Today is the day.  5 (or is it 6) years in planning comes down to today. The trip is real – it’s here now.

Megan and I sent the kids to school today.  We were keen to give them maximum time at school, after all we are taking them out nearly 3 weeks before the end of the school year. The other reason of course is that Megan and I needed a bit of space to do the final pack and pass through our checklist.  This started pretty casually.  We dropped the kids off to school then went out to breakfast, finding a big table so we could lay out all our paperwork for one last walkthrough.  Boy, 9 weeks of travel sure generates a lot of paperwork.

As you can expect the hours spun away quickly and with packed bags at the ready we picked two very excited kids up from school.  We were delayed because Amelia’s friends waited to the end of the day for their farewells.  I’m quickly learning that teenage girls can make any such event last 3 times longer than needed – but it makes me really happy knowing that Amelia has such a great group of mates.

Soon there was the familiar voice of Alan at the door.  He was there to chauffeur us to the airport.  Speaking of mates, there is no finer friend than Alan.  I have kept barely any acquaintances from school and only one friend – thanks for being such an important part of our family Alan.

Our run to the airport was pretty smooth although as we came up the Monash it was clear that the weather was building to the North of Melbourne – you know, out towards Melbourne Airport.  By the time we were on the Tullamarine Freeway, it was clear that this was a significant storm – amazing cloud colour and lightning strikes to behold.  Hamish asked whether this would affect us.  I knew straight away that this would cause a backlog of aircraft and almost certainly have a flow on effect to our flight.

We got to check-in still semi-expectant at the possibility of an upgrade to business class.  Alas, that was not to be, but there was no harm in trying.

Keen to get through passport control etc., we bid Alan an all too hasty farewell and prepared to go through the doors, only to realise that we had forgotten to prepare our liquids and aerosols.  A mad dash to several stores in the search for clear plastic bags yielded no luck so we decided to take our chances.  In the end, we needn’t have worried – we got through with ease, but not before Amelia’s nerves got the better of her with tears welling in her eyes as she realised she couldn’t find her iPhone in her bag (to scan it separately).  Megan and Hamish went through (and dealt with the liquids issue) while I pulled out of the line with Amelia – first for a reassuring cuddle and then to empty her carry-on backpack on the floor in search of the phone. It was … there all along.

You’d think that should be the end of things – but we are the Ingram’s.  Perhaps we have a habit of making the simple, complex (that’s a joke for any of my work colleagues who may read this), but as we went through passport control we did not immediately clue in to the fact that only 1 of us could go through at a time. Hamish’s passport came up first and he happily traipsed through the gate with his passport but not his boarding pass. A big thanks to the border control staff member who stayed with Hamish until I got through. This time Megan and Amelia sailed through while Hamish had to be completely re-checked. Ah, the fun and games.

We made it to the gate and I noted immediately that our aircraft had not yet arrived. You guessed it – the plane had been delayed due to weather. In fact, as the screenshot shows, our plane was executing 3 beautiful holding patterns including at least 1 pass over Bendigo which is where our Labrador Lily is spending her 9 weeks.  Sometimes it pays to be an aviation geek (or perhaps that’s just geek), but using FlightRadar24 I was able to tell Megan and the kids that we would be delayed before Qantas gave us the update.

The plane eventually landed – a massive, beautiful (well to me anyway) Airbus A380.  Definitely on my aviation bucket list, made all the better when I saw that it is named “Hudson Fysh”. I’ll let you look up that name if you want to geek out, but I assure you that it holds great significance to aviation history in Australia.

After a delay of about an hour, boarding commenced.  Megan handed over the boarding passes which generated an ominous beep and red flashing light as they were scanned.  The gate agent rushed off to a colleague with a worried expression muttering something about a seating issue.  After a few minutes standing off to the side and watching the rest of the passengers board we were relieved to be told that we had been moved, but fortuitously it was to the over wing exit row – apparently I had been identified as a fit, capable person who could assist in an emergency – who would have guessed. I might not have got a business class seat but I did get effectively unlimited leg room! Megan reckons she is fit can capable too, but in this case we all won with good seats.

14 hours in the air is a long time.  I remember it as a blur of broken sleep, and the 4 hours before breakfast with massive headache and nausea issues, trying not to freak out at the prospect of ruining our holiday before we even began.  Lot’s of meditation, a good breakfast and every drop of water I could get my hands on saw me improving, and I was doing ok by the time we reached Dubai.

Which brings this blog to an end.  As I write this we are winging our way from Dubai to London, the subject for our next blog.

There is one more thing before I go.  Words cannot do justice to how much I appreciate all of the work the Megan has put in to bring this trip to fruition.  Without Megan I would not be sitting in a plane, flying over Iran(!) on the way to London.  Megan, I know that 2017 has been a tough one, but your ability to get stuff done is second to none.  Love you, A.