ground. I shovelled off the path which had become very icy. Now I know why people are so quick off the mark to shovel their paths and drives. If you don't it freezes and is very hard to break up.

Bundled out suitcases into the car and set off for the 90 minute drive along the M20/M25 to Heathrow on the other side of London. Still had time up our sleeves so we had a quick game of tenpin bowls near the airport (much more respectable 186!). Dropped the car back and the shuttle took us to terminal 3. Unfortunately the flight was delayed for what turned into about an hour forty which was not ideal for Ben but at least he could sleep on the plane. We were last flight for the night. At least the snowy/icy weather hadn't disrupted our journey (not long after we left it bucketed down another 8 inces of snow!)

On the upside was British Airways chose to upgrade us to World Traveller Plus, their version of Premium Economy. I asked if it was random and she said it was most likely due to my Qantas Frequent Flyer card. Funny actually because we both dislike Qanta$ and much prefer the normally cheaper Asian Airlines or Virgin domestically. Last time I flew Qantas they left my bag behind and it was wrecked when I got it. I only have a frequent flyer card because it was free and linked to my woolworths reward card. This time we flew BA/Qantas because it was a super deal. After convert to AUD it was $1299 return (we have an essentially free leg Bne/London to use within 12 months and plan on having 4 weeks in December school holidays and then bumming a one way back somehow).

So the first leg to Singapore was BA in WTP and the 2nd leg to Brisbane was Qantas in normal economy. We googled WTP on the iPad so we had an idea of what it would be like - big comfortable seats with leg and foot rests and lumbar adjustment, noise cancelling headphones, heaps of leg room, double luggage allowance and a curtain to separate us from the unwashed masses. I'm sure I could smell them when I poked my head through..only downside was that the fancy seats had fixed arm rests so we couldn't put them up to let Ben lie on our laps to sleep. Oh well you can't have it all.

We picked up all of the lost time when we changed planes in Singapore as the Qantas flight left as scheduled meaning less waiting time, barely enough to transfer. Passengers to Perth weren't so lucky and the delay meant they missed their connection.

So back in with the plebs! Actually is was good. We were in the 2nd row after business class and everything was fine except for the lack of drinks services. Nice meals and you ask for drinks if you wanted to buzz them but they didn't bring a cart round apart from with the supper when it came. Not complaining greatly, just contrast that with the Asian airlines who are falling over themselves to give you drinks. Malaysian had a few drink runs and must have brought round trays of all manner of juices 20 times.

We ended up arriving in Brisbane 40 mins ahead of schedule and had to wait for our pre booked shuttle.

Thus endith the holiday! Hope you enjoyed reading about our travels! That's if there is anyone out there...