Well, hello there.
The blog has started.
A brief input as I’m not only just tired but also trying to figure out how to do all this update from my phone.
So, the journey began rather smoothly, with Maureen and Iurii driving me from work to the Sydney International Airport for my flights to London. Very appreciative for their generous offer to lug me and my bags. We made great time, I arrived exactly as the gates began checking in. After a short queue, I got to the counter where the lady informed me that my name didn’t match my passport and she couldn’t check me through. Great! So I had booked through booking.com and they prefilled my ticket naming me Nick. I know, I should have checked, but I don’t recall any checks or reminders on the website ensuring all passport information is correct. Anyway… my details didn’t match, and that sucked.
So frantically calling booking.com they told me to call Emirates. Emirates told me to call booking.com. And the circle of idiocy proceeded as no one could change my name to… well… my name.
Anyway, if it wasn’t for the blessed lady from Emirates Customer Service, after a good hour of panic, I wouldn’t have been flying out at all. Bloody legend.
With great fortune Cobby had come to see me off with a beer. He arrived just as I was mid freakout and was a great bloke for keeping me semi-sane while things eventually got sorted. And, with my boarding pass in hand, we finally got to have that sweet beer.
From there, the flight out was delayed an hour. I boarded, I sardined myself for approximately 24 alert hours (with 30min connection time in Dubai) and arrived to Heathrow Airport safe and sound. And positively knackered. Just enough energy to squeeze a beer in before a well deserved nap.
Compared to the beginning of my last big escape… feeling some similarities. Ho hum. Onwards and upwards!
