day 1

This started out with all the angst of...will qantas book my luggage all the way through to Manchester (given its a domestic flight and I'm not flying internationally with them)?...apparently they will. This was followed by - I'm going to be later to check-in than I should be because the train was a little late - and then; Where is check in? I'm wandering round the international check-in terminal looking for china airlines. Oh, yes, there it is, hidden round the side, facing the wall, where the hundreds of chinese are lining up - something of a giveaway really. I lined up for an hour and a half. By the time I got my boarding passes, the plane was supposed to have left and I still hadn't gone through emigration.

This however, went smoothly. I had a quick look for the duty free reclaim centre to reclaim the GST on my new camera and it wasn't where it was on the map. I had given up and then found it right next to the gate I was leaving through.

The first flight was cramped. my knees touched the seat in front for over eight hours. It was also cold and very dry and the air felt thin. Then I waited in Taipei for over six hours. The money change offices were closed and there was only one place to eat. Fortunately I had visa. Two people I met on the plane weren't so fortunate so they gave me aussie cash and I bought them dinner.


my dinner

The next plane was not so cramped and I landed in Frankfurt ok. Frankfurt has virtually nothing there to keep you entertained. I also couldn't find out what gate to go to to get my boarding pass for the next leg until an hour before the plane left. This was also when I found out that I wasn't going to fly british airways as my ticket said, but rather Flybe (a budget version with a different flight number). There was also very little assistance in Frankfurt to find this out. It took me 1/2 an hour just to get to the gate to get a boarding pass. Theres masses of security at the international airports now. I got on, got to manchester, and found out that my luggage didn't.

So with no luggage, I got on my first train to Falkirk. At my first changeover, I found that my next train was delayed by 1.5hrs due to flooding in Yorkshire and thus had to catch my third connection quite late. I finally got into Shieldhill (the village I was staying in near Falkirk) at about 9pm...sans any changes of clothes. Stay tuned for the next exciting installment.

Home on a wing and a prayer...more prayer than wing

My transport did everything but crash. I will write more when I get over the shock. Lets just say I spent most of my 4 days of travel home praying and not eating in spite of the plethora of interesting food available. It made the 5 days with no luggage at the beginning of my trip seem trivial. To those planning on travelling - always fly qantas...the whole way! And yes Dave, I did get out before the Gloustershire floods (though the Yorkshire ones did cause me travel delays). Apart from the drizzling weather and flooding of the River Ousse covering the walking path alongside it, the Yorkshire floods didn't affect York where I spent the week just after the flood peak.

The trip itself was great. The travel could be causing me post traumatic stress.