En Route to Bali

So today was to be the first time in 15 years that I was to leave our wonderful country. Perhaps the best part was that we would miss the remainder of the farcical national election behind us to be solved in our absence.

We waved the kids off to school at the bus stop, excited that they were going to spend almost two weeks with their Nana and Pop. Helen felt a bit amiss at knowing she wouldn't see them for 10 days, but their father was used to absences, perhaps not as long, but was certainly more used to being apart.

We caught the train from Oak Flats to the airport with Mum and Dad, though we waited for about half an hour for a connecting train at Wolli Creek which was a slight pain in the arse.

Helen and I then endured our first bout of booking in and customs for 15 years, something that never seems to change. Perhaps I've become better at waiting or more patient with delays in that time, because none of that side bothered me on this occasion. Most likely it was the fact that I was holidays and had little to worry about that helped.

We had an early dinner and a couple of drinks in the terminal before boarding. I decided on a meat pie, given that I wouldn't be getting anything like that for the next couple of weeks.

Helen enjoys her champagne and sushi at the airport before boarding

Our plane. Didn't look damaged...

Jetstar's reputation copped a hammering from here though. Although they lighted up and announced that boarding doors were open on time at 4.50pm, there was no movement among the staff, and a lot of standing around. Finally, after about 25 minutes of waiting, they announced that there would be a 45 minute delay in boarding due to a mechanical problem. So we wandered around for a little while, and then took our seats in the lounge until 5.50pm... at which point there was again no movement. 15 minutes later, another announcement. There was to be a further minimum one hour delay. Groans, and angry catcalls met this. We headed down to a cafe for a coffee, and expected it to be a long night of waiting, when from out of nowhere - they announced boarding, just 30 minutes after the previous statement. Would wonders ever cease. We got on, and an hour and 45 minutes late, we took off.

I managed to sleep most of the way which I thought was very beneficial. We flew into Bali just on an hour late, and then went through the lining up at the other end of the spectrum, with visas and customs etc. Thankfully, this was done rather more quickly than I remember from my last trip to Bali 22 years ago, perhaps because of the time of night (11.00pm Bali time).

Dad organised a taxi, and we made it to our room at Kumula Pantai almost bang on midnight, after a day of 20 hours from waking up to getting in. Glad I slept on the plane. :)