Jealous now?? Part One

After more than 40 hours in transit I have no idea what time zone I'm in.

 All I can say is that my mind feels like it is in one place my body another. I think I may have slept for abut 3 of those 40 hours so I'm a little tired and emotional to say the least, so I'll apologise here for the long and whiney post but it's the easiest way to keep the family updated all at once. And it can only get better from her on in.

So let's start at the beginning.

Wednesday August 31st - Up before the birds to finish packing and getting organized. Traveling is so different now. Last time I set off I didn't have a child or a house to worry 

about. There are lists everywhere. Snacks and toys to remember, bills to be paid, how the washing machine works and what and when the dogs eat ( thankfully my house and dogs 

are in the hands of one of my wonderful friends so after walking out and locking the front

 door I know that I don't have to think about my house again).

I didn't want to leave any room for anxiety to creep in, I believe that all children feel a parents anxiety and can feed from it, P deciding  had time to wash the doors an hour before we left didn't help my anxiety levels, but we'll leave that topic for another day.

So we set off at 12.30 for our 3.30 flight. 

After an easy check in, our worries about excess carry on baggage were eased as we strolled through customs, leaving a tube of toothpaste that exceeded the carry on liquid limit, and went to our gate to have something to eat and chill for a bit before we boarded.

We had timed the flight for 3.30, so in theory the first leg of the flight would be exciting then once we took off from Singapore, Sadie would hopefully get a decent sleep for the longest part of the flight.

At 3.15 there was announcement that our QANTAS flight was delayed by about half an hour, something to do with catering apparently. At this point I was more worried about that chewing into my duty free time in Singapore, I had accidently on purpose left my watch at home hoping I could get a bargain on the way. 20 minutes later we were told the flight was delayed a little longer, there was no time frame but we would be onboard as soon as possible.

After about an hour, and a few drops of Rescue Remedy we were finally called to board, we joined the cue and handed over our boarding passes, where we were asked to stand aside. 

My heart raced a little, I was convinced we had scored an upgrade. We soon found out there had been a problem with our original plane and the one being used to replace it was smaller and there were some seating problems. I'm pretty sure because there were three of us that is why people behind us made it on board. I felt sorry for the man that had to deliver the news to the 13 of us that were waiting for information. 

"Sorry folks but we've had a plane change and unfortunately we can't get you on this flight but we are doing the best we can to get you in the air a.s.a.p. "

I wasn't sure if I wanted to laugh, cry or punch him in the face (or nuts), it seemed our options were an Emirates flight at 6.30 or the late QANTAS flight at 10.55 that night. 

As we were lead to the business lounge, besides missing or connecting flights all I could think about was how Sadie would cope with being stuck in the airport. 

I needn't have worried. We had loads of food, numerous computers to surf the net, or in our case watch funny animals on you tube, and best of all the booze was serve yourself free pour.

If I wasn't traveling with a 2.10 year old I don't think I would have been capable of boarding a plane to anywhere, but being the responsible adult that I am (have become!) I limited myself to a couple of weak glasses. We soon found out we weren't going on the Emirates flight so P made himself comfortable and had himself more than a few serves of cognac (he's so posh). 

After being in the lounge for what felt like a lifetime, but was probably only just over an hour, we were told that we would be leaving at 10.55 that night. Not ideal but better than nothing, the biggest problem was the connecting flights, oh and the fact that I had banked on a Singapore stop over but we were now going via Hong Kong.

In our spare time waiting for news we had found a few connecting flights from London to Lisbon. We had found a flight that left an hour after our Melbourne flight but QANTAS told us that didn't give us enough time so we were booked on a flight that gave us a 6 hour stop over at Heathrow. I never thought I would be disappointed about spending any extra time in London but all I could think of was if I had enough supplies to keep Sadie clean and occupied.

Luckily QANTAS upgraded us to premium economy and gave us some $$$ compensation so when 10.30 rolled around I put Sadie in her pj's and we heading back to the boarding lounge excited but mostly relieved to be on our way. 

I'll be back with part two next time I get net acess.

Let's just say it gets worse before it got better, but the most important thing is we are here safe, happy and healthy and soaking up the beautiful weather, food and sights.

Wish you were here xoxo