The Great escape part II - The journey to Oz: Wednesday 25th- Saturday 28th October

Look at that face - do you think he knows we're leaving again?

Our flights were at 935pm, so we had the day to finish off packing, have one last walk with the dog, shower and change before setting off for Heathrow about 430pm.  

Back at Heathrow - the gateway to the world

Timed to perfection we arrived at the airport exactly three hours before flight time and were stunned when we were invited to jump the queue for check-in having already done it on line before being whisked through security in no time at all.  Easy travelling!  There was nothing for it, but to kill some time having dinner and a couple of pints whilst waiting for our flight.

Meanwhile, I was notified that my sister-in-law in Norway had gone into labour, a week after her due date, and it was possible that I may become an Auntie again whilst in mid-air!

 
To make you all jealous, I’ll just drop in the fact that our flights to Oz are only costing us £330 each.  Okay, so that’s with Malaysian air, so we may be taking our chances.  What do you mean? They’ve only lost TWO planes in the last few years??!  The first stint was the long one. From London to Kuala Lumpur. But it really didn’t feel that much of a slog to me.  After being fed and watered I dozed off in front of my first film of the night before discomfort set in and kept me restless for the majority of the rest of the flight.  Flying clockwise around the globe meant that we leapt forward in time, therefore it was 5pm when we arrived and just about to start getting dark.  That was pretty much all we saw of Thursday 26^th October 2017!  We had just over two hours in KL airport, just enough time to freshen up, have a coffee and travel between gates for our 730pm flight on to Perth.  

This flight was only five and a half hours long, no more time zone jumping, so we were estimated to reach Perth at 0120 hours on Friday 27^th October.  We were fed yet again and I fell in and out of consciousness during the flight whilst attempting to watch another film or two.  I can’t say that the service with Malaysian air quite equalled previous experiences with Thai Airways and Emirates but on the other hand the food was good and we didn’t want for anything, apart from more leg room.

Arriving pretty much on time in Perth we had no problem getting through immigration.  We didn’t even get interviewed or questioned about our intention in Australia.  It was all done electronically.  Our bags had luckily also arrived at the correct location so we wandered, bleary eyes, out into arrivals to see the friendly face of Lisa, our host for the next few days.  We had made it to Oz!  Being a complete star, she had offered to collect us from the airport despite the unsociable hour and put us up for as long as we required.  We knew Lisa as an ex-colleague in the Police who had emigrated here over four years ago.  She has since changed occupation to become a nurse, and luckily she was able to secure a late shift that day.  Even so, after a half hour drive to the home she shares with her partner Ken in Edgewater and a lengthy catch up in the kitchen, I felt that 3am was probably late enough to keep her up for one day!

Maria Elizabeth Cordey enters the world

I had heard the latest from Norway whilst in Kuala Lumpur and things had slowed right down on the baby front.  But after securing the Wi-Fi password in Perth I learnt that Maria Elizabeth Cordey had entered the world at 714pm (Oslo time), pretty much as we touched down in Australia.  Big congratulations to my little brother and his wife Isabella!

After all the recent excitement I was doubtful that I would manage to drop off to sleep but I needn’t have worried.  I passed out rapidly and awoke around 1130am having managed about 7 hours sleep.  This meant that I could continue to catch-up with Lisa before she had to head to work about 130pm.  I then went to wake Simon up but ended up dozing off again myself – a rookie error, but I felt sooo tired! I was convinced that sleeping again that night would not be a problem.  Later in the afternoon we took a short drive to the local shops to stock up on some groceries and beer for the week before returning to Lisa’s where we met Ken for the first time after the end of his shift.  Ken was Lisa’s landlord when she first emigrated here and within ten days of her arrival they were an item.  The rest, as they say, is history.  He also initially transferred over here for the Police, before changing occupations to be an RSPCA Inspector and subsequently working for the Ministry of Agriculture before his current job as a City Ranger, dealing with antisocial behaviour, stray and dangerous dogs amongst other things. They seem to have a good lifestyle here.  The cost of living is high but this seems to be covered by the wages for their respective jobs for their lives to be comfortable.

We chatted to Ken for a few hours before he called it a night and then we saw Lisa briefly when she came in from work about 10pm. By 11pm we were convinced that it would be easy to get a full night’ sleep before our first day of hard touristing tomorrow.   However, the jet lag had other ideas. Having dozed for only an hour or so, both of us found it impossible to get to sleep until about 5am. 5AM!!  It’s crazy, feeling exhausted but not able to relax.  First World problems, eh?

This meant that I missed the opportunity to walk the dogs, Monty and Rosie, with Lisa in the morning and woke again about 1115am.  Rubbish! We haven’t beaten this jet lag at all!  Feeling jaded and more than a little zombie-like we went ahead with our plans to get the train into Perth to explore the City.  The weather has been very British since we arrived – grey and blustery with even the odd rain shower to boot. Today was similar, but Elizabeth Quay was still nice for a stroll and a coffee.

View of Perth city from Elizabeth Quay.  The statue is of Bessie Mabel Rischbieth – a social advocate who campaigned for the rights of women, Aboriginal people and children

Having nearly dozed off on the train coming into town we agreed that there should be no more sitting down today if we were to remain alert for the rest of the evening!  

I think this one also has a migraine

From there we went to catch a bus over to Kings Park but on the way I started to experience problems with my vision.  Areas of blurring and lack of vision meant that a migraine was on the way, a sure sign of me being over-tired. Simon was not exactly chomping at the bit to wander around a botanical garden today either, so we took a rain check and started the return train journey.  Feeling disappointed in myself for my lack of stamina and ability to cope with a touch of jet lag I suggested a way to try and achieve more with our day.  Lisa and Ken had given us a top tip – the best place to see kangaroos in Perth was, randomly, Pinnaroo cemetery!  And they were right, the pretty gardens and lawns were teeming with the hoppy marsupials.  My eyesight having improved, it was time to capture my first wildlife shots of our Oz experience.  We spent about an hour driving slowly around on our roo-safari also capturing shots of the birdlife and an amorous kangaroo couple trying to maintain their dignity behind a tree. 

You looking at me?

There's just no privacy in this cemetery!

Noisy raven and (below) flaming galah!

Happy with our days work, we returned to the house via the fish and chip shop to try and stay awake until a reasonable hour to try and fight the lag one more time.