Flight of fancy 2 London

Flight of fancy ...mark 2...London bound

April 2 2012

The low hum of the engine is comforting as we hurtle through space...but it almost wasn't to be. Were the few words on the ticket (date change not allowed- no refund) a subtle warning?

April Fools' Day 2012

A step back to the wee hours of Sunday morning at Cambridge St, about 2am, and an email alerted me to the date...April 1 .... And in an instant the realisation dawned. I'd miscalculated. Mary was right when she'd said that we were leaving on Sunday night. We were! No point in calling George. He'd be sound asleep, or so I thought. So I soldiered on aiming for more than a semblance of order (leaving behind a very tidy space, and the inanimate objects echoing my state of mind and body ( one photocopier jammed, and not a hint of where the wretched paper could be...the other threatening non compliance exhibiting the 'order drum now' message, which initially is just a warning, then threat...soon it too would down tools! Then the last uncooperative one, the shredder, said 'enough' though I tried to appease it by emptying the contents. No. Its mouth remained firmly locked, refusing to grind any more paper.

So 4am I locked away my key in a safe place and headed off into the night, leaving behind reasonable order, well, at least order in that in between little room near the landing, and a fair bit of empty desk space to boot. How is it that whatever one vacates all is in a better state than ever before, when moving house, the tops of the cupboards dustless, when they have never been...

George was up and so I delivered the news. To bed, and then at 10am a strong coffee to kickstart the day. The chores that were supposed to be Monday's needed rethinking. The pounds would need to be purchased elsewhere. Fortunately most of the other tasks had phone service 24/7 so could do these. The others would have to wait.

To one of my favourite shops in the Southern Hemisphere- the Greenery, beautifully landscaped. Tranquil. Two cyclamens and 4 cakes of soap later (what does one bring OS when the expected Monday doesn't eventuate?)...and off to mum's for schnitzels and lingonberry sauce...then home to more confusion.

George had said that we'd been invited for drinks between 2 and 5 by Michael, to toast Melissa's 40th, as she didn't want a party. So realising that time was running out I went over to Michael and Pamela's to say I'd be just dropping in briefly - after much confusion transpired that they weren't putting on drinks, that it was at James and Melissa's. Eventually (1.50 by my account) I went next door. Sounded devoid of any activity. Finally Melissa emerged, in track suit pants, looking like I 'd woken her up. At that stage I thought either I'd got it wrong and drinks were somewhere locally, or Melissa didn't know. So my lips were dutifully sealed and I just said 'we 're off to London tonight...and happy birthday'.... and left somewhat puzzled. Generally April Fool's day passes, and it's just like any day. However all had been confusing time wise. My watch didn't tally with the one at home so I changed it, thinking that it had accidentally stopped when the winder was knocked (as it does)...so I had more time to prepare, and arrived close to 2. Sitting there chatting, the clock on the wall showed another time...and finally it dawned- daylight saving! And boy did I need that extra hour on that day...but this April Fool's Day sure lived up to its reputation!

Drinks, a good chance to catch up with all the neighbours, home again, for the final pack (which I'd started at about 1pm), and obligatory phone calls that were supposed to be Monday's job.

Alexander drove us to the airport. This time I wouldn't lose my passport. Check in all fine, and, following Pamela's sound advice George commented that it would be good to have a seat with a bit of legroom. All fixed, through the acres of duty free shops to the International Departure lounge where I was, yet again, duly scanned for traces of explosives, by a woman with a Slavic accent and a sense of humour. As I thought she said

...no trace of explosives as she scanned the screen...in fact you have been the least explosive all day..with your lovely smile I knew that would be the case. They're the ones we do...not the aggressive looking ones.

A quiet sit down Greek salad followed by water in the bar, then off to the departure lounge. But where are my two boarding passes....back to my quiet sit down spot ( at not such a leisurely pace) and there they are, quietly resting, waiting to be claimed by their rightful owner.

April 2 2012

Finally we're onto the plane, and, to our utter delight emergency seats ( window seat for me) a comparative MCG of legroom space, relative to the rest of the passengers. Melbourne's lights looked fairylike as we flew quite low over the city.

But can you see what's on the wall to our left. You guessed it, a young babe, not impressed with his surroundings whose lungs literally exploded for the first hour or so. He was lovingly bounced and indulged by his father, and eventually settled into a quiet slumber.

During the night we were pampered by indulgent cabin crew crew...peanuts, like you've never tasted before and the hostess said have another. Then when George complimented them again but said he'd already had 2 packets, she appeared with another two....then drinks and more drinks, and a hot chicken and vegetable pastry roll...to sleep...not long till morning, and more food to wake us up.

Breakfast wasn't to disappoint, massaman shrimp curry and the other choice, scrambled eggs.

All of this was accompanied by a croissant, fruit salad, yoghurt, coffee, orange juice, a muesli bar...wow! I had the massaman shrimps. Delicious! And...the cutlery was real, not plastic.

All was abustle. The crying babe was now content.. his dad continuing to cater for his every need.

m

At KL we had about 3 hours to fill in (George did a mercy run back to the plane and thankfully retrieved my much loved velvet jacket, the only item of clothing for warmth for the trip) which had been left in the above board compartment. We had a look at the jungle, a feature of the airport, and just lounged around waiting for the next leg.

Our seats weren't quite the same standard as the previous flight, but reasonable leg room so we settled in for the next 10 hours, the journey broken up by food, and more food, and drinks...And some interesting conversation with Ann from Ireland, returning from Perth (which she called (Pert), all the 'th' endings becoming 't' with that beautiful Irish accent. Her first port of call on return was to be the pub, to drink Budweisers and buy some Irish cigarettes. She found the warnings on the Australian packets effective, would turn the pack over or place a napkin on it to avoid reading the warnings. We were encouraged to visit Ireland, particularly the Kerry, and Dublin and coastal areas. Hiring a car and staying in local pubs would be the go.

M'