United Kingdom: Getting to London, South Wales and York.
More about people than places (pt 1)
13.07.2009 - 14.07.2009
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John and Jackie Around the World
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Dear blog watchers, apologies for the time taken to write the second and subsequent entries to the blog. This part of the trip was always going to be mainly about people, and the significance of renewing friendships and family links is not easy to convey to people outside those two groups However several entries now in short succession will bring us to the end of our 4 weeks in England and Wales and prepare us for places where we have no family (certainly) or friends (yet).
Thanks to some excellent service from QANTAS in Christchurch we sorted out good seats and found that what we thought was overweight luggage was well within our allowance. No two ways about it...this was a long set of flights and, having done it quite a few times before we knew how we were going to look and feel at the other end. On the upside however this was also a great chance to see a few movies (Grand Turino) and enjoy the other bits of entertainment (interesting to note that QANTAS have a playlist of AUSTRALIAN bands which lists CROWDED HOUSE among them - probably just a minor oversight and I'm sure it doesn't matter too much but on my iPod I have them on my AOTEAROA playlist) , eat surprisingly well and watch M.A.S.H. re runs again.
Time became fairly meaningless (except for ensuring that we got back on the 'plane on time) as we cut our way through numerous time zones. After the sun set over the Australian desert there were few references to the world outside our aluminium tube. A glimpse at the flight information told us that we were traveling at 750 KPH and that the temperature was -41 C degrees and that we were so many tens of thousands of feet above the Earth's surface but these numbers all felt rather abstract as we sat comfortably eating, watching 'The Reader' and sipping a big Aussie Shiraz. The most 'real' sight in the darkness was when one of the cabin staff pointed out a line of bright lights shining out of the darkness and told us that this was the India - Pakistan border a fairly tense place at the best of times; the tension exacerbated following the bombings in Mumbai. That brief reminder of the world outside faded quickly as we settled into the twilight world of the long haul Boeing 747.
Expecting the worst at Heathrow, we were shocked at the crisp efficiency of the place that saw us land at 06:30, clear customs and immigration, pick up a rental car, stop to pick up a packet of Walkers cheese and onion crisps and an armful of heavyweight newspapers, locate Radio 4 on the car radio and arrive at my Mum and Dad's in South Wales by 10:30. Our previous journey along the M4 was more like sitting in a rather large car park for several hours but not this time. Thankfully, having two drivers meant that one slept whilst the other drove. As surprising as the Heathrow experience was the Welsh weather; sunny and dry.....more to follow shortly......
Posted by JohnandJac 06.08.2009 17:00 Archived in Wales Tagged round_the_world
