Narita to Sydney...and the end of the holiday

Tuesday, 5th July, (into Wednesday, 6th)

The long, long flight from London is exciting at the beginning as you know you are flying back over the top of the world, (plus heading home), and flying over some of the countries you have just recently visited. It goes up and over Sweden and Norway, and then across Siberia and Russia, and comes down from the north-west into Tokyo.

But, it becomes soooooo boring!!!! And you think the 12 hours or so will never be over. We had good flights and thankfully no sudden bumps and drops, which pleased me so much.

There were not many vacant seats between London and Tokyo, and the majority of course were Japanese. You wonder where they had been since the earthquake, and what they might be going back to. As a culture, they seem so serene and placid, and who knows what is going on in their minds. All the staff and flight personnel were always so friendly, and we wouldn't hesitate to fly with them again if the chance arose.

On this return trip we weren't staying overnight, but just laying over at the airport, and this isn't as bad as it might be, as we have access to the Sakura Lounge, where you can have a very peaceful time, eat something, and even shower and change if you wish. We had brought with us a change of shirt each, and so after a wash, we felt much better. However, it wasn't easy to work out when to eat, and what, but since our flight wasn't leaving until 8.00pm, we needed something by mid-late afternoon, and so had some really nice and tasty chicken wings and some yummo bread.

The meals on the JAL flights are quite pleasant and you get a good variety of food, although breakfast isn't one of their better meals. We ate again only a couple of hours before we landed at 2.00pm in the afternoon, Japan time.

It was actually still Tuesday when we boarded our flight to Sydney, (and to fly eastwards, you go into the other time zone). We also we had a plane with a slightly different configuration of seats, but we still had the seats at the front with the better space.
Whereas the flight from London was full, this one was quite empty, and in our section of about 32 seats, only 16 or so were taken. 

There was a group of young Aussie guys who boarded, and they were shown the way down at the rear to Economy. One of them appeared in our section and proceeded to make himself comfortable in the seat across from us. His mates tried it too, but it didn't last, and the flight attendant quietly asked him/them for their boarding passes, and it was obviously not his allocated seat, and she very politely asked him to go with her, and she directed him back to Economy.
I guess if they'd gotten away with it, then OK, but the rest of us paid a lot more to sit where we were.

Lee and I were both very tired when we boarded and so were able to get some sleep, albeit in fits and starts, and so by the time we got to Sydney we were exhausted, and snapping at each other a little.

There had been a little turbulence on route, but nothing drastic, and then all of a sudden you could see that we were over land again, coming down over Cape York and Queensland.

We later found out there were very strong winds in Sydney, and that many flights had to be cancelled, and our plane had to circle around a few times, and came in over the sea onto the runway out into Botany Bay. There was a lot of rocking and bumping as we landed and, and also whilst braking. I think good pilots deserve all the money they get.

The airport curfew lifts in Sydney at 6.00am, and they must know they have many flights coming in and I guess they cope the best way they can. We had declared some wooden items, and my medication, and I had bought some tomato seeds at Wisley. 

All the staff there (at Wisley), tell you that it should be OK as they are sealed in foil. NOT SO. 

The lady who finally checked us through actually showed me her computer screen, on which there are huge lists of those plants/seeds which are allowed. And those I had bought were not there, so we couldn't bring them through. Silly thing is, that with all the confusion, and the clamour in the customs hall, I almost forgot to mention them, and might have walked straight through!!! 
She confiscated the packets and gave me the website address where I might check for myself. The other thing was, when I did see her list, all the entries were for Lycopersicum esculentum, which is the Latin name for tomato, but then they list varieties, many of which are passed, and if mine were not listed then they couldn't be allowed. 
Fair enough too, but I might send a note to Wisley to ask them to inform their staff.

Stupid thing was, I didn't write down the names of those I wanted to bring in, in case they become available at a later time.

We got through customs, and then our bags went through to Qantas for the flight to Canberra, and we joined the throng waiting for the shuttle to the Domestic Terminal, passing on the way, the Murrays Bus loading passengers for Canberra. 
Now I wish we had booked for the bus, even tho it would have meant another three hours traveling.


The flight to Canberra was going to be on a turbo-prop aircraft, (Dash-400). I already had a bad feeling about this, and it would be confirmed when we heard from the pilot that there was severe turbulence over Sydney, which had resulted in the cancellation of some flights, but ours was going ahead!!!
Even before we moved away from the terminal the starboard engine was making some terrible noises, and I was already panicking. Lee, as usual, tried to calm me down.
Then, after some horizontal movement pushing the plane sideways, and the pilot announced that once we had made some height in the middle of the flight, things would be calmer, but we expected to have very strong winds and cloud cover on our approach to Canberra!!!

That's all you need at the end of 30 hours of traveling!!!

Some turbulence was an understatement, and we bumped and rocked down on to the runway, and most of the passengers were now very quiet, and Lee noticed a lady in front holding her Crossword in a vice-like grip, and two ladies across the aisle, who had been chatting away, had gone very quiet indeed! Lee said she just hoped that, even tho it had been one of the worst flights from Sydney, that we wouldn't have to be diverted to another airport.


As I left the plane the flight attendant thanked me for flying with them, and I replied that never would I get on one of these planes again!!


Melanie was waiting for us in the arrivals hall, and after big hugs all round, and a quick search  for a jacket against the cold, we got our four bags and came home to Gowrie.


We loved 97% of what we had done over the past 3 months, but it was so good to be home.

On a bridge over a raging river in Olden, Norway.

To the three or so readers who might have been keeping up with us on this blog, thanks, and we hope at least some of our "adventures" were of interest.

Next - The BIG Summary...