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...

Wisley...

Wednesday, 8th June - (Catch-up)

We had planned to meet cousin Andrew at Wisley on a nominated day, but hadn't heard from them, and so decided to go by ourselves, as we'd always wanted to see the gardens. It is owned/run by the Royal Horticultural Society and is their "showpiece", and as we found out, is very popular. We did the early thing again, and although we had no clear idea how to get there, and took a couple of wrong turns, but finally came at it along the A3, after a fairly 'circular' trip.

The car park is VAST, and needs to be when so many people turn up, as they did later. The gardens are also quite extensive, and so we didn't feel 'crowded' at any time. Had coffee first, and the paid £10.95 each to get in, which may seem a lot,but is worth it. We think if we lived in the UK we would certainly join the RHS.

It is really a botanic garden, and plants are well labelled, and there are separate sections for alpines, fruits, vegies, herbs, and rock plants & cacti., etc.

The weather was really kind to us, with some patchy cloud, and the only time we had some spots of rain threaten, we had our lunch, and beat the crowds.

The buildings look older than they are, but are in that sort of Tudor look, and everything in the grounds is so well maintained and not a weed in sight. The first area we walked through was the rock garden, which has to be one of the best we've ever seen, and is so well done. None of the rocks look out of place, and the water features and cascades give it a great look. There were plants we might have only ever seen in books, and some, like pitcher plants, growing outdoors. 

These few photos are not enough to convey how lovely it all is, and we spent three hours there. Near some glasshouses which house alpines, set in pots, there is an outdoor setting which is most interesting with all these tiny rock plants growing in the crevices. Not a look you could have at home, but is seemed to be fairly newly done and so might look better over time. 

There is a wonderful area for showing how fruits are grown and this had so many ideas we could use here. The problem is of course the difference in our climates, for so many plants, and all this great information is happening at the wrong end of our lives. It's the stuff we should have known more about, much earlier. The other area which was interesting were the model gardens, giving ideas of how to plant courtyards, town gardens etc.
There is a new garden commemorating the late Queen Mother and has not been open long. 

Bought some different tomato seeds, and everyone says you can get them back to Oz because they are sealed in foil packets. NOT SO! (when we got back to Sydney, we declared them, and the customs lady was very nice about it, and looked them all up on her computer, but as they are not listed, she had to take them. I asked her what would have happened if I hadn't declared them, which I almost forgot to do, and she said simply that we might have introduced a disease, so fair enough. Perhaps those in the UK should stop telling people it's OK)

Not sure how to get back to Woking, but headed off on a different road which went by a lovely pub on a canal, and looked so idyllic and English, we should have stopped for an ale! Went round in circles once back near Woking town, and finally got ourselves sorted and back to the hotel. 

There was rain in the late afternoon, so we opted for the pub meal, and then waited to meet Barry and Judy. They arrived on time and we took a table inside, as it was a little cool. We yakked on for around 2-3 hours and found we had similar interests, like vegie growing, and Barry had bought a parcel of land from am old estate that was being sold off, and grows his veg there. He had been on an allotment waiting list for two years.

They are walkers and spend a lot of time tramping around the countryside, and had just returned from several days walking Exmoor. It was a nice, quiet, pleasant evening with new acquaintances, and tho we probably won't see them again, it was great to catch up after the time we had with them on the small cruise.

Ready, set, go!!

Are we ready yet? Yes. Are we totally ready, well almost.
Today we got all the potted plants we wanted to survive, and bedded them into one of our vegie beds, and covered them a little with straw mulch. 
We did this last trip and all survived. It's mainly the small pots, as the larger ones seem to cope better, and we have re-potted a few. They will stay on the stand in the courtyard and when we get more rain, they will benefit. Of course with the colder weather, most of them will "shut-down" for winter.

The rest of the garden is looking good, but only because of all the rain we've had, and we have mulched everything we can, and planted a few things that needed to be in the ground. If we lose stuff, then too bad. There are a few late tomatoes which we hope will still colour up, and our son can use them.

We've pulled the zucchini plants, which have been very bountiful this year, and we used the last of our home-grown onions just last week. The sweet corn was also used up, so everything can now just sit and wait through winter.
The house will need a final whip through just before we go, and then we just turn everything off and close the door, and go!