Travelling again internationally seems surreal. For the last few weeks I have been so busy getting to this point that apart from the extra organisation required – international vaccination certificate, UK COVID Locator form – and doing a couple of at home rapid antigen tests to make sure as far as possible, I don’t land in the UK with COVID – I haven’t really let myself think it would actually happen. But here I am at the international terminal at Sydney airport looking out at a very desolate runway. The constant hub, with planes lined up in what amounts to bumper to bumper traffic in aviation terms, is the antithesis of what it looks like now. There is evidence of the Qantas planes coming back into action in the holding yard, a couple of smaller jets at the gates and one or two dash taking off and landing. In a sign of the times, the only large aircraft are fedex cargo planes.

Th departure board in the lounge has just six flights for today – mine through Darwin tro London and flights to Shanghai, Beijing, Dubai, LA and Hong Kong. And the bonus of being amongst this small group of Australians willing to take the Rona gamble now the borders are open, is that I am currently sitting in the Qantas first class lounge in Sydney airport as the business lounge is currently closed. I was met at the desk by wait staff who offered me coffee and drinks brought to my seat. I asked for the traditional glass of pre-holiday sparkling and was asked if I would prefer champagne. (Yes please). The menu is designed and curated by Neil Perry. I can report the salt and pepper squid is fantastic.

And I am spending quite a bit of time in the lounge. Qantas advised that I should be at the airport at least four hours before my flight. My usual travelling partner having declined to take the rona gamble, was open to driving me to Sydney to catch the flight. I threw in a trip to the newly opened Chicago burger joint Five Guys in Penrith  and taking the spin in the mini to sweeten the deal (really it was partly for me to be able to get a bit more driving timer in the mini. We made good time, easily meeting the at least four hours window,. Problem was the Qantas check in counter wasn’t open until the four hour mark. It meant I was first in the queue.

At the moment you can’t complete your check in at home – Qantas checks your international vaccination certificate and whatever documents your destination requires manually – providing a signed check that you then present at your normal check in. As you would expect, it is taking a while to get all staff across what is needed for different flights and the attendant processing my docs was being trained on what was required– As I am flying direct to the UK through Darwin, I don’t have to provide a negative PCR test. For most destinations you do. I was thankful I had printed copies of these documents – it made things much easier. In the end it was pretty painless – this part took about five minutes. I suspect those behind me had a quicker process.

Then it was on to the check in desk. About two minutes here – I had checked in online so just a passport check, tagging my bags. (I forgot to put the electronic tag back on my backpack) and I was off into the Customs Hall. As I tend to book flights through from Canberra, this is usually where I start with the Sydney Airport departure process. The departure passenger cards have disappeared as have the cards from the smart gates. Now all you do is scan your passport and walk through the gate to have your face scanned  (you have to take your mask off for this). The whole process took about two minutes and most of that time was walking up to the smart gate.

From here it was on through security – again no lines. In fact it was  so quick  I didn’t have a chance to get myself organised between the passport check and the security check. laptops still have to be removed from your bag for international travel. This is easier with my new backpack with laptop sleeve and I have a process worked out now so this is all I have to remove. This check would have been quick too if it wasn’t for the lady in front of me that had no process. From here it was on through the duty free – I thought about looking for a new camera – mine has a habit of turning itself on in my handbag and draining the charge – but I hadn’t done any research and I just get bamboozled by the choice. And I don’t really need to carry duty free booze with me to London so I headed to the pleasant surprise of the First Class lounge. [Queen of Suffolk County – Dropkick Murphys – I haven’t been able to get this tune out of my head since the new dropkicks album dropped earlier this year. Usually that’s a bad thing. But much like Fat Boy Slim’s Rockefella Skank, I can’t imagine ever getting sick of this tune.]

After a (relatively) short hop to Darwin, which was long enough to feature a hot ,meal – Qantas are just starting to readjust so the choices weren’t stellar. I opted for the Indian vego option which ended up having more rice than a cheap Indian takeaway lunch box – we embarked for a stop in the temporary Qantas transit lounge. With the build up already started in Darwin, I had made better choies than my fellow passengers rugged up for a UK landing. I used the opportunity to change in the transit lounge. The plane was empty enough that there was a s[are seat between myself and the aisele passenger – an affable guy from Geelong who had travelled enough to know that as an aisle seat inhabitant, you would inevitably be awoken by the need for the window seat passenger to pee.. As we were in transit, this stop was also seamless – although we did need to take all our gear off the plane. The flight into London was uneventful – despite trying for the umpteenth time to sleep on an international flight, I couldn’t. Fortunately there were enough choices on the entertainment system to keep me amused. I started with East of Eden – which I had never managed to see from end to end, despite my James Dean obsession. Then I discovered an unfamiliar TV drama – City on a Hill – it stars Kevin Costner and is set in Chicago in the early 90s, it is a crime drama made in 2019. Reminded me of Brotherhood -definitely worth a look. I got through about three episodes and then turned my attention to Gangs of London – which is ultraviolent in the best way. It looks like it was made by Guy Ritchie. After that I wanted something a bit lighter. About 10 minutes of the David Schwimmer MI5 comedy Intelligence was too much. Cardboard cut out stereotypes in all the worst ways and without the irony required to make this work.  From there I revisited Once Upon a Time in Hollywood – in the best Tarantino tradition there are lots of nuances you pick up on the second run through the alternate universe fairytale of the Manson Family’s murder spree in Hollywood. By that stage I was too tired to keep my eyes open. I am not normally a fan of Podcasts or audio books (although I have thought about turning this blog into one) but the late stage of a 24 hour flight is where they (or my music collection) are a good fallback. I listened to a couple I had queued but then ultimately returned to my spotify playlist.  Two hot meals on this 16 + hour leg that took us over Hong Kong, China including Guangzhou and Wuhan, Mongolia and the wilds of Russia coming back down into London via q flight Finland, Sweden, and the Netherlands, presumably in an effort to avoid. the conflict on the Polish Border.

Arrival into London was pretty smooth – the UK has been letting people in for a while now so there was no requirement to show your vaccination status or UK locator for as boit are linked to your passport. What that meant was that you could use the e-gates. Only problem was with a plane load of Australian citizens and the EU and Britain using this system, we had to queue probably for around 15 minutes. The one thing you do have to remember to do in these COVID times is remove your mask for the smart gate/e-gate. After collecting my bag (last off as it was first on of course), and the long trek through the tunnel from terminal 3 to terminal 2, I arrived at the hotel, where they let me check in 8 hours early and upgraded me to a superior room. Sweet.