Day 1A - Thursday

Wednesday was packing day, and quite a flurry of activity it was. There was travel money to collect, phone cards to be purchased, along with the other last minute things needed before a trip away (what am I going to wear on the plane?). Packing did take a lot longer than I expected, and thanks to Scott for helping me pack all the technology required (webcam, camera cables, phone charger etc) and Andrew and Lorraine for lending me the suitcase and accessories. Felt a bit on-edge most of the day, even though I had plenty of lists made.

Dad picked me up from home, and Ally had said goodbye quite easily, probably the length of time I would be away hadn't quite registered... I'll miss her and Scott a lot, but can't afford for us all to go.

Now it is Thursday... Stayed overnight at the Formule 1 hotel Tullamarine. It was certainly basic, as expected, and I sure wouldn’t want to share the room with the two other people it supposedly sleeps! Dad seemed impressed though, so look out on your next big trip, Earlene!

It was up at the usual early time of 5:40am. This was fine by me, as one never sleeps well the night before an adventure.

After checking out and exiting the hotel, I had my first of probably many “Now where do I go?” moments. And I was still in Australia! Started down a footpath and very shortly came around a corner and saw two large red aircraft tails with white kangaroos on them – the right direction, phew! Yes, I know you're thinking "It's the airport, how hard can it be?"

A few hundred metres more of walking and I entered the land of ballet flats, travel shoes, tracky dacks and travel dresses. I had checked in online so just breezed up to a Qantas counter and dropped off my suitcase. I don’t know why more people don’t do this…  

Grabbed my favourite travelling breaky of an egg and cheese roll with BBQ sauce (this one was on a turkish roll too, yum!), changed some money, and then proceeded through security. All went smoothly and soon it was time to board.

The A380 is one big plane! It was very comfortable inside, with slightly more seat room than on a domestic flight. I had the aisle seat (63C to be precise, over the huge wings), so introduced myself to the other two ladies seeing as we would be crossing paths perhaps frequently! We taxied to the runway and started down it. We had lifted off way before I thought we were going fast enough for it to be possible! None of the usual rattling and shaking of the smaller planes…

Skycam during take-off - a live feed from a camera in the tail of the plane

Above the clouds (much brighter than photo indicates)

The flight itself was very smooth, and the food and refreshment bar were good. I watched a couple of movies and slept a bit, so the time seemed to go quite quickly…