Going Home Again

A journey back home from a great trip is always a bit of an anti-climax. Whilst the journey out is part of the adventure, when it is over you just want to get back asap - at least that is how we feel.

So we changed out of our sunny 35C+ clothes and sandals into clothes more suitable for an air conditioned plane and a UK climate (the weather forecast is offering us a high of 18C where we live) and then took a taxi to Darwin Airport. Because we had checked in online, we did not have to wait in the long queue to check-in and at bag drop our bags were taken, hopefully to reappear in London the next day.

It was a cramped 4 hour flight on Silk Air to Singapore during which I hope I made the passenger in front of me as uncomfortable as he made me when he immediately put his seat back and left it there for the whole flight even during our meal and also when he went off to the toilet.

After take-off, we swung around over Darwin and headed out over the sea towards Borneo and Singapore.

We arrived early and therefore had 5 hours in transit at Changi. 

We had time for a shower and to change our clothes at the Terminal 2 Ambassador Transit Hotel

which for some unknown reason, was slightly cheaper (Sin$31.99 for two people) and came with a free bottle of water than at Terminal 3 on the way out (Sin$32.96 for two people and no water).

  

We also visited the Orchid Garden in T2

made use of the children’s Picture Rubbing Area

  

which shows that some people are never too old to be young,

visited the Sunflower Garden

and registered for use of the free WIFI system all before we had even started to walk to Terminal 3 from where our flight back to the UK departed. They provide buses between the terminals even though they are linked by walkways

and also a shuttle train system but we thought the 40 minute walk would do us good.

However after 20 minutes walking, we found that the flesh was weaker than the mind and we were grateful to be wisked to T3

which was home to the Butterfly Garden. The only problem there was that the butterflies had gone to bed! Changi does try very hard to keep transit passengers entertained and also to keep the airport as the transit place of choice over the other regional offerings (Bangkok, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur).

Consolation came in the form of donuts

enjoyed by Mrs Sugar Mouth.

We were on the same plane in the same cabin as the way out, the same row even, just on the other side of the plane and our fully laden A380 bound for London took off almost on time. 

We ate and we slept and we saw sunrise over Turkmenistan

and flew straight in without circling over London, which we would not have seen in any case because of the thick cloud

and we arrived early at a rainy and cold Heathrow Airport.

This picture proves it is almost possible to sleep standing up at a railway station and so, some 27 hours after leaving Darwin, we unlocked our front door to face a more ordinary life

and an enormous pile of mail, a lawn and garden in desperate need of attention, a supermarket delivery in a few hours………………...

We would rather be on the road somewhere in the Kimberley please !