3rd June 2015
I had booked a stay at the Holiday Inn Express for the evening, ensuring we’d be conveniently close to Heathrow for our noon departure the following day. Since Monday was a working day for Jamie, we couldn’t leave until he had returned home, showered, eaten, and called to be picked up.

I spent the day keeping busy with the garden and allotments, ensuring everything was in order, then rang Aunt Doreen to confirm Nan’s bench would be installed on the 16th at Caergwrle Castle. As the day wore on, the weather took a turn for the worse. The rain arrived with strong winds, which whipped through the garden, threatening to snap my courgette plants. Reluctantly, I ventured out to secure them against the onslaught.

When Jamie finally rang, it wasn’t to let me know he was ready; his rucksack zip had broken, and he wanted to borrow one of my holdalls. Oh, and could Mum send over his dinner too? Dutiful as ever, Sue plated up another portion of our meal, leaving me with a much-reduced serving, which I ate before grabbing a quick shower. Then, it was off to Jamie’s apartment.

Upon arrival, I handed over the holdall and rucksack, then made a detour to the cashpoint to replenish my wallet and refuel the car. Once back at Jamie’s, it wasn’t long before we set off, heading south on the motorway in worsening rain and wind.

Other than the atrocious weather, the drive was mostly uneventful, save for one hairy moment when a car ahead lost a bike off its rear rack. I saw it bounce wildly along our lane and managed to take avoiding action with minimal fuss. However, glancing in my rear-view mirror revealed more dramatic reactions from the cars behind us. A few moments later, we passed the offending car at the side of the road, the driver looking bemused as he counted the remaining bikes on the rack. I can only hope no harm came from his oversight in securing that bike.

We reached the hotel without trouble. Unusually, Sue and I hadn’t stayed at this particular Holiday Inn before, so the surroundings were unfamiliar. It was quite busy, and we had to wait around 10 minutes to check-in. Disappointingly, we weren’t upgraded to an executive room (had my luck finally run out?), but the accommodation was perfectly adequate.

Before long, we settled into the bar to unwind and watch the world go by. The clientele was fascinating, I’d estimate around 90% were of Far Eastern origin, though a lively group of Scandinavian workers joined us at the bar for a drink. It wasn’t until 11 p.m. that we finally returned to the room. We put on ‘Family Guy’, and Jamie was sound asleep not long afterwards.

We had breakfast a little earlier than planned (7 a.m.), as we were already awake and eager to start the day. The buffet system was efficient, though I had to smile at an oriental gentleman ahead of me at the hot plate. He carefully placed sausage, baked beans, and scrambled egg on his plate, then hesitated at the container of grapefruit positioned next to the eggs. After a moment’s consideration, he added a portion, followed by some orange segments from the next dish in line. I could empathise. I’ve often found myself at breakfast buffets in hotels across the Far East, puzzling over what pairs well together and how to eat it. I suspect I’ve raised a few smiles from locals with my questionable selections in the past.

After showering and checking out, we joined the throng of London commuter traffic to reach ‘Purple Parking.’ This was the same company that broke my rear-view mirror years ago, and I swore I’d never use them again. Yet here I was, proving that I must be a very forgiving person after all. The SatNav guided us straight there, and after a short 15-minute wait, we were in the shuttle van en route to Terminal 4 once again.

Check-in was straightforward, as were security and passport control. When we arrived at Gate 6, we saw our aircraft already docked, giving us a sense of where we’d board. As usual, we took the opportunity to browse the shops and stopped briefly for refreshments.

It wasn’t until Jamie checked our boarding passes that we realised why we weren’t being called to our seats at the gate. Gate 6 was for Economy Class, but to our surprise, we’d been upgraded to Business Class on the top deck of the aircraft, which had a separate boarding area. Thrilled, we made our way there and were soon settled into our extra-wide seats with ample legroom. The additional space included capacious side bins, where I stashed my tablet, shoes, neck rest, and bum bag, all neatly out of the way so they didn’t cramp my space as they usually did in Economy.

The meal service was excellent, and after three glasses of red wine, I began to feel a slight pang of sympathy for the passengers just a few metres below us. The only drawback to this unexpected luxury was walking through First Class on the way to our seats. It offered a tantalising glimpse of what could have been, leaving me momentarily wistful for an experience I’d only just begun to imagine.

After 13 hours and 5 minutes, we made it to Kuala Lumpur. I suppose it’s prudent to say “touch wood” since we’re flying with Malaysia Airlines.

We both managed to get some sleep, though Jamie seemed to spend most of the flight watching films. I watched a couple myself and found ‘Kingsman’ to be an unexpectedly entertaining spoof. To Malaysia Airlines’ credit, their service was first-class throughout. Meals and snacks were served regularly, accompanied by a steady flow of refreshing drinks to keep us hydrated. And we didn’t end up disappearing somewhere in the Antarctic Ocean.

We landed at 8:15 a.m. and disembarked the aircraft by 8:35 a.m., which was cutting it fine considering the captain had mentioned that onward passengers needed to be at their gate 20 minutes before departure. Our connecting flight was scheduled to leave at 9:00 a.m.!

Hurrying through the maze of corridors, following the transit signs, we eventually came across a man holding a large card that read, “Sydney, Gate 14.”  We rushed on, weaving our way through the terminal, only to discover that Gate 14 was, of course, at the other end of the airport, and on a satellite terminal, no less.

When we arrived, passengers were already queuing at the X-ray machine. We quickly joined the line and, before long, were finally seated and ready for take-off. Phew!

Now, just seven hours to go.

Unfortunately, we didn’t get upgraded on this flight, so sleeping in the smaller seats proved a bit trickier. Nevertheless, we both managed a few fitful minutes in the Land of Nod. I passed the time by watching the sequel to ‘The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’. It wasn’t as amusing as the first film, with a rather thin plot and a runtime that dragged on, but it served its purpose in whiling away the hours.

The food, once again, was excellent, though snacks were not as frequent this time.

Flying over the Australian interior was fascinating, a vast and desolate wilderness of sand and rock, entirely devoid of roads or any visible signs of life. As the barren landscape scrolled by below, I kept glancing at the interactive map on the screen in front of me. There wasn’t much to see on that either, apart from Alice Springs, Ayers Rock, and Coober Pedy, all of which I must have missed as we passed overhead.

Given our rushed transit in Kuala Lumpur, I had been worried that our baggage might not make it onto this flight. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened to Jamie. After landing at 7 p.m., my rucksack promptly appeared on the carousel, but Jamie’s hold-all failed to follow. Four other passengers found themselves in the same predicament.

At the baggage services desk, Jamie’s missing luggage was tracked down to Denpasar (Bali); it had evidently opted for a very different holiday! After providing contact details, we were reassured that the errant bag would be rounded up and sent to us wherever we happened to be. We shall see!

Feeling optimistic, we left the airport and boarded a sleek, double-decker train bound for the city, alighting at Museum Station, the closest stop to our hotel. From there, I used my phone’s map to guide us on the kilometre-long walk to the Arts Hotel on Oxford Street.

After checking in, showering, and changing, we headed back down Oxford Street towards the bright lights. On the way, we stopped at a late-night supermarket to pick up a toothbrush for Jamie. Mission accomplished, we ventured into the heart of the city and found a spot to enjoy some pizza and sample the local beer.

From the moment we first glimpsed Sydney as our plane descended, we were thoroughly impressed. It must be one of the most breathtaking views of any city at night. Peering out of our little round window, we marvelled as the plane glided past the spectacularly illuminated Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House, framed by a glittering skyline of towering skyscrapers. Now, standing at ground level, we were looking up at this dazzling cityscape instead of down.

With our appetites satisfied, we made our way back to the hotel and called it a night.