Flying Home

Now I have a confession to make.  Whilst sailing from Noumea to Sydney, I was S*%#ing myself most of the way.  This wasn't due to storms, a fear of pirates or picking up dysentery, it was because I'd taken a gamble.  I had a choice between two parts of my life and I attempted to have both. You see after beginning my Pacific Adventure, I found out that my Sister became engaged, HIP HIP HORAY!!!!  and then a little later they set the date for the 27th October HIP HIP HOR- what? but that's only two days from when I get into Sydney!!!

Air travel from Sydney to London takes about 24 hours, and that's with the minimum time for a stop over/refuel. You can then take away the 12 hour time difference, but the biggest factor was that I'd be on a sailing ship, which was dependant on weather conditions to get in on time. If luck wasn't on your side, we could be out there for days, bobbing about.  It took a lot of thought. I wanted to be there with my family, celebrating a major life event. I also didn't want to let my crew down and not finish my trip where I'd started.   So I looked online, chose a flight and made a gamble.  I'd be flying out on the 25th October, the day the last voyage officially ended.

At the beginning it didn't seem the best idea.  There was zero wind. I may have cried a little and cursed myself for not putting my family first and trying to have it all.  But as we know the wind did change, I did get to Sydney and with two days spare to boot!

My flight boarded at 4:25 pm.  For the first part of my journey I slept (briefly) and watched films (mostly). In between this I ate (surprisingly yummy).  For around an hour and a bit I got off the plane in Singapore, went through hand luggage security again, only to get on the same plane again, in the same seat.
Part two of my journey pretty much mirrored part one. The whole time I was blown away by how awesome Quantas were and how well the flight was.  Comparing it to my experience flying out to Australia,  I'm now fully convinced that if you can stay on the same plane the whole journey, even if you do have to get on and then off, just do it.  The $200* more I had to pay was well worth ridding myself of the added stress. Wondering whether you'd make a connection or waiting 8 hours in Beijing airport, are all well and good when you're not on a time limit, but with the wedding looming this was definitely the best choice.

And so after around 24 hours in the air, I landed to an English morning. A cold, dark and wet British day just about to begin. But it was not cheerless. The customs man let my Pacific carvings and shells through, and on the other side of arrivals, I found my dad waiting for me, ready to take me Home to have one final meal with my 'single' sister. After over two years, I was finally Home.


Picture taken in Manly, Sydney, Australia - 2012.
* $ refers to the Australian dollar.