In for the long haul with the 'wicked' witch from Snow White
Zoonie
Thu 9 Nov 2017 12:57
Jeannie whizzed us up to the airport before riding off for her day’s work
at the hospital. Her travel scales assured us that even with the books, wad of
travel pamphlets I keep for future reference (another smile from Rob) and shell
collection we were taking home our bags were within the 30kg weight limit. The
bright and friendly check in lady at Whangarei said she would label our luggage
all the way to London so we wouldn’t have to find it and go through the process
again.
We circled over Sydney in the sunshine and clearly saw the Opera House. In
the wait for our connecting flight I used the 50 minutes free wifi to catch up
on Scrabble with sister Sue as sparrows buzzed us. Sandwiched in between Bangkok
and Los Angeles on the departures screen we awaited our call. I sushied through
my hunger while Rob dined on double egg on rashers in a bun. I was reassured
when I saw our Captain take a 5 minute walk around his plane, one of the
numerous Airbus A380 Spirits of Australia.
We had perfect seats, a row of three with only us in them and right by the
loo. Rob watched two films and series six of Game of Thrones, (he is more of a
fan than I am) and I watched, Life of Pi, Anna Karenina, The Promise, The Queen
and Taken or was it Hijacked I can’t remember. The Emirates influence on this
Quantas/Emirates flight to Dubai meant the food was delicious, in fact we were
so well fed we had to turn down a second ice cream! At Dubai we disembarked
while the plane took a good drink and returned to the same seats for the 6 hour
final leg to London. Twenty four hours flying time and three stops to England
while Zoonie had taken 19 months and countless stops the other way.
Sometime during the long night, when all was dark and most people were
asleep I opened my eyes to see a beautiful young woman looking at me while
holding a wicker basket full with shiny red apples. Now I know how Snow White
couldn’t resist. “Would you like an apple?” Actually it was just what I could do
with at the time, something sweet, juicy and refreshing and I was lucky enough
to awake later and find my Prince Charming right next to me, no hundred years
for me to wait, just as well. Flying 40,000 feet up in a giant steady bird
eating a shiny red apple from a round wicker basket, was I dreaming?
The UK was cold and grey and awaiting a hurricane when we arrived but all
felt better when the coach driver proffered those magic words “Next stop
Ringwood.” We were heading south to Emily, Gary, Henry and Ruby in Poole, home
at last.
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