Buses and Airports - (Southampton to London)...

Monday, 4th July

With the hotel not having air-conditioning, we slept poorly on the night before we went up to London for the flight home. I did inform them at Reception, and was told no, there wasn't cooling in the rooms. Thankfully we were able to open the windows, and I thought if we get mosquitoes or anything, we'll just have to put up with it.The only problem was that we knew we wouldn't have proper sleep for the next couple of nights on the way home.

Breakfast was fine, and afterwards we walked into town to post off our parcels, (which to date haven't arrived here in Canberra). Everything else we sent home along the way has arrived, in good order, and we had sent it all Surface Mail knowing we wouldn't be back home for a while. However, these last two things still haven't come, and we've been home since the 6th July!

I suppose they will still come, as we were told originally that it would take 6-8 weeks.

So, a taxi took us the short trip around to the bus station and we were there in plenty of time and as it was a cool morning, we were quite comfortable waiting the 30 minutes. The bus seats were actually quite comfortable, and we were able to sit back and enjoy the trip, without having to concentrate on the traffic.

There were two stops, one at Winchester, which looked to be a very attractive town, with an important cathedral, and then Basingstoke, which is quite the opposite, and looks very much more modern and industrial.

The trip was mostly on the M3, and apart from a short section on another road after Basingstoke, we got back onto the M3, and saw a sign which said, "queues likely for the next 16 miles". Not long after seeing the sign, we did slow down to a crawl, but it was because of an accident of some sort up ahead. Still, we were glad we didn't opt to taking the car back to the Hertz depot at Heathrow ourselves, as we were not sure we'd have coped with negotiating all the correct turn-off lanes etc. The bus driver obviously does it every day, and apart from a few passengers at one of the other terminals, most of us were going on to Terminal 3.

We got  a trolley and had to manage our own bags for only a short distance, but we were too early at 2.00pm, and found out that the Japan Airlines checking office wouldn't be manned until 4.30pm! There were huge numbers of people around and so we found a spot in a Pret a Manger cafe and had some very nice sandwiches, but then had to find another spot to sit and wait for check-in.

Gordon went down again about 3.00pm or so and found they were open, and they were not sure why we had been told such a late time. We were finally rid of the bags for a while, as they were checked right through to Canberra, but we would have to collect them in Sydney to personally take them through customs, and then re-check them for the flight to Canberra.

It was ( and is), well worth the extra money we paid for Premium Economy, as we then were able to escape the noise of the other departure lounges and head into the sanctuary that is the Flight Lounge. It was so quiet, (except for the drawl of an elderly lady from the southern states of America), and you are able to just sit back and relax and eat if you want to. 
Drinks are laid on, of any description, and everyone there is either in our seat class, or Business or even First. If you are going to go this far on any trip, save some more money and get the better tickets!

Steeling ourselves for the long flight to Narita, we bought some extra water in case they ran out again and we didn't want to be dehydrated. We had seats in the front of our section and this allows plenty of legroom, as this is where they put young babies in bassinettes when couple fly with young kids. You can't always get these seats if there are those requirements for babies.

Still, over 12 hours of flying, the seats get more and more uncomfortable, and it doesn't matter how much you shift around, the bum gets numb. If I ever do something like this again, I am going to save up even more, and get a Business Class seat!!!

We did both get some sleep, as we had been deprived during the one night in the hot room at Southampton. I guess weariness just takes over and you have to nod off.

Next - time zone change, and the trip home...