the birm*

Last call for QF 2…

After a great small meal onboard the BA flight to London I had a couple of hours to wait in the terminal B4 beginning the more serious part of the trip. I’d walked the terminal back and forth and was sitting at the gate when the call was made: “flight QF…to Bangkok/Sydney delayed…boarding expected to be in another half hour”. Evidently everyone around was pleased!

A bit of reading, listening to music, praying, sudoku, a muesli bar or two and another delayed call…

Other flights were being called during this time (some to the same destination and some with Qantas as well). I was only half paying attention to the calls, as I was in front of the sign, at the gate with hundreds of others, when I heard “this is final call for flight QF 2 to Bangkok and Sydney…”. I looked at my ticket and in horror saw that it was actually my flight that had been called!

I calmly put my stuff in my bag and slowly got up and walked to the proper gate (not wanting to seem like I was the last person they were waiting on to take off…). I got there a minute later and they asked “Mr Weekes?..” Now that was a close one!

So I got on the right flight and as soon as I sat down it took off (pretty much!). The food was great (as always!), the movies varied (but all disappointing) and I think I was able to get some 4 or so hours of semi-uninterrupted sleep ( I dropped off in all the movies I started watching). The 11 hours went really quick!

50 minutes stop in Bangkok (just enough to use some bigger toilets, stretch the legs and drink some cold water from a bubbler) and back on for another 8 hours, which went fairly quick as well.

Landing in Australia in the morning is truly an amazing experience. Watching the city wake up, hearing the sound of trains, cars, people, smelling the mix of coffee and eggs/bacon and feeling the cool-but-warming air with that gentle “beautiful day breeze” is music for the senses. As I write this I’m sitting at an outside café, waiting on my mate Adski to show so we can chew the fat…