18/10 Flying home

Thursday 18^th Flying home

We started off with a re-weigh of the luggage and took out a couple of heavy jackets to wear. We had to check out at 11 but we dropped in at the Villas for a shared final dosai. It was very gloomy when we got back to the hostel to get our bags – a series of taxis drove past but they were all occupied, except one who said he didn’t have any space in his boot for our luggage. Then the rain came – a solid tropical downpour complete with high pitched thunder claps.

At that stage we would have got drenched trying to get into a cab so we sat it out. Predictably, the streams of water were matched only by the stream of vacant taxis! By then it was nearly 1pm so we got the hostel to ring us one. The trip out to the airport took 30 minutes but only cost $20.

One of the major reasons for coming down to Singapore was to fly home with Tiger at a civilised hour and from the delightful budget terminal here. Unfortunately for us, flights have been redirected to Terminal 2 for the last 3 weeks. The formalities were very quickly completed and we were delighted to weigh in bang on our entitlements.

We went upstairs for a farewell gulp at Subway (in fact we had 2) and then suddenly realised that it was time to clock into the departure lounge. By then it was too late for them to deliver duty free to the plane so we missed out.  Not that it matters – we are waist deep in grog at home from previous duty free forays and we don’t really need any more. There is always the Perth arrival hall duty free but it is relatively very expensive.

There was an adequate amount of leg room and we have grown blasé to 6 hour flights. We had bought biscuits and assorted rolls from the Asian bakery and the trip passed smoothly, despite kids kicking and wailing and adults snorting and hacking. Inner Serenity prevailed.

We didn’t declare anything and sailed through the exit queues pretty smoothly. The plans had changed last night after last-minute problems with Warren’s and my cars. So Steph brought Lissa up to fetch us. They had just arrived in the parking area when we came out so we hopped in and took off. Lissa was awake all the way home, where Warren was waiting for us. It was a huge pleasure to be arriving home at a reasonable time after a short flight without crossing any time zones. We dumped all our luggage out on the verandah and sank gratefully into our own bed.