April 4th - Day 6
Manchester to 30,000ft
…or day 5 part 2.
How to avoid oversleeping? Simple - don't go to sleep! Boy, is there some rubbish on TV overnight!
It is now 4:25 am - or 7:25 am in Abu Dhabi - or 1:25 pm in Brisbane. I feel a bit like Humphrey Bogart "if it's December 1941 in Casablanca, what time is it in New York?" Well I don't know about New York, but in old Manchester it is early, and I have a plane to catch. More later.
Suddenly - it was later
Funnily enough, the quotation was very apt, as I watched Casablanca during the flight! As we took off (seen through a camera on the nose of the plane), I leafed through the in flight listings and found live NRL - just what I wanted. I know it was the Bulldogs playing, but I can’t remember who. It was a taster for Australia - pity there wasn’t Aussie rules football on.
After the NRL, I watched the new Star Wars (disappointing) and the Casablance (not disappointing)
Apart from a numb bum from sitting for too long in one position, it was a good flight. Abu Dhabi is a very swish airport, making Manchester look like a fading film star, and as for Ronaldsway...! Pity I feel so crumpled and grubby from 11 hours in the air.
I arrived at about 8 local time, or 5 UK time, or 2 in the morning in Brisbane. It only took 20 minutes to get to the new gate. I just hope my luggage makes it as well!
Travelling through Abu Dhabi was a bit of a hassle. Despite going through security at Manchester, we had bag scans and metal detectors here as well (I don't know if that is normal, as the last time I changed planes was in 1998!). Then when we got to the gate, there were further checks, including confiscating all liquids. I had a bottle of water, so I drank half of it before leaving the rest.
We had some fun and games even before we took off. First, there was a technical glitch, which meant that we missed our take-off slot. Then there was a medical delay, so we missed the second slot. We finally got off the ground just over an hour late.
I had one of the worst seats on the plane. It could not recline fully, was on the aisle, and next to the toilets. Thank goodness for sleeping tablets, zzzzzzzzzz