Review: The Waggoners (Ayot Green, Welwyn)

Trip of a lifetime – Australia here we come

(Part 1)

First leg of our trip, England to Brisbane

Australia has been calling for years.  My little sister Silke moved to Brisbane many years ago and my husband’s brother moved to Perth over 20 years ago.  Believe it or not I had not been to Australia until the call of a family wedding drew me to finally decide that the time had come.

We booked our flights through Thomas Cook in February 2018 for our trip end November early December.  We knew that Emirates was planning on flying from Stanstead Airport in Essex’s later in the year and that suited us as we live in Hertfordshire and it was on the border and it meant that we did not have to contend with facing the infamous M25 to get to Heathrow.  We also decided to go into the Thomas Cook shop in Welwyn Garden City as our flight requirements where not straight forward.  We needed to first go to Brisbane for a week and then head to Perth for the wedding on the 8^th of December and then fly back to the England from Perth.  Thomas Cook were excellent in sorting this out for us and we got three tickets for £2637.63, £879.21 per head. 

Those who know me know that I am not the smallest of woman and the fear of the long flight and having to have the embarrassment of asking for a extender safety belt filled me with absolute dread (may be why I had put the visit to Australia off for so long).  On the 30^th of May 2018 I was watching a programme on BBC one called “The Big Crash Diet Experiment”.  Something in me just clicked and there and then I decided to follow the diet used in the experiment and confined myself to eating only 800 calories a day (not easy for a foodie fanatic).  By the date of our flight I had lost over six stone (40kg) and guess what?  I did not need the extender safety belt, albeit with just millimetres to spare.

This year David and I decided that we would invest in Priority Pass membership as we have been doing a great deal of short trips to Europe the last couple of years and we wanted to make the experience of traveling a pleasure and relaxing from the start.  This is well worth the investment if you travel one or more times a year (No they are not sponsoring me, this is my honest opinion).  This gives you access to VIP lounges at airports around the world.  Even if you can’t afford to travel in first class you can still start your holiday off in first class style.

The first leg of our flight took around six hours to Dubai and we were in transit for around three hours.  You know you are going to have a lively flight when you are seated among the Bishop Stortford Veterans Rugby team, but I must say they were very well behaved and it made the flight more entertaining.  The VIP lounge  Marhaba Lounge in Dubai is lovely and relaxing and the food on offer was great.

The travel angels where looking out for us on the thirteen hour flight to Brisbane.  We were flying on an A380 that was only half full.  David got a whole row of four seats to himself and Danielle and I each had three.  We travelled like kings and queens and slept for most of the flight.  The staff on Emirates were excellent and the food was also very tasty for airline food.  We arrived in the early morning on the 29^th of November having left England on the 27^th, lost a whole day somewhere (still looking for it).  Feeling and looking a little worse for wear, so quickly had to pop into the ladies for a quick freshening up and change of clothes before seeing my little sister for the first time in over twelve years.

Read my next post for the reunion updates and our time in Brisbane.