And the Journey Begins...

Well where do I start? Probably with the 5:25am wake up, but that was fine. The excitement of the occasion meant we were up before our alarms (well most of us). It took wild horses and the threat of sending her brothers in to wake Ashleigh. Breakfast and final bag checks followed. Passports, tickets, credit cards, money, teeth brushed, doors and windows locked, no scissors or sharps in the carry on luggage. All part of the surgically precise plan we had well prepared for the morning - NOT!!

I won't mention the final errands I had to run before the shuttle bus came to pick us up but suffice to say, we still had plenty of time until... a simple reach for the medicine cabinet in the pantry ended up with a bottle of red wine smashing on the floor, wine and glass everywhere, just as a knock at the front door signified the arrival of our ride.  

Bedlam strikes!

I'll not name names to protect the innocent (or the guilty actually) but I'll concede in saying that there were no raised voices, contingency plans were put into place and we still managed to get away on time.

Check in at the airport was a very simple affair, the Qantas lady at the check-in counter was very friendly despite how early it was on a Saturday morning. Quite the same cannot be said for our border protection officers (who I think must check their sense of humour in at the main gate when they clock on). The kids were all very excited to see the contents of their bags on the x-ray machine monitors and the excitement stepped to a new level when they saw the scissors in Mum's bag!!! I vaguely remember saying something about this before but perhaps I only imagined it. Anyway, the fine officers of our border protection services now have a shiny new pair of scissor to add to their stationary cabinet. I reckon this is how the Federal Government cuts costs!!

Entering the surreal wonderland that is Airside of an international terminal, Kmart, BigW and Best and Less are replaced by Dolce and Gabbana, Louis Vuitton and Moët & Chandon (who drinks champagne at 8 o'clock in the morning???). Anyway, the boys had fun at the Apple Store taking weird and whacky Photo Booth photos on the MacBooks and Lea and Ash pretended to have money and browsed above mentioned shops. 

After watching our bags and the catering get loaded, we boarded our plane with all the excitement and anticipation this trip was sure to bring. 

Two hours later and we are still sitting on the tarmac. The first 50 minutes was kindly taken up by a passenger who must have been on Queensland time and decided that 10:35 didn't suit them and felt that 11:15 fitted in much better with their plans. It is now 12:40, over two hours after we were due to depart. Apparently a technical problem with the plane is preventing us from leaving so here we sit. Luckily we have a two and a half hour layover in Johannesburg that our travel agent assured us was more than enough time to collect our bags, pass through customs and catch our connecting domestic flight to Cape Town (you do the maths).